Transcript IDEM Update NIRPC EMPC January 8, 2009 Thomas W. Easterly, P.E., BCEE, QEP Commissioner IN Department of Environmental Management.

IDEM Update
NIRPC EMPC
January 8, 2009
Thomas W. Easterly, P.E., BCEE, QEP
Commissioner
IN Department of Environmental Management
1
Question for EMPC
• Can people with diverse interests work
together to address environmental
challenges?
or
• Are the diverse interest groups destined to
leave these issues unresolved until all legal
avenues are exhausted—a lengthy process?
2
US Courts Overturning Rules
• 2007—Industrial, Commercial and Institutional
(ICI) Boiler MACT—directly impacted about 10
sources with coal fired boilers
• May 2008—Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR)
impacted all Power Plants
• July 2008—Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR)
impacted all Power Plants and most Indiana air
pollution strategies
3
We Protect Hoosiers and Our Environment
BP Air Permit
• 38 day public comment period, 342 written
comments received
• Public meeting and hearing – 1,200 attended,
44 commented
• Construction permit issued May 1 and
operation permit issued June 16
• Multiple appeals of these permit decisions to
OEA, Federal Court and the EPA Administrator
4
NRDC Statement on Tar Sands
• “BP’s decision to tap into the Canadian wilderness is
‘based on addiction, not reality,’ says Ann Alexander,
senior attorney at the Natural Resource Defense
Council (NRDC), a nonprofit environmental group. ‘Tar
sands crude oil is dirty from start to finish. It’s bad
enough that [BP is] fouling our natural resources here
in the Midwest, but it’s completely destroying them up
in Canada. There are good sources of energy we can
turn to that don’t involve turning entire forests into a
moonscape.’”
5
We Protect Hoosiers and Our Environment
Duke-Edwardsport Power Plant
• First commercial Integrated Gasification
Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant in the U.S.
• 44 day public comment period
• Public meeting and hearing – over 600 citizens
attended
• Construction permit issued January 25 and
operation permit issued in March
• Permit decision appealed
6
Permit Backlog Reduction
• In 2005, there were 263 administratively
extended NPDES permits
• Six of those 263 remain to be issued:
– US Steel Gary Works
– US Steel Midwest Division
– Arcelor Mittal Indiana Harbor East
– Arcelor Mittal Indiana Harbor West
– Arcelor Mittal Burns Harbor
– Hoosier Energy Merom Plant
7
Impact of NPDES Extensions
• These companies are not required to meet the
Great Lakes Initiative discharge limits—e.g.
mercury.
• These companies are not required to meet
other more stringent discharge limitations,
testing and reporting requirements.
8
Impact of NPDES Extensions
• Many of the objections to the USX permit
related to the time allowed by the permit for
the Company to meet the new standards.
• Without a renewed permit, USX has no
deadline for meeting the new standards.
• The other four steel plants with extended
permits also have no deadline for meeting the
new standards.
9
IDEM’s Mission and
Environmental Goal
IDEM is responsible for protecting human health
and the environment while providing for safe
industrial, agricultural, commercial and
governmental operation vital to a prosperous
economy. Our goal is to increase the personal
income of all Hoosiers to the national average
while maintaining and improving Indiana’s
Environmental Quality.
10
Pilot 2006 Environmental
Performance Index
 Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy
Yale University
 Center For International Earth Science
Information Network (CFIESIN)
Columbia University
 http://www.yale.edu/epi/
11
12
We Protect Hoosiers and Our Environment
Performance Metrics Jan 2009
Quality of Hoosiers' Environment
Result
Target
Comments
% of Hoosiers in counties meeting air quality
standards
84%
100%
80%
2 counties & 981,839 of
6,345,289 above standard
% of CSO Communities with approved programs to
prevent the release of untreated sewage
93%
100%
20%
90+9 (99) out of 98+9 (107)
Permitting Efficiency Total calendar days accumulated in issuing environmental permits, as determined by state statute
Land
16,647
66,565
86,864
131 permits
Air
72,845
207,000
385,000
317 permits
Water
29,712
48,000
200,000
24 permits
* Places emphasis on back logged permits
Compliance Total percentage of compliance observations from regulated customers within acceptable compliance standards
Inspections
96.22%
97%
75%
Self reporting
94.93%
99%
95%
Continuous monitoring (COM)
99.85%
99.90%
98.95%
* Tracks observations and not just inspections
Organizational Transformation Budgetary agency dollars spent on key outside contracts for core agency functions.
