EPRI Environment Newsletter, July/August 2007

Environment Quick News

A Monthly Report From EPRI's Environment Sector

July/August 2007

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Dear Environment Sector members:

This is a combined July/August issue of Quick News since many EPRI Environment Sector staff have been on vacation; we wanted to provide you with a more inclusive set of information.

One environmental issue that seems to have fallen off the radar a bit is electric and magnetic fields (EMF). In talking to some companies, they have told us that this issue has been relatively quiet over the past few years and thus have questioned whether further research support is needed. However, other companies, especially those building lines or where state agencies are active, have told us this issue is still very important to them and that our research must continue until the EMF-childhood leukemia connection is resolved. Recently, a number of EMF related reports and activities have certainly brought the issue into perspective for us.

EPRI and EEI sponsored an EMF workshop in May to summarize the current status on a number of topics, from health effects to facility siting. The workshop was attended by over 140 people.
EPRI held a workshop in Japan at the annual meeting of the Bioelectromagnetics Society on scientific advances relevant to setting EMF exposure guidelines. The EPRI session attracted about 50 attendees.
The World Health Organization (WHO) released its long awaited report in June on the health effects of EMF. The report concluded that there is no evidence to change the classification of EMF as a ”possible” carcinogen. Their highest priority research recommendations were very much in line with EPRI's current program.
Finally, in June EPRI’s external EMF Scientific Advisory Committee convened to provide advice and recommendations to the program to assure it remains critical and relevant.

We hope you are all having a wonderful summer and we are looking forward to seeing our advisors in Cleveland in September.

Bryan Hannegan
Vice President, Environment
bhannegan@epri.com
650-855-2858

Michael Miller
Director, Environment
mmiller@epri.com
650-855-2455

ENVIRONMENT SECTOR

. Spreadsheets showing the status of all articles submitted to third-party peer-reviewed publications are now available on epri.com.

AIR QUALITY

Program 42: Air Toxics Health and Risk Assessment

. Evidence increasingly suggests that the halogen, bromine, may play a major role in the scavenging of mercury from the free atmosphere and its deposition to earth.

. EPRI is sponsoring the first direct measurements of mercury dry deposition in field experiments now under way in the western and southeastern United States.

. This technical brief summarizes the characteristics, strengths, and limitations of GEOS-Chem, a global-scale chemical model.

. On June 28, EPA published its most recent Science Advisory Board Arsenic Review Panel report on the carcinogenic effects of organic and inorganic arsenic.

Program 91: Assessment Tools for Ozone, Particulate Matter, and Haze

. EPA’s Regional Haze Rule (RHR) calls for states to establish reasonable goals and emission reduction strategies for improving visibility in mandatory Class I areas (national parks and wilderness areas), striving to achieve "natural visibility conditions" by 2064.

. This technical brief summarizes the characteristics, strengths, and limitations of GEOS-Chem, a global-scale chemical model developed initially by researchers at the University of California at Irvine, Harvard University, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

. This research will provide critical information to support development of standards for ambient PM based on the toxicity of individual PM components (rather than simply overall PM mass), which would result in more cost-effective control strategies that better protect public health.

. At EPA’s request, in June EPRI’s Eladio Knipping served on two peer review panels that evaluated grant applications related to atmospheric particulate matter (PM).

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

Visit the Global Climate Webpage

Program 102: Global Climate Policy Costs and Benefits

. California has set ambitious climate policy goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80% by 2050.

Program 103: Greenhouse Gas Reduction Options

. EPRI’s Adam Diamant made a presentation on “Linking Global GHG Emissions Trading Markets: Issues and Approaches” at the Carbon Finance North America 2007 conference, held June 13–15 in New York.

Area News

. The twelfth annual EPRI Global Climate Change Research Seminar was held May 30–31 in Washington, DC.

. The Global Energy Technology Strategy Program (GTSP) released the “capstone” report of Phase 2 of its study of key climate mitigation technologies, entitled Global Energy Technology Strategy Addressing Climate Change: Phase 2 Findings from an International Public-Private Sponsored Research Program.

LAND AND GROUNDWATER ISSUES

Program 49: Coal Combustion Products—Environmental Issues

. EPRI research was well represented at World of Coal Ash 2007, held May 7–10 in Covington, Kentucky, with seven presentations on EPRI-sponsored studies.

