Document oeovoOJ0r7G0D5ZGoZZM5ee0X

1 RICHARD M. rAIRSANKS.nl HENRY L. DIAMONO ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE. HI GARY H.BAISE A.JAMES BARNES HAROLO HIMMELMAN CHRISTOPHER H. BUCKLEY, JR. JONATHAN Z.CANNON ANDREW E. MISHKIN CHARLES A. PATRIZIA SCOTT W. BOWEN CATHERINE M. DUNLAP KARL S. BOUROEAU CYNTHIA A. LEWIS not member of o. c. bar LAW OFFICES Beveridge, Fairbanks & Diamond One Farragut Souare South Washington, D. C. 20006 TELEPHONE (202) 638-7800 October 31, 1978 CARL EAROLEY ELLIOTT GOLDSTEIN OF COUNSEL CABLE ADDRESS "iNOLAw" TELECOPIER (202) 6 38 - Al 94 Joseph E. Hadley, Jr., Esquire Keller & Heckman Suite 1000 1150 17th Street, N. W. Washington, DC 20036 Re: Relief Valve Discharges By Facilities Covered By The National Emission Standard For Vinyl Chloride' Dear Joe: Enclosed is an October 26, 1978 memorandum by the Division of Stationary Source Enforcement of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency advising the Agency's regional enforcement offices (1) that relief valve discharges due to operator error should be considered to be violations of the Vinyl Chloride Standard only when they resulted from preventable operator errors, and (2) that such discharges should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The memorandum is limited to discussing operator error, and does not specifically address broader questions of preventability, such as backup equipment and the preventability of discharges resulting from equipment malfunctions. The remaining questions for the PVC Safety Group are whether SPI should seek further clarification from the Division of Stationary Source Enforcement and the staff at Research Triangle Park (RTP) concerning: (1) what types of operator error will be considered "preventable", and (2) what types of equipment failures and malfunctions will be considered "unpreventable" and how such determinations will be made. Accordingly, we suggest John Lawrence consider polling the members of the PVC Safety Group to determine whether they favor SPI approaching the staff on these matters or would prefer to deal with the regions on the remaining questions as individual cases arise. Cordially, Enclosure SPI- 12579