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EPA TO PROPOSE RULE ON CRT DISPOSAL; ENVIROS ALREADY CALLING IT INSUFFICIENT

Solid Waste Report

WASHINGTON, 12 March 2002 -- EPA expects to publish a proposed rule next month to regulate handling for cathode ray tubes (CRT), with the stated purpose of encouraging people to reuse and recycle them, and do a better job of managing the 250 million expected to be retired in the next five years.

The proposed rule would set federal guidelines for when a CRT is considered hazardous, and how recovered parts would have to be labeled. It has been cleared by the Office of Management and Budget. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman is expected to sign off on it by next month.

"We hope and believe that this rule is the important first step in dealing with the end-of-life of electronics," Marilyn Goode, of EPA's Office of Solid Waste told attendees at the EPR2 conference March 12. The recent report on e-waste exports "raised a good many red flags, and we're looking forward to public comment."

Environmentalists, however, already are criticizing the proposal for not going far enough in that it only addresses CRTs and exempts consumers, small quantity generators and other e-waste.

"Why aren't circuit boards included? The leachable lead content of printed circuit boards is 100 times more than that of CRTs," said Basel Action Network's (BAN) Jim Puckett, citing an Australian government study. He and others said the proposed rule falls short and will increase exports.

Only CRTs are up for regulation because EPA has no reason to believe other electronic waste such as phones, CD players and so forth are hazardous. Their regulation is voluntary and left to the states.

Comments to Go Public Immediately

As much as the rule itself, EPA's new procedures for publishing public comment are expected to bring the issue under more scrutiny. Under the new system, EPA plans to publish public comments on its Web site within 48 hours of receipt. The rule will have a 60- to 90-day comment period and be evaluated immediately thereafter. However, a large number of comments could delay the process.

"If comments are supportive, the process could go quickly," said Goode, who suggested the rule could be final within a year. "But with a lot of comment, it could take longer."

Contact: Marilyn Goode, EPA, (703) 308-8800, goode.marilyn@epa.gov; Jim Puckett, BAN, (206) 652-5555, jpuckett@ban.org.

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