Regional Reports: Region 1

Kenneth Reich & Seth Handy
Edwards & Angell, LLP
Boston, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island
Kreich@ealaw.com; Shandy@ealaw.com

Maine (ME DEP Div. of Air Quality – Jeff Crawford 207/287-7647)
8-Hour Ozone Standard: Maine issued a preliminary recommendation to EPA regarding non-attainment designations that included parts of southern Maine and Acadia National Park. The Ssate plans to produce its final recommendation by the deadline of April 15, 2003, established in a recent consent decree (American Lung Assoc. v. Whitman, DDC, No. 02-2239, Nov. 3, 2002). It expects that it may designate its entire coastline, from the New Hampshire border to Acadia as non-attainment based on the monitoring record. They are working to determine how far inland the non-attainment area should extend from the coast. EPA has recommended use of a Consolidated Metropolitan Area (including commuter areas, etc.) but Maine is not sure it will adopt that approach because the data shows that non-attainment only extends a few towns deep from the coast. Maine’s preliminary recommendation was that the non-attainment designation should extend two towns in from the coast (approximately 15 miles).

Vermont (Agency of Environmental Conservation, Air Quality Division, Dick Valentinetti 802/241-3860)
8-Hour Ozone Standard: Vermont does not have any non-attainment areas for the 8-hour standard, based on its monitoring studies. The state’s final recommendation is likely to propose no designation and will provide the data to support that conclusion. Nevertheless, Vermont believes in the implementation of regional solutions to regional air pollution issues and, therefore, will continue to meet requirements established by the Ozone Transport Commission.

Rhode Island (Department of Environmental Management, Office of Air Resources, Barbara Morin 401/222-2808 x 7012)
8-Hour Ozone Standard: In its preliminary recommendation, Rhode Island said that the whole state should be designated non-attainment and it does not expect to change that opinion with the issuance of its final recommendation. Along with the other members of the Ozone Transport Commission, Rhode Island will ask EPA to address up-wind transport issues up front, as part of its guidance for the implementation of the 8-hour standard (promised for late 2002 and expected in March or February 2003). Rhode Island is about to file a proposed plan for implementation of the one-hour ozone standard and will develop another strategy for the 8-hour standard based on EPA’s guidance.

Other News: The state proposed amendments to its air toxics regulations in September 2002. Based on the wealth of comments received for those amendments, RIDEM has elected to meet with stakeholders to revise and reissue the proposed rule. However, the Agency does plan to proceed with the finalization of its air toxics amendments specifically relating to dry-cleaners, integrating some changes based on the public comments.

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) agreed to make fleet modifications that will reduce diesel particulate emissions by ninety percent (90%) and to pay a $75,000 penalty for violations of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and RCRA. The Clean Air Act violation was a failure to retrofit its pre-1994 buses with required catalytic converters when the engines were rebuilt pursuant to the Urban Bus Retrofit Rule. RIPTA will operate its entire diesel-powered fleet on ultra-low sulfur fuel and install diesel particulate filters on all 156 of its diesel-fueled buses. The U.S. Department of Transportation will fund eighty percent (80%) of the $1.2 million cost of the retrofit to be completed by 2006.

New Hampshire (Department of Environmental Services, Air Resources, Jeff Underhill, 603/271-1102)
8-Hour Ozone Standard: New Hampshire expects that its final recommendation for the designation of non-attainment areas will look much the same as its preliminary recommendation. They are basing their projections on growth patterns and emissions patterns and the results have not changed much (the impacts of growth throughout the State have been offset by the introduction of cleaner technologies). They will probably file their final recommendation letter well before the deadline.

Other news: EPA approved New Hampshire’s plan for implementation of the one-hour ozone standard on Nov. 26, 2002. The plan includes programs such as vehicle emissions maintenance and inspection standards, standards for the use of reformulated gasoline, vapor recovery requirements for gas pumps, and NOx restrictions on power plant emissions.