Dollars spent on outside services per year
$1,500,000
$0
$3,447,017
$1.5 OLQ
13
We Protect Hoosiers and Our Environment
Performance Metrics June 2005
14
We Protect Hoosiers and Our Environment
New Drinking Water Metric
• Percent of Hoosiers Drinking Safe Water
– Percentage of Indiana population that receives
drinking water from facilities that are in full
compliance with safe drinking water regulations
– Federal (EPA) Goal is 90%
15
We Protect Hoosiers and Our Environment
Total Permit Calendar Days
600000
500000
400000
Air
300000
200000
Water
Land
100000
0
16
Air Permits Branch Rapid Improvement Activities
• Lean/Kaizen Methodology to improve efficiency
– Significant Source Modifications (Construction Approvals)
9/07 Event
• Process time reduced from 220 days to 121 days avg.
–Permit Renewals 12/07 Event
• Process time reduced from 678 day avg. to all those
issued in ’08 within 270 days allowed (calendar days)
• Eliminate backlog of administratively extended permits
– 1/1/08 - 156 permits
– 1/7/09 only 9 remaining
17
New 2008 Laws
• HEA 1001 Property Tax Reform was the Major Issue
in the 2008 Legislative Session
• SEA 45—The Great Lakes Water Compact with
implementing legislation
• HEA 1120—Ban phosphates in residential
dishwasher detergent sold after July 1, 2010
18
New 2008 Laws
• SEA 43 addresses many environmental issues
– Clarifies mercury switch removal program requirements
to:
• Allow payment for removal of mercury containing anti-lock
braking switches and other mercury containing devices
• Exempt wrecked vehicles where the mercury switch is not
easily accessible
– Allows IDEM to accept electronic signatures
– Clarifies Requirements for Local Land Use Approvals for
Solid Waste Landfills that have not yet accepted Waste
19
• SEA 43 Continued
– Removes the requirement that IDEM have a laboratory
division
– Removes the requirement to display operator
certificates at a treatment plant
– Allows a single vehicle ID and land application permit
approval for a septage hauler
– Eliminates the requirement that IDEM obtain social
security numbers as part of good character approval
process
– Allows IDEM to use ELTF for tank inspections
20
New 2008 Laws
SEA 43 Continued
– Requires public notice of rules that are proposed to
sunset
– Protects a community from being required to pay
storm water fees to two entities
– Clarifies Environmental Criminal Language
• SEA 46 modified the marketable record title for
real property to eliminate the need to renew a
environmental restrictive covenant every 50 years
21
Agency Accomplishments
• All 1,269 tons of VX Agent stored at the
Newport Chemical Agent Facility since 1969
has been safely destroyed. VX destruction
started in May of 2005 and was completed in
August 2008
• Digital Inspector Tool is in use for solid waste
inspections including CAFOs, Auto Salvage
Yards and Landfills.
22
Agency Accomplishments
• All IDEM lead CSO Communities have entered
legal agreements to address their CSO issues.
• Increased permit speed and virtually
eliminated permit and enforcement backlogs.
• Entire State met the 0.08 ppm Ozone air
quality standard for the period 2006-2008, all
but Lake and Porter Counties designated
attainment. PM2.5 Air Quality looks good.
23
Lead 2005 - 2007 Design Values
(Highest Quarter, ug/m3)
0.03
0.06
0.13
0.46
0.03
1.39
0.03
0.03
Lead Monitor
0.01
0
10
0 10 20
20
40 Mi
40 Km
24
Agency Initiatives
• Virtual File Cabinet—electronic filing system—over
30,000,000 pages now available electronically.
