Kristin Fitzgerald/DC/USEPA/US 

12/20/2006 11:33 AM	To

	ert2002@med.cornell.edu, ahazari@utk.edu

	cc

	

	bcc

	Patricia Mercer/DC/USEPA/US@EPA; Meg McCarthy/DC/USEPA/US@EPA; Betsy 

Devlin/DC/USEPA/US@EPA; James Michael/DC/USEPA/US@EPA

	Subject

	Follow-up Question to ACS's Comments

	

	

Erik Talley, Chair, Laboratory Environment, Health and Safety Task Force

Alan Hazari, Chair, Committee on Chemical Safety

American Chemical Society

 Thank you for your comments on EPA’s Proposed Rule: Subpart
K—Standards 

Applicable to Academic Laboratories (71 Federal Register 29712) on
behalf 

of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

In response to ACS’s comments (Docket Number 

EPA-HQ-RCRA-2003-0012-0074.1), EPA has a follow-up question.  In the 

preamble to the proposed rule (page 29720), EPA estimated that hazardous


laboratory waste constitutes 9% of the annual hazardous waste generated
by 

college and university large quantity generators.  EPA based this number


on data submitted to EPA by colleges and universities that are large 

quantity generators, as part of the 2001 Biennial Report.  

In contrast, on page 2 of ACS’s comments to the docket, ACS commented 

that, “We believe this number is significantly incorrect.  Most 

institutions that we have informally surveyed state laboratory waste
would 

represent about 70-75% of the chemical waste produced by the
institution.  

For example, the pollution prevention report developed by the University


of Vermont indicates that from 2002 to 2005, the weight percentage of 

laboratory waste among all of its chemical waste is between 63 and 74%. 


Other campuses report similar percentages.”  EPA is very interested in
any 

data, beyond the UVM example, that ACS has and can provide to support
this 

assertion.  This information would be beneficial to EPA in its
development 

of the final rule, in order to have a fuller understanding of the 

laboratory waste generation patterns at colleges and universities.  

Unfortunately, this comment is not useful to EPA without supporting data


that can substantiate or validate the results of the “informal
survey.”  

EPA would find it helpful if you could provide an explanation of the 

origins of the data, and how or why the data may differ from the
Biennial 

Report data we relied on.  In addition, we would appreciate a timely 

response to allow us to incorporate any information you may provide into


the decision-making process, as appropriate.   Please provide a response


by the end of January 2007.  If you are unable to provide a response by 

then, please contact us to let us know if and when you could provide a 

timely response.  

Any supporting information you provide to EPA will be made publicly 

available in the docket for the rulemaking, unless the information is 

claimed as Confidential Business Information (CBI). Therefore, if you 

submit any information that you claim as CBI, clearly mark all of the 

information that you claim to be CBI.  Information so marked will not be


disclosed, except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part


2.  Please do not fax any information claimed as CBI.  For additional 

information on how to submit CBI, refer to page 29713, of the May 23, 

2006, Federal Register, proposed rule for academic laboratories, or 

contact LaShan Haynes, the Office of Solid Waste CBI contact, at (703) 

605-0516, Haynes.LaShan@epa.gov.

Again, thank you for your comments on the proposed standards for
academic 

laboratories.  Please direct any questions or response to this letter to


any member of EPA’s labs team:  

Patricia Mercer, (703) 308-8408, Mercer.Patricia@epa.gov

Meg McCarthy, (703) 308-8653, McCarthy.Meg@epa.gov

Kristin Fitzgerald, (703) 308-8286, Fitzgerald.Kristin@epa.gov

**************************************************************

Kristin Fitzgerald

US EPA - Office of Solid Waste

mail code:  5304P

phone:  703-308-8286

fax:  703-308-0522

email:  fitzgerald.kristin@epa.gov

work schedule:  Tuesday/Thursday