Connecticut (Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Air Management, Ellen Morris 860/ 424-3027)
8-Hour Ozone Standard: No report.
Other News: On Sept. 6, 2002, EPA and DOJ announced that the city of Waterbury, Connecticut will undertake $8 million in sewer upgrades and pay a $350,000 penalty to settle a complaint about illegal discharges of raw sewage into the Naugatuck River and improper disposal of ozone-depleting chemicals contained in household appliances.
On Aug. 21, 2002, EPA announced that an administrative judge ruled in its favor in a Clean Air Act enforcement case against the Barden Corporation, a ball-bearing manufacturer in Danbury, Connecticut, ordering the company to pay $281,000 in penalties. The violations were exceedances of emissions restrictions for trichloroethylene (TCE) used in degreasers, failure to comply with degreaser hoist rates, and monitoring and reporting infractions. According to EPA’s press release, the complaint was reportedly the first related to violations of halogenated solvent air emission regulations to go to a hearing.

Massachusetts (Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Eileen Hiney 617/292-5520)
8-Hour Ozone Standard: Massachusetts’ preliminary recommendation was to establish two ozone areas (western and eastern Massachusetts, as for the one-hour ozone standard) and to designate both (i.e., the entire state) non-attainment, based on the monitoring data. The state is concerned that EPA is behind in the issuance of guidance for the implementation of the 8-hour standard (now expected in February or March 2003) and that, therefore, the state’s do not have the guidance needed to understand the implications of their designations and to plan and begin developing their programs. Massachusetts will join with other members of the Ozone Transport Commission in asking EPA to address up-wind transport issues up front, as part of its guidance for the implementation of the 8-hour standard.

Other News: EPA just approved Massachusetts’ plan for the implementation of the one-hour standard in eastern Massachusetts, where difficulties with attainment in Truro and Fairhaven are attributed largely to upwind sources and are expected to come under control with the implementation of more stringent air programs in Massachusetts and in upwind states (regional transport of Ozone Rule, SIP Call, etc). The Massachusetts programs include more vehicle emissions maintenance and inspection standards, standards for use of reformulated gasoline, vapor recovery requirements for gas pumps, and NOx restrictions on power plant emissions.

On Aug. 13, 2002, EPA announced that the New England Confectioners Company (NECCO) would undertake a $160,000 supplemental environmental project and pay a $27,000 fine to settle a Clean Air Act complaint. The complaint addressed NECCO’s failure to file a complete risk management plan that would prevent and control accidental releases of ammonia from its facility in Cambridge. The facility uses ammonia as a refrigerant in its air conditioning and cooling equipment and has had small, accidental releases to its dense, urban surroundings in 1995 and 2000. The SEP involves the design and installation of an ammonia diffusion system at NECCO’s new plant in Revere, Massachusetts.

On Sept. 20, 2002, EPA announced that Cambridge Plating Company, a metal finishing firm in Belmont, Massachusetts, would close part of its manufacturing operation, pay a $65,000 penalty and spend $357,000 on environmental projects to settle claims that it violated the Clean Air Act and RCRA in 2000-2001. The closure of this company’s chrome-plating business will eliminate emissions of hexavalent chromium. The company also agreed to reduce its emissions of trichloroethylene by at least forty percent (40%) and to institute noise and odor controls. EPA has notified the company that it plans to file a separate complaint addressing violations occurring after May 2002.

On Oct. 2, 2002, EPA imposed a $33,200 penalty against National Car Rental Systems Inc. and a $29,400 fine against Paul Revere Transportation for excessive bus idling at Logan Airport during the summer of 2002. A Massachusetts regulation prohibits idling of any motor vehicle engine for more than 5 minutes while the vehicle is stopped for a foreseeable period of time.

On Oct. 29, 2002, EPA announced that Allied Waste Systems, Inc. would pay a $782,550 civil penalty and invest $2.3 million in a supplemental environmental project as a result of violations of the Clean Air Act standards for the disposal of household appliances containing CFCs or HCFCs. The SEP is the construction of a new facility at Allied’s Roxbury transfer station that will include state of the art emissions control technology.