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Implementing EPA’s Roadmap for Mercury- An Update

Implementing EPA’s Roadmap for Mercury- An Update. Wendy-Cleland Hamnett, Deputy Director, EPA Office of Pollution, Prevention and Toxics May 2007. EPA’s Roadmap for Mercury. Issued in July 2006, document provides first comprehensive description of EPA’s efforts to reduce mercury pollution.

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Implementing EPA’s Roadmap for Mercury- An Update

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  1. Implementing EPA’s Roadmap for Mercury- An Update Wendy-Cleland Hamnett, Deputy Director, EPA Office of Pollution, Prevention and Toxics May 2007

  2. EPA’s Roadmap for Mercury • Issued in July 2006, document provides first comprehensive description of EPA’s efforts to reduce mercury pollution. • Describes the vision, breadth and depth of EPA’s various mercury programs and activities. • Describes EPA’s priority actions to address mercury, to be implemented over a number of years. • Provides EPA and others with a framework to help coordinate mercury activities across media (air, land, water).

  3. EPA’s Approach for Mercury • Focusing simultaneously on six areas: 1. Reducing mercury releases to the environment 2. Reducing mercury uses in products and processes 3. Managing commodity-grade mercury supplies 4. Communicating risks to the public 5. Reducing international sources 6. Conducting mercury research and monitoring

  4. Reducing Releases to Air • Final air regulations now in place for remaining “major” point sources of mercury. • EPA Air Program focusing on smaller “area sources” and residual risks from existing MACTS. • Voluntary, regulatory means to achieve Best Management Practices. For example: • Electric Arc Furnace Steelmaking Facilities: will propose new rule in July 2007. • National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program: voluntary program to keep mercury switches out of steelmaking furnaces using scrap metal– implemented in Sept. 2006 and ongoing.

  5. Reducing Releases to Water • Major focus on relating air deposition to mercury in fish tissue levels: • Improving modeling tools for tracking mercury in fish tissue, such as Mercury Maps model. • Issued final “5m” guidance on listing waters impaired predominantly by atmospheric mercury: March 2007. • Developing regional-scale approaches for mercury Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs).

  6. Reducing Releases to Water (cont.) • Continuing focus on point sources: • Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) • Dental industry: promoting proper collection & recycling of amalgam waste. • Water quality assessment: Guidance for implementing fish tissue-based methylmercury water quality criterion- final expected in late 2007.

  7. Reducing Releases to Land • Wastes: Continuing focus on eliminating mercury from the nation’s waste streams: • Universal Waste Rule • Reducing uses in products • Fluorescent Lamps • Mercury Spills and Remediation: • Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign (SC3 ) • Chemical Management Handbook

  8. Reducing Uses in Products and Processes • Focusing on key sectors using mercury: • Thermostats, fluorescent lamps, non-fever thermometers. • We are evaluating viable candidates for reduction under the broad universe of “non-vehicle switches and relays.” • Work with the States on implementation of reducing mercury from this universe.

  9. Reducing Uses in Products and Processes (cont.) • Federal Agencies • Will begin promoting procurement of non-mercury products in 2007, through EPA’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program. • Industry • Ongoing voluntary partnerships to reduce use of mercury-containing products, through EPA’s National Partnership for Environmental Priorities (NPEP) Program.

  10. Reducing Uses in Products and Processes (cont.) • Analytical tools and activities: • Mercury product national database: developing database to track reductions in mercury use in products and identify non-mercury alternatives. Will revise & refine pilot in 2007.

  11. Managing Mercury Supplies • Commitment to work with other Federal agencies to initiate a process to assess options for managing domestic, commodity-grade mercury. • A series of stakeholder meetings has been established to provide the Federal Government with input on a reasonable range of options and an assessment of these options.

  12. Managing Mercury Supplies (Cont.) • Focus is on obtaining public input on management strategies: • High-level Federal interagency workgroup formed to address issue: Fall 2006 • Stakeholders will meet to provide input to Federal Government on range of options for managing U.S. supplies: May – Sept. 2007. • Federal interagency workgroup will determine next steps.

  13. Communicating Exposure Risks • Fish Advisories for Methylmercury: • National EPA/FDA Fish Advisory: continue to work closely with FDA to provide information to the general public and the medical community on dietary risks and how to reduce exposure. • State & Tribal Fish Advisories: continue to assist states and tribes with their fish advisories, through the periodic “Fish Forum” conferences (Sept. 2005, July 2007), guidance documents, etc. • FDA Evaluation of Public Awareness of Dietary Risks: • Assisting FDA with conducting survey to evaluate public understanding of dietary exposure to mercury. Will be completed Sept. 2007.

  14. Communicating Exposure Risks (cont.) • EPA Mercury Portal Website: • EPA’s primary means of communication to the public about risks of mercury exposure through food consumption and product use. • Outreach to Schools: • Continuing to raise awareness of school officials and staff regarding mercury risks, through software tools and other outreach activities • Outreach to Health Care Providers for Children: • Grants to build capacity of health care providers to recognize & treat health issues related to mercury exposure. • Funding support for Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units, which are NGO centers that provide pediatric consulting services to health professionals, communities and families.

  15. Reducing International Sources • UNEP International Mercury Partnerships: EPA has developed or is participating in 5 partnerships. • Goal: to build capacity to achieve tangible mercury reductions in specific sectors on a global scale. • Partnership Sectors: • Artisanal & small-scale gold mining • Coal-fired utilities • Chlor-alkali manufacturing • Mercury-containing products • Research on mercury atmospheric fate & transport

  16. Conducting Mercury Research • Provides scientific support for EPA program offices considering regulations to reduce mercury. • Special studies underway: • Toxic Metals Fate Report: the fate of toxic metals from land disposal & commercial use of coal combustion residues. Due in 2008. • Sources of Mercury Emissions: information on sources of mercury emissions, and their regional/global fate and transport. Due in 2008. • Integrated Multimedia Modeling: developing an integrated model to improve scientific understanding of mercury. Due in 2010.

  17. Mercury Monitoring • Routine monitoring of end-points is critical to determine effectiveness of EPA’s mercury programs. • Four key indicators of long-term trends: • Air emissions • Air deposition • Water Quality/Fish Tissue • Human tissue • Future Reports include: • Final Report on EPA’s National Fish Tissue Study: Fall 2007 • EPA’s Report on the Environment: next report in 2008

  18. EPA’s Mercury Activities: An Update Dialogue: Questions & Discussion

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