Document em9rEgXBvnK9pV9m0XLNzVdD9

Subject: INTER OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE INDUSTRIES Date: From: June 25, 1984 Zeb G. Bell, Jr- Location: VDC Health Assessment Document One PPG Place -/1 outh To: W. B. Graybill 1 It appears that the EPA should delistvinylidene chloride (VDC) as a hazardous air pollutant under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act. The acrylonitrile approach is worth watching (attached). eb G\ Bell^Jr. ZGBimf cc: L. L. Hammit R. D. Duncan A. P. Leber w 504 - 6T SL 070033 CURRENT REPORT EPA said because it received no comments on the proposal, it finds no reason to alter the preliminary decision.' The negotiated testing program for TOTM includes muta genicity testing, chemical disposition and metabolism test ing, a 28-day feeding study, a study of toxicity to aquatic invertebrates, and a pbysical/cbemical properties and bio degradation study. Fluoroalkenes Testing Plan Based on evaluations of industry test data and future testing proposals submitted in response to an October 1981 advance notice of proposed rulemaking for six fluoroal kenes, EPA tentatively decided to accept an industry testing program and discontinue rulemaking initiated in the ANPR, the agency announced (49 FR 23112). The six fluoroalkenes were designated for health effects testing by the Interagency Testing Committee in its seventh report According to the 1981 notice, EPA was initiating rulemaking for five of the six fluoroalkenes, including vinyl fluoride, vinylidene fluoride, trifluoroethene, tetrafluoroethene, and hexafiuoropropene. The agency proposed not to test 3,3,3-trifluoro-l-propene (Oct 6,1981, p. 883; text, p. 910). EPA said the Fluoroalkenes Industry Group submitted a proposed testing program in response to the advance notice for four of the six fluoroalkenes identified by the ITC. The industry group said it will conduct mutagenicity testing on four of the chemicals and oncogenicity/chronic effects test ing on one of them. Comments on the proposed decision must be submitted by Aug. 3 to TSCA Public Information Office (TS-793), Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, EPA, 401 M St. S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. For more information on any of the testing plans, contact the TSCA Assistance Office (TS-799) at the above address, or call (800) 424-9065 toll free or 554-1404 in the Washington, D.C., area. Pesticides DATA CALL-IN NOTICES FOR FOOD USES TO BE ISSUED BY END OF 1985, MOORE SAYS Notices requiring registrants to conduct and submit stud ies for all major food-use pesticides will be issued by the end of 1985, a senior official of the Environmental Protection Agency said June 5 in a letter to Capitol Hill. John A. Moore, assistant administrator for pesticides and toxic substances, said until missing test data are received, the agency will grant tolerances for pesticides with incom plete data "only if it can be determined that additional use will not pose a significant increment of risk to public health and that the new use is in the public interest." The letter to Rep. E. de la Garza (D-Texas), chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, followed release in March by the Natural Resources Defense Council of results of a year-long study that said pesticide residues were found in nearly half of California-grown fruits and vegetables examined by the environmental group (Current Report, March 23, p. 1742). Although terming the NRDC survey as "flawed," Moore said the report "raised a number of concerns with EPA's tolerance-setting process," adding that while most of the pesticide residues found in the California food were "well within" established tolerances, "I think some of the issues raised in this report are important." 301 In that vein, Moore said, EPA will not grant tolerances or permit the expansion of a pesticide's use when the data available on the chemical "have been eroded." Tolerance Revocations Planned The agency also has developed a policy to revoke all existing tolerances or tolerance exemptions for pesticides whose registrations have been canceled, "and intends to revoke tolerances for a number of persistent, canceled pesticides such as DDT, aldrin/dieldrin, and BHT by the end of this year." Notices also are being drafted for nine or 10 other can celed pesticides, he said. The NRDC report said its researchers found DDT and DDE in 12 samples, with amounts ranging from 0.01 to 0.15 parts per million; dieldrin was found on two samples at a 0.01 ppm level, the report stated. The NRDC report also described as "crude" federal esti mates of the amounts of specific types of food an average person eats in a year, saying EPA relies on 1965 figures "despite evidence that American food consumption habits have changed substantially since then." While noting that EPA was revising the consumption formula for tolerance setting, the environmental group said it was "unclear how these revised figures will be factored into the tolerance calculations." In his letter, Moore said the agency will soon implement a new food factoring method, called the Tolerance Assessment System, which will enable the agency to evaluate food consumption patterns for people with particular dietary patterns. The system, he said, will mean "that exposure assess ments can be evaluated for pesticide residues in foods resulting from a single exposure, resulting from annual consumption, or resulting from long-term chronic exposure." Polychlorinated Biphenyls EPA PROPOSES TO INCLUDE ASTM STANDARD FOR CRUDE, FUEL OILS IN PCB REGULATIONS An update of polychlorinated biphenyls rules to include the latest American Society for Testing and Materials test method for water and sediment in crude oils and fuel oils by centrifuge was proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency June 1. The agency invited comments on the proposal, which is published in the Full Text section of this issue, to be submitted until July 2. To comment on the proposal or obtain a copy of the revised test method (ASTM D 1796-83), contact TSCA Public Information Office (TS-793), Office of Toxic Substances, EPA, Rm. E-108, 401 M St. S.W., Washing ton, D.C. 20460. For more