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1) To ensure that the greatest risks are identified and that the environmental 

 laws are applied in such manner as to accomplish the intended results of the laws, 

 the EPA or Department should establish an expert advisory committee whose pur- 

 pose is to provide advice concerning the relative ranking of risks, identify the need 

 for new laws, and set priorities for existing laws, within the constraints of statutory 

 authority. The committee should identify different alternative options for reducing 

 risks, as well as the costs to regulatory agencies and the private sector. 



This expert advisory committee should be independent of the Science Advisory 

 Board, and include representation from industry, public interest groups and the 

 states. The committee should report on their findings at least annually to Ck)ngress. 



2) The EPA or Department should also develop guidelines to ensure consistency 

 and technical quality in risk assessments by setting minimum standards for differ- 

 ent risk assessment approaches, depending on the magnitude of the environmental 

 problem, level of scientific understanding, and the available data. In addition, the 

 EPA or Department must resolve and reconcile the different risk assessment ap- 

 proaches used by various Federal agencies, such as EPA, FDA, CDC, etc. 



III. The EPA or Department of the Environment Should Explore Opportunities to 

 Improve Its Regulatory Program Effectiveness In The Name of Pollution Prevention 

 and Environmental Innovation 



A. If Established, the Conunission on Improving the Environment Should Ensure 

 A Review of Current Regulatory and Statutory Obstacles That Hinder Pollution 

 Prevention and Environmental Innovation 



The joint Amoco/EPA study at the Yorktown refinery identified certain obstacles 

 to achieving pollution prevention goals. The current system encourages short-term 

 fixes at the expense of more effective, long-term solutions. In addition, incomplete or 

 inaccurate data regarding emissions often diverts energies to problems of less sig- 

 nificance relative to others. 



The EPA or Department of the Environment could verify the benefit of improved 

 environmental protection by investigating specific issues such as but not limited to 

 the following: 



1) Regulatory compliance deadlines — determine the extent that different regula- 

 tory deadlines aimed at the same source and/or constituents of concern impede pol- 

 lution prevention and multi-media environmental management approaches (e.g., 

 emissions from waste systems under the Benzene Waste NESHAP and emissions 

 from waste management facilities under RCRA Phase II Air Emissions). 



2) Different environmental performance goals and measures — identify the barriers 

 or obstacles in regulations (e.g., prescriptive regulation of technology to be applied) 

 that hinder the use of innovative environmental management methods and tech- 

 niques, and how different compliance measures (e.g., different requirements to dem- 

 onstrate compliance) hinder development of innovative pollution prevention technol- 

 ogies. 



3) Role of risk — identify the advantages, limitations and obstacles to the use of 

 risk assessments and risk management techniques in developing and prioritizing 

 both EPA (or Department) and facility risk reduction goals. 



B. With or Without a Legislative Mandate, the EPA or Department of the Envi- 

 ronment Should Be Provided Legislative Authority to Allow Multi-Media Alterna- 

 tive Regulatory Compliance Protocols to Promote Environmental Innovation. Pollu- 

 tion Prevention. £md Cost-Effective Environmental Compliguice 



The Yorktown study also found that better environmental benefits can be 

 achieved at lower cost. Each facility is different, with its own operations, equipment, 

 and number of emission sources. At the Yorktown facility, the study found that over 

 95% of the mandatory emission reductions could be achieved at 20-25% of the cost. 

 Thus, the study recommended that the EPA evaluate options for setting a goal or 

 target for reducing emissions, then allow the facility the flexibility to develop a 

 strategy to meet the target. 



The current system discourages innovative solutions to complex environmental 

 problems. Environmental investments have focused on single-issue regulatory re- 

 quirements as they were developed. There has been little coordinated management 

 of multiple regulatory requirements because the regulations themselves do not rec- 

 ognize or allow for this, and there is little sound data to support the incentives of 

 this approach. 



Many other experts in the environmental policy arena also support the use of al- 

 ternative regulatory compliance mechanisms to encourage greater environmental 

 benefits that the current systems allows. 



In A New Generation of Environmental Leadership, the World Resources Institute 

 has proposed that "C!ongress should, on an experimental basis, allow qualifying com- 

 panies to opt into an alternative regulatory track. There, within careful confines. 



