TABLE 1.-FUNDING FOR ACTIVITIES UNDER THE SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT AS AMENDED BY THE RESOURCE Question.-4. "What is your best estimate of the cost of making every municipal incinerator in America "environmentally sound," i.e., not in violation of Federal or State environmental laws?" A 1972 Inventory showed that 193 incinerators with a total design capacity of 70,667 tons per day were in operation. Current Federal standards apply only to new sources, hence existing units do not have to comply with the Federal standards. They may, however, be at variance with State standards. Firm cost figures to upgrade the existing units to meet the Federal standards are not available; however, several assumptions can be made which should give a fair, conservative approximating of the total cost to make these units "environmentally sound." Using these assumptions, which are tabulated below, a total estimated cost for correcting environmental problems from municipal incinerators is $141,000,000. This figure is based on correction of problems at existing incinerators, it does not allow for replacement. It should be stated that some existing units may meet the standards if operated well below capacity. Assumptions are as follows: a. All currently operating incinerators are to be upgraded to meet the Federal standard for new facilities. b. The average design capacity (350 tons per day) is representative of the average unit. c. The estimated costs developed by the Office of Air Programs in the report "Background Information for Proposed New Source." cl. "Performance Standards" for 300 T/day units are assumed to apply. These are: 13 percent of capital costs (refractory furnace) and 5 percent of capital costs (water wall). For air pollution control, assume 13% of current capital facility value as a conservative estimate of air pollution control costs. d. No figures are available on water pollution control costs. The primary requirements would be sedimentation and pH control. Costs would approximate air pollution control costs, except that many incinerators would likely discharge to municipal sewerage systems for treatment at the local sewage treatment plant. Assume 5% of current capital facility value as a conservative estimate of water pollution control costs. e. Most currently operating incinerators do not properly dispose of residue. To do so may require acquisition of undeveloped land and equipment. This is assumed to be at 2% of current facility value. f. A fair approximation of the value of municipal capital facilities incinerating solid waste is $10,000 per daily design ton. The current national capacity is 70,667 tons, hence an estimated value is $706,670,000. Calculation: $706,670,000× (0.13+0.05+0.02)=$141,000,000. Question-5. "What is the construction cost of the Union Electric waste conversion plant in St. Louis? In your judgment, should the Federal Government provide low interest loans to all cities which desire to construct and operate a plant similar to the Union Electric facility? Should the Federal Government provide_construction grant money for facilities of this kind?" The St. Louis, Missouri, waste conversion plant's total construction cost is $4.1 million of which the Federal contribution is $2.6 million. Our evidence indicates that in localities where disposal costs are high, resource recovery in the St. Louis mode or in other ways-is economically desirable already. There is also evidence that, in those instances, systems that we have demonstrated will be replicated by municipalities without Federal aid because it pays for them to do so. The developers of the St. Louis project have had a number of inquiries from cities-New York City being an example. Where such systems are not economic, one must question why uneconomic systems should be subsidized by the Federal Government by low interest loans or construction grants. We are of the opinion that simple, inexpensive separate collection systems for newspapers and possibly other materials may be the most effective way of recovering resources in many places. These systems need public cooperation much more than capital. We fear that a program such as a Federal loan program would unnecessarily bias resource recovery toward expensive, technological solutions where, in many cases, they are not the best approach to resource recovery. Question-6."Are you familiar with the August 24, 1972 draft of the Section 205 First Annual Report to Congress? When did this report first go to the Office of Management and Budget?" The Resource Recovery Report was submitted to OMB in October 1972. Question-7. "How many cities have taken advantage of the IRS ruling on tax exemption for recycling centers? What is the loss of revenue to the Federal Government?" The question is difficult to accurately answer since (1) cities themselves do not take tax exemptions; (2) there are no tax exemptions for recycling centers. The only tax assistance to solid waste management facilities offered by the Federal Government is provided through Sections 169 and 103 of the Internal Revenue Code. Section 169 is only tangentially related to solid waste management being primarily designed to assist in air and water pollution control. EPA has, however, granted certification for the use of 169 to such facilities as leachate treatment equipment. Section 103, Industrial Revenue Bonds, is more directly applicable to solid waste management facilities and has some potential for future use. The use to date, however, of both of these provisions has been negligible. Question 8. "Please provide a breakdown of the amount of solid waste produced each year by the Department of Defense and by the Department of HEW?" DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Defense Supply Agency.. Total/averages... ! "Effective (Army) population"; i.e., civilian employees count as 13 person. 