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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06.a.5) Handout-Add'l Written Announcements(o.a.5) NarwlocrF oard Meetina of November 4. 2010 Written Announcements Financial Information Reauest a) Controller Requires Special Districts to Report Compensation Info State Controller, John Chiang, has announced that his office will now require independent special districts to begin reporting compensation information for District officials and staff. This compensation information will include both salaries and benefits. Cities and counties were required to submit the same information by October 2010. Special districts will be required to submit data to the Controller by December 13, 2010. Letters are currently being sent to special districts outlining the new reporting requirements. District staff will compile the data and submit it by the deadline. General b) USEPA Public Hearing Update The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) released proposed new air standards for Multiple Hearth Furnaces on October 14, 2010. On October 29, 2010, the District commented on those standards at USEPA offices in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The District made three main comments. The regulatory proposal states that the removal of mercury will yield a benefit ranging from $130 - $320 million in medical cost savings annually. The District asked for a copy of the Health Risk Assessment so that it could be reviewed. This document supporting this claim was not part of the Regulatory Proposal. The District provided information that the cost to treat mercury to the very low levels suggested in the proposed regulation is approximately $125,000 per pound versus the $6,000 per pound stated in the proposed ruling. Thus, the nationwide cost is $2 billion per year not the $105 million suggested in the proposed regulation, making the cost to benefit ratio not justifiable. Finally, the District indicated that the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Program and Dental Amalgam programs reduced the amount of mercury in the plant influent by 70 %. If the total cost of our HHW program were assigned solely to mercury removal, the cost would be $24,000 per pound of mercury removed. This does not consider the very significant benefit of all of the other materials removed from the environment at our facility, such as paints, pesticides and herbicides. The District suggested that enhanced source control is a better mechanism for mercury removal than the proposed rule. In closing, the District commented that by requiring existing incinerators to remove mercury to these very low limits, wastewater agencies will be incurring costs that are not justified by the benefits. The District will submit written comments on the regulation for delivery to USEPA by November 29, 2010.