[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 81 (Monday, April 28, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22942-22943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-10887]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5818-3]


Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Municipal Waste Management

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of data availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In support of the Source Reduction and Recycling Initiative 
under the President's Climate Change Action Plan, EPA's Office of Solid 
Waste and Office of Economy and Environment are releasing for public 
review a draft contractor report estimating the greenhouse gas 
emissions and sinks associated with managing ten materials in municipal 
solid waste in a variety of ways. The ten materials examined are 
newspaper, office paper, corrugated cardboard, aluminum, steel, HDPE 
plastic, LDPE plastic, PET plastic, food scraps, and yard trimmings. 
Together, these materials constitute roughly 50 percent of the 
municipal solid waste stream. The municipal solid waste management 
strategies addressed are source reduction, recycling, composting, 
combustion, and landfilling.
    The report employs a streamlined life cycle inventory methodology 
to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions and sinks associated with 
managing these materials in specific ways. This methodology includes 
assessments of the following: (1) Process and transportation greenhouse 
gas emissions from raw materials acquisition and manufacturing; (2) 
carbon storage in forests; (3) soil carbon storage; and (4) greenhouse 
gas emissions and emissions offsets associated with combustion and 
landfilling. Greenhouse gas emissions estimates are made for each 
material and management strategy on the basis of metric tons of carbon 
equivalents per ton of material managed in a specific way.
    Preliminary results indicate that municipal solid waste management 
strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are generally consistent 
with the municipal solid waste management hierarchy of preferred waste 
management methods. That is to say, source reduction yields the 
greatest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, followed, in order, by 
recycling (including composting), and disposal (whether combustion or 
landfilling results in lower greenhouse gas emissions depends on the 
specific material).
    The Agency is providing a 90-day comment period for this draft 
contractor report. Information on how to submit comments is provided 
below.

DATES: Submit comments on or before July 28, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Commenters must send an original and two copies of their 
comments referencing docket number F-97-GGEA-FFFFF to: RCRA Docket 
Information Center, Office of Solid Waste (5305G), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency Headquarters (EPA, HQ), 401 M Street, S.W., 
Washington, D.C. 20460. Hand deliveries of comments should be made to 
the Arlington, VA, address listed below. Comments may also be submitted 
electronically by sending electronic mail through the Internet to: 
[email protected]. Comments in electronic format should also 
be identified by the docket number F-97-GGEA-FFFFF. All electronic 
comments must be submitted as an ASCII file; please avoid the use of 
special characters and any form of encryption. Commenters should not 
submit electronically any confidential business information (CBI). An 
original and two copies of CBI must be submitted under separate cover 
to: RCRA CBI Document Control Officer, Office of Solid Waste (5305W), 
U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460.
    Public comments and supporting materials are available for viewing 
in the RCRA Information Center (RIC), located at Crystal Gateway I, 
First Floor, 1235 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA. The RIC is 
open from 9 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday, excluding Federal 
Holidays. To review docket materials, the Agency recommends making an 
appointment by calling (703) 603-9230. Persons may copy a maximum of 
100 pages from any

[[Page 22943]]

regulatory docket at no charge. Additional copies cost $0.15/page.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information, contact the 
RCRA Hotline at (800) 424-9346 or TDD (800) 553-7672 (hearing 
impaired). In the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, call (703) 412-
9810 or TDD 412-3323.
    For a paper copy of the report, ``Greenhouse Gas Emissions From 
Municipal Waste Management,'' please contact the RCRA Hotline at (800) 
424-9346 or TDD (800) 553-7672 (hearing impaired). In the Washington, 
DC, metropolitan area, call (703) 412-9810 or TDD (703) 412-3323. The 
document number is EPA 530-R-97-010. The report is also available in 
electronic format on the Internet at the following address: http://
www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/.
    The official record for this action will be kept in paper form. 
Accordingly, EPA will transfer all comments received electronically 
into paper form and place them in the official record, which will also 
include all comments submitted directly in writing. The official record 
is the paper record maintained at the address in ``Addresses'' section 
above.
    EPA responses to comments, whether the comments are written or 
electronic, will be contained in a notice in the Federal Register or in 
a response to comments document placed in the official record for this 
Notice of Data Availability. EPA will not immediately reply to 
commenters electronically other than to seek clarification of 
electronic comments that may be garbled in transmission or during 
conversion to paper form, as discussed above.
    Finally, for detailed questions regarding the report or to schedule 
a report review meeting during the comment period, please E-Mail Eugene 
Lee at [email protected] or Clare Lindsay at 
[email protected] and insert in the subject line of the 
message only the term ``ghg.'' Organizations interested in meeting with 
EPA to discuss the draft report should submit a list of questions or 
issues to Eugene Lee or Clare Lindsay by E-Mail at least one week prior 
to the scheduled meeting.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In October 1993, President Clinton announced 
the U.S. Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP). The primary goal of the 
CCAP is to return U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to their 1990 levels by 
the year 2000. The plan's programs are voluntary public/private 
partnerships between federal agencies and organizations that want to 
protect the environment and operate more efficiently. Throughout the 
country, CCAP program participants increase the energy efficiency of 
their operations; conserve resources and promote renewable energy 
technologies; nd improve industrial, agricultural, and forest 
productivity as they relate to atmospheric pollution.
    Among the 50 some initiatives outlined in the CCAP is Initiative # 
16--the Source Reduction, Pollution Prevention and Recycling 
Initiative. The purpose of this Initiative is to promote reduction and 
recycling of municipal solid waste (MSW) as a means to help reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions.
    In an effort to estimate the potential for source reduction and 
recycling of MSW to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, EPA's Office 
of Solid Waste and Office of Economy and the Environment jointly 
launched a research effort to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions 
associated with reducing, recycling, composting, combusting, and 
landfilling ten materials commonly found in MSW. The draft contractor 
report noticed for public review today is the product of this initial 
research.
    While this draft contractor report has been reviewed by EPA and 
other government agencies as well as a number of academic peer 
reviewers, the report has not yet been reviewed by industry, state and 
local governments, or non-governmental organizations. The Agency is 
looking forward to detailed input from these sectors to help in 
improving the methodology and data used in this draft report. EPA 
expects this review process to result in changes and improvements to 
the estimates contained in the draft that will make it more useful for 
the applications outlined below.
    The Agency anticipates four potential applications for the 
greenhouse gas emission factors provided in this draft report. First, 
organizations that are interested in quantifying greenhouse gas 
emission reductions associated with managing a waste in a particular 
way may use these estimates for that purpose. Second, the estimates of 
greenhouse gas emissions and sinks may be useful to solid waste 
decision-makers when evaluating specific municipal solid waste 
management options. Third, EPA plans to use the estimates to evaluate 
the extent to which its efforts to promote source reduction and 
recycling (through such programs as WasteWi$e and Pay-As-You-Throw) may 
be contributing to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, 
this analysis may assist other countries in estimating the extent to 
which waste management offers opportunities for greenhouse gas 
reduction.
    The Agency is providing a 90-day comment period for this draft 
contractor report. Comments can be submitted to the RCRA Docket either 
electronically or by hard copy. See ADDRESSES section above for 
information on submitting comments. For information on how to schedule 
a meeting, please see the FURTHER INFORMATION section above.
Matthew Hale,
Acting Director, Office of Solid Waste.
[FR Doc. 97-10887 Filed 4-25-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE: 6560-50-P