. This report presents results of a study in which low-volume wastes were comanaged with high-volume coal combustion products (CCPs) at the LS site.

Program 50: MGP Site Management

. Brief, thought-provoking presentations stimulated discussion among the 44 participants at EPRI’s MGP Mid-Year Research Issues Workshop held June 13–14 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Program 51: T&D Facilities & Equipment: Environmental Issues

. About 30 participants in the Poles Working Group met on June 5 in Newark, New Jersey, to discuss management of poles throughout their life cycle, and to consider new research to improve pole performance and re-use.

Program 57: ROW: Siting, Vegetation Management, and Avian Issues

. At a public meeting held May 15 in Washington, DC., John-Goodrich Mahoney provided EPRI comments to the Department of Energy on its “Draft National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor Designations.”

. This technical update documents the outcome of two planning sessions in which Program 57 members helped design the 2008 Portfolio by identifying high-priority research needs.

. This Fact Sheet describes Program 57 and lists benefits from applying the results of the research it sponsors.

Program 59: PISCES—Plant Multimedia Toxics Characterization

. EPRI is requesting feedback from PISCES members to prioritize constituents for a new multimedia evaluation.

. The blend ratio of PRB to bituminous coal influences mercury oxidation across an installed SCR, according to preliminary results of an EPRI–EPA pilot study at EPA’s Research Triangle Park facility.

. As part of its two-year study to determine whether to revise the Steam Electric Categorical Effluent Guidelines, EPA recently requested various EPRI reports on wastewater characterization.

WATER AND ECOSYSTEMS

Program 53: Water Quality Criteria Development and Assessment

. A new EPRI TC project with AEP is being undertaken to assist EPA in developing guidance for a site-specific selenium criterion.

. On June 28, EPA published its most recent Science Advisory Board Arsenic Review Panel report on the carcinogenic effects of organic and inorganic arsenic.

Program 54: Fish Protection at Steam Electric Power Plants

. Registration is now available for EPRI’s Second Thermal Ecology and Regulation Workshop, to be held in Westminster, CO, on Oct. 2–3.

. In early 2007, the 2nd Circuit Court ruled that some of the 316(b) Phase II Rule provisions for existing power plants were unlawful.

Program 55: Watershed and Water Resource Management

. In a cross-sector project with funding from EPRI’s Technology Innovation (TI) program, EPRI’s Environment, Generation, and Nuclear sectors will work with Électricité de France (EDF) on research related to advanced cooling technology.

. This technical report provides details regarding the drivers for water quality trading for nitrogen, characteristics of successful trading programs, and the process for establishing a trading program.

. At the summer Water and Ecosystems Advisory Meeting, EPRI researchers and advisors considered three possible regions for design of a water quality trading case study: the Catawba River Basin, the Chesapeake Bay Basin, and the Ohio River Basin.

Program 56: Effluent Guidelines and Water Quality Management

. As part of its two-year study to determine whether to revise the Steam Electric Categorical Effluent Guidelines, EPA recently requested various EPRI reports on wastewater characterization.

Program 58: Hydropower Environmental Issues

. On May 23, EPRI and Alden Research Laboratory hosted a workshop for representatives from Electricité de France, Brookfield Power, and their consultants on EPRI’s research to date on fish-friendly turbines.

. EPRI’s Doug Dixon participated in several presentations at a workshop on Eel Behaviour and Dams: Facilitating the Downstream Migration of Silver Eels, held May 2–4 in Sånga-Säby, Sweden.

EMF HEALTH AND RF SAFETY

Visit the EMF Health Assessment and RF Safety Webpage

Program 60: EMF Health Assessment and RF Safety

. On June 18, 2007 the World Health Organization (WHO) released its Environmental Health Criteria monograph on extremely low frequency (ELF) electric and magnetic fields (EMF).

. A workshop on scientific advances relevant to setting EMF guideline exposure levels was held on June 14, 2007 in Kanazawa, Japan at the 29th annual meeting of the Bioelectromagnetics Society.

. The EMF Health Assessment and RF Safety Program’s external EMF Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) met in Menlo Park, California on June 4-5, 2007.

. The June 2007 issue of EMF Research News is now available on epri.com.

. Presentations from the International EMF Workshop sponsored by EPRI and Edison Electric Institute, held May 3–4 in Washington, D.C., are now available on epri.com.

