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Friday January 17, 1997
EPA Enhancing Enforcement Office Performance Measures
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Enforcement Compliance Assurance (OECA) will hold a public meeting Feb. 3, to discuss innovative approaches for measuring the success of the agency's enforcement program, and is seeking written comment on the effort. The National Performance Measures Strategy for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance is designed to enhance the current program assessment method of counting the number of inspections conducted, penalties assessed and number of civil and criminal legal cases initiated. The effort is being initiated to support previous efforts to improve OECA's performance measures that were conducted following reorganization of the agency's enforcement office in 1993.
The performance measures strategy will rely on stakeholder consensus to develop a set of national measures, along with the necessary short- and long-term steps needed to implement them. Following the initial public meeting in February, OECA officials plan to meet with "sets of stakeholders" during the year, and with other federal regulatory and law enforcement officials to learn about their performance measures approaches. OECA also plans to hold a "capstone" conference "with a cross-section of stakeholders" near the end of the process (October, 1997) to identify areas of agreement and unresolved issues, and follow up the conference with a report of findings, implementation plan and schedule.
In its Jan. 13, Federal Register notice announcing the initial stakeholder meeting, the agency requested written comment on the following questions: What innovative approaches are being used by other regulatory and law enforcement agencies to measure the success of their enforcement programs?; What innovative approaches are being used by regulated facilities, companies and trade groups to measure the effect of their efforts to achieve and maintain compliance and protect the environment?; What can EPA use to measure the impact of its enforcement and compliance assurance program in low income/minority population communities?; How can EPA measure industry performance in complying with environmental laws and regulations?; How can EPA measure the deterrent effect of its enforcement-related activities?; and, How can the agency measure the impact of compliance assistance activities and compliance incentives? Full details of the initiative were forwarded to the membership via Regulatory Alert RA 97-1.
AMSA Member Agency representatives wishing to attend this meeting, or become part of the stakeholder process for developing OECA's new performance measures, should contact Sam Hadeed, at the National Office, 202/833-4655. Agencies planning to submit written comments should send them to the National Office, where they will be compiled into a package to be forwarded to OECA with an AMSA cover letter.
EPA to Shift Clean Air Act Regulation of POTW Incinerators
EPA this week announced its intention to shift Clean Air Act regulation of publicly owned treatment works' sewage sludge incinerators from Section 112 (National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants) to Section 129 (Air Emissions from other Solid Waste Incineration) of the statute. The agency is seeking comment on the proposed change by March 17, and the AMSA Incineration Workgroup will meet in Cleveland, Ohio, on Jan. 22 to evaluate the proposal's potential impact on member agencies.