Visits to IDEM file room down over 90% from
445/mo 1Q 2007 to 35/mo 2Q 2008.
• TEMPO—Enterprise wide electronic integration of
all IDEM information—part of the process to allow
us to receive and process electronic permit
applications and reports.
• Applied for EPA approval for electronic submittals
25
Agency Initiatives
• Returned enforcement function to the air, water
and land programs and eliminated the separate
office of enforcement.
• Provide consistent Statewide air quality
permitting, monitoring and enforcement services
by directly managing the air program functions
previously contracted to: Anderson, Evansville,
Gary, Hammond, Indianapolis, and Vigo County.
26
Office of Enforcement
2003
Referrals
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008*
607
467
547
591
606
433
5,222
4,980
4,268
4,024
3,958
17**
Notices of Violation
457
318
202
427
420
314
Agreed Orders
349
314
258
417
372
363
15
6
41
38
39
31
Dismissals
121
44
48
46
57
39
Complies/Closed
308
312
317
577
568
382
13
17
4
33
52
21
Violation Letters
Commissioner’s Orders
AG Referrals
*2008 data is incomplete
**Does not include Program Violation Letters
27
Criminal Convictions
• Wabash Environmental Technologies and Derrik
Hagerman—Clean Water Act felonies. Sixty
months of imprisonment and $237,000 in
restitution (Terre Haute)
• Miller Environmental and Anthony
MuCullough—Clean Water Act felonies. Four
months imprisonment and $510,000 in
penalties (Shelbyville and Rushville)
28
Criminal Convictions
• Richard Reece—RCRA felonies. Six months in
half way house, six months home detention
and $60,000 restitution (Muncie)
• Hassan Barrel and Alan Hersh—RCRA felonies.
Awaiting sentencing (Fort Wayne)
29
Percent of Activities Meeting Regulations
102.00%
100.00%
98.00%
96.00%
Inspections
Self Reporting
Emission Monitoring
94.00%
92.00%
90.00%
88.00%
6/1/2005
12/1/2005
6/1/2006
12/1/2006
6/1/2007
12/1/2007
6/1/2008
12/1/2008
30
Reasons for Enforcement Change
• No improvement in compliance rates in 4 years
• EPA HQ told me both enforcement models
(separate office or in program) are used
effectively
• Enforcement often told me cases could not move
because they were “waiting on program staff”
• Unpublished enforcement policies resulted in
unexpected actions—too timid and too aggressive
31
Forbes “America’s Greenest
States” Report
• “So who’s at the bottom? Mississippi,
Louisiana, Alabama, Indiana and, at No. 50,
West Virginia. All suffer from a mix of toxic
waste, lots of pollution and consumption and
no clear plans to do anything about it. Expect
them to remain that way.”
32
Forbes Report Conclusion
• Does not rank States based upon government
verified environmental quality data
• Appears to be a ranking based upon adherence of
States to a group of policies advocated by the
NGO’s providing information used in the rankings
• The data used in the report is as old as 2003 and
goes up to 2005
• We are implementing improvements and have
made great progress
33
We Protect Hoosiers and Our Environment
Questions?
Tom Easterly
Commissioner
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
317-232-8611
[email protected]
34
Antidegradation Status
• Stakeholder kickoff Meeting on March 7, 2008
• Discussed concepts and schedule at two large
stakeholder meetings on 4/29 and 6/25
• Working group of twelve members from the
environmental, business and municipal
segments formed to come up with draft rule
language and/or identify areas for IDEM to
resolve
35
Antidegradation Status
• Working group has met on 7/15, 8/12, 9/16 ,
10/30, 12/11/08 and 1/6/09, next is 1/26/09
• Working group agenda items:
– Applicability (7/15) & (10/30)
– Exemptions (8/12) & (10/30)
– DeMinimis (9/16) & (10/30)
– Water Quality Improvement Projects (1/26/09)
– Antidegradation Demonstrations (12/11/08)
– Public Notice/Public Comment (1/6/09)
36