ENVIRONMENT FEDERAL HIGHLIGHTS (Washington D.C. Office, John Novak)

ENVIRONMENT SECTOR SUPPLEMENTAL PROJECTS

Air Quality

Global Climate Change

Land and Groundwater Issues

Water and Ecosystems

EMF Health Assessment and RF Safety

Program 60: EMF Health Assessment and RF Safety. Currently no supplemental projects.

Occupational Health and Safety

UPCOMING EVENTS

Environment Sector

2007 EPRI Western Environment Conference
Aug. 15–16, Westminister, CO. The EPRI Western Environment Conference provides a forum that will bring together energy-related companies in the western region to discuss environmental issues. More information is available from the EPRI events calendar.

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Sep. 24-28, Cleveland, OH. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Feb. 11–13, Scottsdale, AZ. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

Air Quality

2007 EPRI Western Environment Conference
Aug. 15–16, Westminister, CO. Contact: Naresh Kumar, (650) 855-2990, nkumar@epri.com. The EPRI Western Environment Conference provides a forum that will bring together energy-related companies in the western region to discuss environmental issues. More information is available from the EPRI events calendar.

National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) Annual Meeting and Scientific Symposium
Sep. 10–13, Boulder, CO. Contact: Arnout ter Schure, (650) 855-2753, aterschu@epri.com. More information about this meeting, including a call for abstracts, is available at the event website.

Air Quality VI Conference
Sep. 24–27, Arlington, VA. Contact: Leonard Levin, (650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.
This conference is jointly sponsored by EPRI, EERC, EPA, and DOE. More information is available at the event website.

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Sep. 24–28, Cleveland, OH. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

International Aerosol Modeling Algorithms (IAMA) Conference
Dec. 4–7, Davis, CA. Contact: Eladio Knipping, (650) 855-2592, eknippin@epri.com.
This conference is sponsored by the UC Davis Air Quality Research Center and the California Air Resources Board. More information is available at the event website.

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Feb. 11–13, Scottsdale, AZ. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

9th International Conference on Mercury as Global Pollutant
Jun. 7–12, 2009, Guiyang, China. Contact: Leonard Levin, (650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.

Global Climate Change

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Sep. 24-28, Cleveland, OH. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

EPRI / IEA / IETA 7th Annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Workshop
Oct. 8–9, Paris, France. Contact: Tom Wilson, (650) 855-7928, twilson@epri.com.

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Feb. 11–13, Scottsdale, AZ. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

Land and Groundwater Issues

2007 EPRI Western Environment Conference
Aug. 15–16, Westminister, CO. Contact: Babu Nott, (650) 855-7946, bnott@epri.com. The EPRI Western Environment Conference provides a forum that will bring together energy-related companies in the western region to discuss environmental issues. More information is available from the EPRI events calendar.

EPA Sediment Guidance Training Course
Sep. 4–6, Portland, OR. Contact: Andrew Coleman, (650) 855-2249, acoleman@epri.com.
This training course is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

27th USAEE / IAEE North American Conference
Sep. 16–19, Houston, TX. Contact: Andrew Coleman, (650) 855-2249, acoleman@epri.com. The conference, entitled “Developing & Delivering Affordable Energy in the 21st Century,” is presented by the United States Association for Energy Economics (USAEE) and the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE). Dr. Andrew Coleman will be giving a paper at the conference. More information is available at the event website.

The NAS and WHO on Dioxin and Dioxin-Like Compounds: International Policy Implications and Potential Impact
Sep. 19, East Lansing, MI. Contact: James Lingle, (414) 355-5559, jlingle@epri.com. This workshop is provided free of charge as part of a Superfund Basic Research Program grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science to the Center for Integrative Toxicology at Michigan State University. Registration is limited to 100 participants. More information is available in the event brochure.

Air Quality VI Conference
Sep. 24–26, Arlington, VA. Contact: Leonard Levin, (650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.
This conference is jointly sponsored by EPRI, EERC, EPA, and DOE. More information is available at the event website.

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Sep. 24-28, Cleveland, OH. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

Fall Sediment Management Work Group Meeting
Sep. 25–27, Berkeley, CA. Contact: Andrew Coleman, (650) 855-2249, acoleman@epri.com.

