LSCT REGULATORY BRIEF

APRIL 2006

 

Submitted by:

 

Doug Shelburne

Shelburne Environmental Management, Inc.

(502) 241-9785

EPA’s Sector Strategies Performance Report

EPA’s second edition (2006) of the Sector Strategies Performance Report is available.  EPA's Sector Strategies Program uses partnerships to promote improvement in environmental performance with reduced administrative burden. (Please note that 2003 Toxic Release Inventory data are used in this report).

This document has two primary objectives:

• To profile certain industry sectors, highlighting economic statistics and trends; and
• To describe, and where possible, to measure environmental progress to date, focusing on performance trends over the past 10 years.

New to this edition are two chapters that tie together information from all of the participating sectors in regard to the following themes:

• Leadership by Trade Associations describes how participating trade associations can serve as valuable catalysts in the effort to improve environmental performance among their members.
• Beneficial Reuse of Materials describes how participating sectors are turning would be wastes into substitutes for raw materials and/or sources of energy.

The 2006 report also introduces the use of toxicity-weighted data to supplement basic information on emission trends. The toxicity-weighted data provide insights about the greatest opportunities for each sector to make progress in reducing the toxicity of its releases.  The “Paint and Coatings” chapter of this report is attached in a pdf file. 

Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District - Strategic Toxic Air Reduction (STAR) Program

The following is recent news as related to the STAR program and legislative maneuvering.  A recent article in the The Courier-Journal (dated March 24, 2006 and written by James Bruggers) stated the following (in quotes):

“Louisville is making an offer to Ford Motor Company that would provide the automaker with some assurances on environmental regulations without substantially changing the community’s new program to control toxic air.  In letters released yesterday by state Rep. Larry Clark, D-Okolona, metro officials said that they would push for several amendments by the Air Pollution Control Board.  The changes could help Ford and other industrial employers navigate a package of rules adopted after monitoring detected unsafe levels of chemicals.

Clark went public with the letters in an attempt to rescue House Bill 117, which seeks to improve the state’s lead-screening program for children.  That bill now contains language from Senate Bill 39, which would kill the city’s STAR program.”