 |
||
|
Industrial Water Pollution Controls |  |
 |
||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
Direct Final Rule to Amend Effluent Guidelines for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
Fact Sheet; January 2003 EPA is making minor changes to the effluent guidelines for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing. The amendments: clarify the applicability dates for new dischargers; correct an inadvertent omission and re-establish a minimum concentration for the monthly average BOD5 limitation; and correct a calculation and delete methyl Cellosolve from some pretreatment standards. Background In 1998, EPA promulgated effluent limitations for the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Point Source Category. This regulation established effluent limitations guidelines, pretreatment standards and new source performance standards under the Clean Water Act for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. In response to comments from the regulated community and after further review of the rule, the Agency decided to make several minor changes. First, this direct final rule clarifies when specific provisions apply to new sources. It eliminates confusion about when those facilities (classified as new sources under the earlier version) are subject to the new, more stringent standards of the 1998 rule. Second, two sections of the 1998 regulation unintentionally omitted a maximum concentration for the monthly average BOD5 limitation. Third, EPA's analysis for the 1998 rule used an incorrect value for the Henry's Law Constant (HL) of methyl Cellosolve. This caused the compound to be classified as a volatile organic compound (VOC), making it subject to the 1998 pretreatment standards. The correct HL value for methyl Cellosolve indicates that it is not a VOC, and this compound will not pass through publicly owned treatment works. Therefore, methyl Cellosolve should be removed from the pretreatment standards. About the Regulation EPA is publishing this direct final rule without first proposing it. The amendments are non-controversial and have no significant impact on the regulated community or the environment. Except for the withdrawal of methyl Cellosolve from the pretreatment standards, the corrections reflect actual practice. This rule will become 90 days after publication in the Federal Register unless the Agency receives adverse comment within 30 days, in which case we will withdraw the rule. How to Get Additional Information For further information contact via mail, phone, or e-mail:
Effluent Guideline for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing home page
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|