Air & Waste Management Association Conference on Vapor Intrusion: Learning from the Challenges
Sep. 26–28, Providence, RI. Contact: James Lingle, (414) 355-5559, jlingle@epri.com. EPRI will be represented by a paper coauthored by James Lingle with Rich Rago and Rosemary McCafferty of Haley and Aldrich entitled “A comparison of indoor air background data and residential indoor air data obtained from soil vapor intrusion assessments at former manufactured gas plant sites in New York.” More information is available at the event website.

Joint ECOR-4 and EC-DNAPL-2 Conference
Oct. 15–16, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Contact: Andrew Coleman, (650) 855-2249, acoleman@epri.com.
This conference combines meetings of the Fourth European Conference on Oxidation & Reduction Technologies for In-Situ Treatment of Soil and Groundwater (ECOR-4) and the Second European Conference on DNAPL Characterization & Remediation (EC-DNAPL-2). More information is available at the event website.

FGD Gypsum Workshop
Oct. 23–25, Atlanta, GA. Contact: Ken Ladwig, (262) 754-2744, keladwig@epri.com. This conference is jointly sponsored by EPRI, ACAA, EPA, USDA, DOE, and The Ohio State University. More information is available at the event website.

Optimizing Decision-Making and Remediation at Complex Sediment Sites
Jan. 8–10, 2008, New Orleans, LA. Contact: Andrew Coleman, (650) 855-2249, acoleman@epri.com. This conference is jointly sponsored by U.S. EPA, the U.S. Army Corps, the U.S. Navy, and the Sediment Management Work Group (SMWG). More information is available at the SMWG website.

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Feb. 11–13, Scottsdale, AZ. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

MGP 2008
Mar. 4–6, 2008, Dresden, Germany. Contact: Andrew Coleman, (650) 855-2249, acoleman@epri.com or James Lingle, (414) 355-5559, jlingle@epri.com. More information is available at the event website.

Sixth International Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds
May. 19–22, 2008, Monterey, CA. Contact: Andrew Coleman, (650) 855-2249, acoleman@epri.com.
More information is available at the event website.

9th International Conference on Mercury as Global Pollutant
Jun. 7–12, 2009, Guiyang, China. Contact: Leonard Levin, (650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.

Water and Ecosystems

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Sep. 24-28, Cleveland, OH. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

Second Thermal Ecology and Regulation Workshop
Oct. 2–3, Westminster, CO. Contact: Robert Goldstein, (650) 855-2593, rogoldst@epri.com.

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Feb. 11–13, Scottsdale, AZ. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

9th International Conference on Mercury as Global Pollutant
Jun. 7–12, 2009, Guiyang, China. Contact: Leonard Levin, (650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.

EMF Health Assessment and RF Safety

U.S. National Academy of Sciences Workshop on Health Effects of RF Exposure from Wireless Communication Devices
Aug. 7–9, Washington, DC. Contact: Rob Kavet, (650) 855-1061, rkavet@epri.com.
Workshop participants will review available information about the health effects of RF exposure from wireless communication devices, identify gaps in the knowledge of biological effects and possible adverse health outcomes, and identify future research needs.

2007 EPRI Western Environment Conference
Aug. 15–16, Westminister, CO. Contact: Rob Kavet, (650) 855-1061, rkavet@epri.com. The EPRI Western Environment Conference provides a forum that will bring together energy-related companies in the western region to discuss environmental issues. More information is available from the EPRI events calendar.

International Conference on Electromagnetic Fields, Health and Environment
Sep. 10–12, Wroclaw, Poland. Contact: Rob Kavet, (650) 855-1061, rkavet@epri.com.
More information is available at the event website.

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Sep. 24–28, Cleveland, OH. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Feb. 11–13, Scottsdale, AZ. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

The Bioelectromagnetics Society 30th Annual Meeting
Jun. 8–12, 2008, San Diego, CA. Contact: Rob Kavet, (650) 855-1061, rkavet@epri.com.
More information is available at the event website.

12th International Congress of the International Radiation Protection Association
Oct. 19–24, 2008, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Contact: Rob Kavet, (650) 855-1061, rkavet@epri.com.
More information is available at the event website.

Occupational Health & Safety

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Sep. 24-28, Cleveland, OH. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Feb. 11–13, Scottsdale, AZ. Contact: Bryan Hannegan, (650) 855-2858, bhannegan@epri.com.

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