2 Ballpark estimate given by representative of Navy's Environmental Protection group (daily rate times number of personnel times 240 working days). 3 Air Force's Environmental Protection group (MAJ Baer) supplied monthly solid waste tonnage figure of 100,000. DSA's figures for 1972 are high because (1) they handle DOD's shipping, which produced 22,800 tons of crating waste alone, and (2) DSA's shipping requirements are inflated by the Vietnam winddown. Source: Department of Army, Environmental Protection Office. 1 1969 Federal agency average was 1.2-2.0 is probably low estimate in 1973. 110, 200 12.0 lbs. 26, 400 Question 9. "Do you favor a minimum wage for every solid waste collection and processing worker in America?" We do not favor a national minimum wage for solid waste collection and processing employees for two reasons. First, because of the great variations in cost of living between urban and rural areas and between different regions of the United States. A recent report which analyzed these factors revealed a 41% difference in mean weekly salaries received by unskilled labor outside of the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSA's), $97, and the same skill-level employees in SMSA's with populations in excess of 2 million-$137. Figure 12, p. 313. Weekly salary ranges by regions of the U.S. for unskilled labor vary as much as 45%, between the Northeast and Southeast regions. Figure 13 of the referenced report (p. 313) supplies the following regional mean weekly salary data: "Solid Waste Management Manpower: Profile and Analysis," Executive Summary Vol. I., prepared for EPA-OSWMP by Applied Management Sciences. Contract No. 68-03-0041, Silver Spring, Maryland (September 11, 1972). Second, there are many factors which affect the task performed which alters the degree of difficulty of the task. For example, "point of pickup." A curbside collection is physically easier than a backdoor collection. Another example is the use of plastic bags rather than steel cans, which also alters the degree of difficulty. A uniform minimum wage would not properly reflect these differences even if geographical and urban/rural differences were not significant. Question 10. "Please list the different categories of Solid Waste. How many tons of paper, of beverage containers, of glass etc." Percentages and tons of municipal wastes may be defined for FY 73 as follows: 1971 data indicates that municipal wastes make up only about 5.2 of the solid waste generated. Other categories are: A. Industial wastes, 3.1%. B. Mineral wastes, 38.2%. C. Animal wastes, 39.1%. D. Crop wastes, 14.4%. Question-11. "Mission 5000 was intended to close how many open dumps? How many dumps have been actually closed? How many dumps exist in the country at present time regardless of Mission 5000?" Mission 5000 was intended to close or convert to sanitary landfills 5000 open dumps by June 30, 1972. That goal was not obtained, but the initial progress was so encouraging that it was decided to extend the program until at least 5000 dumps are closed. As of January 1, 1973, 3155 dumps have been reported as either being closed or converted to sanitary landfills. The attached tabulation provides an estimate of the number of dumps still in existence on a state-by-state basis. These data do not include dumps. On Federal lands (see Question 12). These figures are based on a statistical survey of each State (four States were not surveyed). Question.-12. "How many open dumps exist on Federal land? How many dumps have been closed since the General Accounting Office Report of October 26, 1972? How many unsanitary landfills now exist on Federal land? How many have been corrected since the GÃO report?" There has not been any comprehensive survey of the number of dumps on Federal lands. It was estimated in an EPA Action Memorandum for the promulgation of guidelines for solid waste management that "... there are over 10,000 disposal sites of facilities in need of upgrading on Federal facilities. It was further estimated that "... activities at Federal facilities generate 43 million tons of solid waste annually." Eighty-six percent of this total is disposed of by either open dumping or uncontrolled burning. There is no means of estimating how many of these dumps have been closed since the GAO report of October 26, 1972. OSWMP only recognized two forms of land disposal; the open dump and the sanitary landfill. Unsanitary landfills are considered to be open dumps. Question-13. "Please provide a state-by-state breakdown of the number of unsanitary landfills? The number of open dumps? The number of municipal incinerators in violation of Federal or State environmental law?" Assuming that what is meant by municipal incinerator is incinerators with a daily capacity of 50 tons or more, 1972 figures show that 193 such units exist. Table 1A gives a state-by-state breakdown, including total design and operating capacities. Under authorization of Section III of the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency has established a particulate discharge standard of 0.08 grains per standard cubic foot for municipal incinerator. According to the Office of Air Programs, EPA, only two incinerators currently meet the Federal standard— Date County, Florida and the Chicago Northwest Incinerator. Three others in New York City and one at Braintree, Massachusetts are "borderline." It may be stated, therefore, that between 187 and 191 incinerators are not in compliance with Federal standards. In some cases, State standards are more stringent. TABLE 1A. SUMMARY OF OPERATING MUNICIPAL INCINERATOR, MAY 1972 |