286 



Q. 28: Last year the Confess finally enacted the Federal Facility Compliance 

 Act (FFCA), which should strengthen EPA's hand in dealing with other agencies 

 violations of RCRA and other environmental statutes. Could you comment on 

 what the EPA is currently doing to implement this law and what future plans you 

 have? 



A. 28: The FFCA became law on October 6, 1992. This new Act only amends the 

 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). There are several new authorities 

 that will make RCRA Federal facility enforcement actions more consistent with ac- 

 tions currently used in the private sector. 



The FFCA also requires the Administrator to undertake inspections at all Federal 

 facilities that treat, store, and dispose of hazardous waste. EPA is determining the 

 appropriate interpretation for this provision. On March 17, 1993 EPA sent out guid- 

 ance regarding implementation of the new RCRA inspection requirements to the 

 EPA Regions. In addition, EPA is also working on the appropriate mechanism for 

 reimbursement of EPA by the Federal agencies for the cost of performing inspec- 

 tions. The RCRA Land Disposal Restrictions require treatment technologies and ca- 

 pacity be developed for mixed waste. 



DOE, within 180 days of October 6, must submit two inventory reports: 1) a na- 

 tional inventory of all of its mixed wastes regardless of the time they were generat- 

 ed, on a state-by-state basis; and 2) a national inventory of its mixed waste treat- 

 ment capacities and technologies. DOE has submitted these reports to EPA and the 

 appropriate states. Both EPA and the states have 90 days to comment. DOE shall 

 consider and publish the comments before finalizing the two inventories. 



At each site at which DOE has generated or has stored mixed waste, DOE will 

 then develop a PLAN for developing treatment technologies for treating the inven- 

 tory wastes where no treatment exists and also for developing more treatment ca- 

 pacities where technologies are available. DOE will submit the plan to either EPA 

 or the State. 



Upon approval of the plan, EPA or the delegated state shall issue an Order or 

 permit requiring compliance with the approved plan. 



In the FFCA, Congress further instructed EPA to create new regulations for mu- 

 nitions within 24 months of April 6, 1992. The Office of Solid Waste has convened a 

 workgroup to address the munitions requirements, and the workgroup has met with 

 representatives from the Department of Defense. 



Q. 29: A good example of EPA's lack of adequate resources is its approach to 

 implementing plans for addressing pollution. The agency believes that nonpoint 

 sources of pollution resulting from agriculture and urban runoff are what account 

 for our nation's water quality problems. EPA has a plan to deal with nonpoint 

 pollution. However, the plan has gone basically unimplemented, mainly for want 

 of adequate resources. Where else has this been a problem in the agency? 



A. 29: As you know, all Federal departments and agencies — including all the of- 

 fices and programs within the Environmental Protection Agency — are making ex- 

 traordinary efforts to effectively manage necessarily limited resources in meeting its 

 statutory and regulatory obligations. For example, at the Environmental Protection 

 Agency, the risk-based and watershed protection approaches are being developed 

 and refined to focus Congressionally appropriated resources on priority environmen- 

 tal problems identified at the National, state and sub-state levels. The risk-based 

 and watershed approaches seek to focus efforts on the most serious environmental 

 problems first. The watershed protection approach seeks to identify priority pollu- 

 tion problems in a discrete geographic area and to then concentrate available Feder- 

 al, state, local government, and private resources to address the problems. 



Q. 30: A) Will you make it a priority to address the needs and concerns of small 

 governments when developing these alternative approaches? (Refers to Administra- 

 tor's statement in confirmation hearing that there was a need to move away from 

 prescriptive "commemd and control" regulation toward alternative regulatory ap- 

 proaches) 



A. 30: A) Yes, in many cases, achievement of our nation's environmental goals is 

 dependent on implementation at the local government level, and the vast majority 

 of these governments are small governments. So it is essential that their needs, con- 

 cerns and ideas are carefully considered when we design and implement environ- 

 mental programs. I am committed to forging the type of Federal, State and local 

 government partnership that will ensure we all get the most bang for the buck and 

 that environmental programs truly work at the local level where they matter most. 



Q. 30: B) Will you keep the Reg-Flex policies and functions of the previous Ad- 

 ministration in place? 



A. 30: B) I strongly support the mandate of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980: 

 when developing regulations. Federal £igencies must fully consider amy significant 



