save toxics use reporting

[mienvcouncil@igc.apc.org]

THE CRITICAL MATERIALS REGISTER:
A POTENTIALLY VALUABLE TOOL FOR POLLUTION PREVENTION

Michigan's biggest industries and industrial associations are gunning to
eliminate the Critical Materials Register and the annual wastewater report
required by the Michigan DEQ.  A public meeting in Lansing Wednesday turned
up one environmental group (Michigan Environmental Council) supporting the
program and a dozen business representatives saying it should be scrapped
or reformed.

The CMR was established in the early 1970s after a mercury pollution crisis
was discovered in the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair.  The register
helps the state track all users of materials that may be a risk to human
health and the environment, and has been used several times when the state
needed to contact (literally overnight) companies that are using substances
newly found to be a health risk, so that workers and families can be
screened and treated.

Industry now complains the reports are cumbersome (GM estimates it costs
over $300,000 per year) and not useful.  DEQ has starved the program of
budget support, meaning many reports are filed and not used.  Meanwhile,
citizens need ever more information about the use and release of toxic
substances in their community.

MEC supports streamlining the paperwork requirements of the CMR and annual
wastewater report while protecting and enhancing the community
right-to-know.  Below is our formal position.  Persons interested in
supporting the program should send comments to:  Mike Masterson, Surface
Water Quality Division, MDEQ, P.O. Box 30273, Lansing, MI, 48909 in the
next two weeks.   Masterson's phone is 517-335-4200.

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The Department of Environmental Quality should support and strengthen the
Critical Materials Register and Annual Wastewater Report program to
stimulate materials accounting and pollution prevention while promoting the
public's right to know:

* A feature of Michigan law since 1972, the Critical Materials Register is
a nationally-respected list of approximately 285 toxic chemicals or classes
of chemicals.  The list is developed using scientific protocol and in
conjunction with advice from technical experts outside the Department of
Environmental Quality.

* The CMR is an integral feature of Michigan's water quality standard for
toxic substances, Rule 57;  it provides the list of substances for which
discharges must be evaluated prior to NPDES permit issuance.

* The CMR is superior to the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory list of
substances, containing 194 materials which are not listed through TRI.

*  The annual wastewater report (AWR) required under the 1972 law
establishing the CMR provides important advantages to Michigan
environmental protection over other programs:

        1.      The AWR records use as well as discharge;  TRI covers only
releases and transfers.

        2.      The AWR is required for all business facilities with
process discharges;  TRI covers only facilities within certain SIC codes
with 10 or more full-time employees, and thus catches only a limited number
of major sources.

        3.      The AWR requires reporting of all critical material use in
excess of one pound;  the TRI covers only those manufacturers or processors
in excess of 25,000 pounds of material quantity and users with quantities
in excess of 10,000 pounds.  Consequently, about 200 Michigan facilities
report TRI information but the AWR contains data from about 5,000 active
facilities.

*  Because of budget cuts and administrative neglect, the AWR program is in
limbo and reporting has been suspended.  Nonetheless, if adequately funded
and staffed, and revised to reflect current needs, the CMR/AWR could:

        1.      Provide a comprehensive picture of the use and release of
toxic substances statewide, enabling regulators to pinpoint efforts,
providing an incentive for toxic material users to reduce use and
emissions, and enabling the state as a whole to monitor toxic pollution
trends that affect public health and the environment.

        2.      Provide for a publicly-accessible data base supporting the
citizen right-to-know about toxic material use and release.

        3.      Enable business, DEQ, and environmental and neighborhood
groups to work cooperatively to facilitate pollution prevention through a
better understanding of toxic material use and release trends.