information on the proposal, contact the TSCA Public Information Office at (800) 424-9065, or 554-1404 in the Washington, D.C., area. Air Pollution ALM SAID TO APPROVE PLAN FOR REGULATION OF ACRYLONITRILE EMISSIONS BY STATE PROGRAMS A policy calling for regulation of the chemical acryloni trile by the states rather than by listing it as an hazardous air pollutant under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act was 6-fWM Chemical Regulation Reporter 014S-7973/84/SO+.50 SL 070034 \ 302 CHEMICAL REGULATIC approved by Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Ad ministrator Alvin L. Aim June 6, according to a staff member in the agency's Office of Air and Radiation. in a meeting with Joseph A. Cannon, EPA assistant ad ministrator for air and radiation, Aim approved Cannon's recommendation that the agency pursue a policy of not setting a national standard for the substance but allowing states to set their own standards, the staff member said. A briefing paper prepared by the Air Office for the meeting said arguments against the decision included its "vulnerability to legal challenge." The decision will be "strongly opposed" by environmental groups, the paper said, and the risks "may unduly alarm" the public. In addition, the decision may not provide "sufficient basis and support for states to regulate on their own." Test Case Cannon said he wants to use acrylonitrile as a test case for having states regulate substances that are carcinogenic but emitted by only a small number of sources, the staff member said. The agency thinks state regulation would be more efficient and less costly because the expensive and time-consuming process of writing national emission stan dards for hazardous air pollutants could be avoided, several Air Office staff members told BNA. EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee approved a health assessment document in October 1983 that said the chemical is probably a human carcinogen (Current Report, Oct. 14, 1983, p. 898). In November 1983, EPA Administrator William D. Ruckelshaus told a House subcommittee that the agency should be given more flexibility in regulating hazardous air pollu tants. Ruckelshaus said EPA would make listing decisions on 25 substances by the end of 1985 (Nov. 11, 1983, p. 1235). Use of TSCA, Memorandum The Air Office is studying development of a memorandum of understanding with affected states requiring them to regulate acrylonitrile sources, according to an EPA staff member. Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act would be used as a back-up authority if a state refuses to regulate the sources, the staff member said. Under the Air Office plan, each state would be allowed to determine its own standards, according to the staff member. Acrylonitrile, which is used in the production of synthetic fibers, is emitted by 25 plants in the United States, with a maximum individual cancer risk of one death in 1,000 population or greater at three plants and one in 10,000 or greater at 10 facilities, according to a member of the agency's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. EPA probably will require regulation in six states that have plants with risks of one death in 10,000 population or greater, the staff member said. Aggregate risk levels are less than 0.5 death per year, according to EPA. Other Section 112 Decisions Expected Decisions may be made soon on six other substances for which emission standards might be set, according to EPA staff members. The agency probably will decide to list coke, oven emissions and carbon tetrachloride as hazardous but not to list epichlorohydrin, hexachloroeyclopentadiene, hexachlorobenzene, and manganese, a staff member said. A decision not to list a substance as hazardous under Section 112 of the act does not imply that the substance is not carcinogenic but that emissions of the substance and subsequent public exposure are not signifii require regulation, a staff member said. Hazardous Materials COAST GUARD CONSIDERING AMENDMEN TO RULES FOR BARGES CARRYING BULK I The Coast Guard is considering changes barges carrying hazardous liquid in bulk handling of hazardous vapors during loadir an advance notice of proposed rulemaking f (49 FR 23085). The amendments under consideration w< regulations to specify the type of ventini necessary during cargo transfer for each stance. The amendments also would add a n that a ten-foot distance be maintained betw vapor discharge and the location of transi gauges for certain substances. The changes are based on recommendati ing Safety Advisory Committee and incl made by the National Transportation Safe recommended that barges carry certificat similar to those required for ships, accord! which is published in the Full Text section < Comments, which are due by Aug. 3, si Commandant (G-CMC/44) (CGD 81-082), U Washington, D.C. 20593. For more informat ert M. Query of the Office of Merchant h (202) 426-1217. Agent Orange VETERANS' LAWSUIT AGAINST U.S. D1SM SCHEDULE SET FOR SETTLEMENT PUBLH A U.S. District Court judge June 4 dismis; the government by thousands of Vietnai sought "complete medical care" for healt claimed were linked to exposure to the Orange. In dismissing the case (Ryan v. Public Food and Drug Administration, and V* istration, CV-84-2237), Judge Jack B. Weil District Court for the Eastern District of N saw no reason to review the decision in a 1 to that of the veterans (Ryan v. Cleland, which had also been denied and not app was the latest in the federal court by damages or health care for effects alle exposure to herbicides contaminated with I odibenzo-p-dioxins. In May, Weinstein oversaw a tentativ tween some 20,000 Vietnam veterans am manufacturers of Agent Orange (In re ' Product Liability Litigation, U.S. Distr Eastern District of New York, MDL No. 31 Dow Chemical Co., Monsanto Co., Diamond Uniroyal Inc., Hercules Inc., Thompson-H; Co., and Thompson Chemical Corp. In announcing the 14-part settlement, i would hold public hearings to determine t agreement. The settlement, still to be approved by the companies to pay $180 million in dan 6-8-84 Copyright 1984 by The Bureau of Nationaf Affairs, inc. 0148-7973/84/40+ SO SL 070035