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1. EPA INITIATES PUBLIC DIALOGUE ON TOXICS RELEASE INVENTORY, 2. RESEARCH STRATEGY COMPLETED TO MONITOR AND ASSESS WATERS, 3. NEW FOCUS ON GREENHOUSE GASES, ELECTRONICS BY EPA MUNICIPAL WASTE REDUCTION PROGRAM, 4. WHITMAN, ITALIAN MINISTER PLAN COOPERATIVE EFFORTS, 5. THREE CALIFORNIA MEN INDICTED FOR ILLEGAL HANDLING OF DRY CLEANING WASTES

Release Date: 10/17/2002
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Press Advisory

EPA has initiated an on-line national stakeholder dialogue on the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), EPA’s publicly available database of toxic chemical releases reported annually by industry. The 2000 TRI inventory contains data from 23,700 facilities and showed a significant decline in total chemical releases into the environment from 1999. Given the community focus and the broad use of TRI data, stakeholder involvement is critical to TRI’s continued success. During Phase I of the on-line dialogue, stakeholders are invited to provide feedback on the process for reporting, collecting, processing and releasing TRI data, as well as EPA’s program for compliance assistance. Three issue papers that offer more background on the TRI program will be available on the website. Comments will accepted for 60 days via the “Virtual Public Meeting” website at: https://www.epa.gov/tri/programs/stakehlders/outreach.htm. Received comments will be posted on the website, and a final report summarizing the comments will be issued on the TRI website and in EPA’s EDOCKET under docket number OEI-2002-0006. The TRI inventory was established under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986. For more information, see the Federal Register notice at: https://www.epa.gov/tri/programs/stakeholders/fr_notice.pdf.

EPA has announced a national Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) research strategy to provide a comprehensive picture of the state of major U.S. streams and estuaries. Presently, states, tribes and regions collect water data primarily from specific point sources, which are not representative of the entire aquatic ecosystem. The expanded research program will use new data collection techniques to better define actual overall water quality conditions and improve the scope and accuracy of watershed assessments. The strategy outlines how EPA intends to use science to better meet the monitoring and assessment needs of states, tribes and regions. It will result in a statistical monitoring framework that can be used to determine and detect trends in conditions for all the nation’s waterways. The strategy is available electronically through EPA’s Office of Research and Development’s website at: https://www.epa.gov/ORD/resplans/ or EMAP’s website at: https://www.epa.gov/emap.



EPA Deputy Administrator Linda Fisher has challenged leading business, government and other institutional leaders to think and act creatively on waste reduction. Speaking at the WasteWise Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 10, Fisher noted that waste reduction has impacts far beyond traditional recycling and waste prevention programs. She pointed out that waste reduction not only improves an organization’s efficiency and saves money, but it also conserves natural resources, saves energy, prevents air and water pollution and affects climate change. For instance, WasteWise Partners have accomplished waste reductions that keep valuable materials out of landfills and incinerators – this has led to carbon reductions equivalent to removing 19 million cars from the road every year. WasteWise, a voluntary partnership program launched by EPA in 1994, provides guidance and recognition to nearly 1,300 participating organizations working to find practical methods to reduce municipal solid waste and improve financial performance. The WasteWise program each year runs a highly competitive awards program, and this year’s winners range from huge corporations to small businesses to schools to tribes. To reinforce the theme of expanded benefits of recycling and waste prevention beyond conventional program boundaries, the Awards Ceremony for the first time gave special recognition to groups launching the following initiatives: 1) the charter partners in the new National Waste Minimization Partnership Program, which focuses on reducing hazardous waste chemicals; 2) utility industry groups working with EPA in a new Coal Combustion Products Partnership, encouraging userather than disposal of these valuable materials; 3) the initial recipients of new WasteWise Climate Change awards, honoring their voluntary waste prevention and recycling activities targeted at greenhouse gas reduction; 4) pilot state governments working with EPA in new waste reduction partnerships; and 5) WasteWise partners who responded most successfully to a new Electronics Waste Reduction Challenge. The following are those organizations receiving Partners of the Year award, by category: Electronics Challenge: Panasonic (Matsushita Electric Corp. of America) and Public Service Enterprise Group; Climate Challenge: Constellation Energy Group and Virco Mfg. Corp.; Endorser: City of Clifton, N.J.; Federal Government: U.S. Postal Service - Alabama District and U.S. Postal Service - Northeast Area; Large Organization: Pitney Bowes Inc. and Virco Mfg.; Local Government: Jackson County, Mo. and King County, Wash.; Midsize Organization: Guardian Industries and NEC Electronics; School/School District: Los Angeles Unified School District; Small Organization: Creative Office Systems and Evelyn Hill Inc.; State Government: State of Ohio; Tribal Government: Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation; University/College: Eastern Illinois University; Very Large Organization: Anheuser-Busch Companies and the Walt Disney Co. For further information about EPA’s WasteWise program, see the WasteWise website at: https://www.epa.gov/wastewise or contact the WasteWise Helpline at 1-800-EPA-WISE (372-9473).



U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman and Italy’s Minister of the Environment and Territory, Altero Matteoli, held discussions on Oct. 16 in Washington, D.C., on ways of enhancing cooperation between their agencies. They discussed ways to build on the strong foundation for bilateral cooperation set by President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during their two meetings this year, in Rome and at Camp David. In addition to the core mission of protecting the health and well-being of Italian and American citizens and their environment, the two environmental agencies are preparing to collaborate on the implementation of specific environmental commitments made at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, at which Administrator Whitman and Minister Matteoli joined in the announcement of new initiatives to promote cleaner fuels and vehicles and to improve indoor air quality. The environmental ministers also addressed ways of exchanging scientific information and sharing best management practices, which can help protect children and to better manage contaminated sites.
Homayoun Pourat of Beverly Hills, Calif., President of AAD Distribution and Dry Cleaning Services Inc.; Hormoz Pourat of Encino, Calif., AAD Vice President and Behzad Kahoolyzadeh of West Los Angeles, Calif., Manager of AAD, were indicted on Oct. 11 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles on multiple counts of violating federal hazardous waste laws. Until it was shut down in January 2001, AAD was one of California’s largest handlers of perchloroethylene (PERC). Kahoolyzadeh was arrested on Oct. 11. Hormoz Pourat is in custody in Colorado after having been convicted on charges related to AAD in that state and Homayoun Pourat is a fugitive. All three men allegedly improperly stored and transported waste PERC, a dry cleaning fluid. AAD would pick up waste PERC in 55-gallon drums and would issue certificates to the dry cleaners assuring them that their PERC waste would be transported, stored and disposed of in accordance with all applicable hazardous waste laws. The indictment alleges, in 1999 and 2000, the defendants stored the waste in amounts greatly exceeding allowed limits, as set out in the ADD facility=s hazardous waste permit. The indictment also alleges the defendants used unapproved containers to transport the waste and illegally stored the waste at a facility called Right Choice, which was next door to the AAD facility in Vernon, Calif. Finally, the indictment alleges the wastes were transported to and stored at other facilities as well. PERC is a cancer-causing chemical which is the major ground water pollutant in Southern California. If convicted, each defendant could receive a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine for each count. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Toxic Substances Control, the City of Vernon, Calif., and the Colorado Attorney General’s office with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles. An indictment is merely an accusation, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty in a court of law.

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