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Effluent Guidelines
Pulp and Paper Rulemaking Actions
Amendment to the Final Cluster Rules for the Pulp, Paper and Paperboard Point Source Category: Milestones Plan for the Voluntary Incentives Program
EPA-821-F-99-005; February 1999
Summary
EPA is amending 40 CFR Part 430 by adding the Milestones Plan, which will provide information needed by permit writers in order to establish enforceable interim requirements at those mills that enroll in an advanced technology program.
What is the VATIP?
On April 15, 1998, EPA promulgated effluent limitations guidelines and standards for a portion of the pulp, paper, and paperboard industry. These final rules also established the Voluntary Advanced Technology Incentives Program (VATIP) for mills in the Bleached Papergrade Kraft and Soda Subcategory.
The VATIP encourages mills to move beyond baseline technologies, toward the mill of the future--one with minimum impact on the environment. Mills that voluntarily enroll in the VATIP must comply with more stringent wastewater regulations, and in exchange, have extra time to comply.
How does the Milestones Plan fit into the VATIP?
The Milestones Plan sets forth schedules and other commitments. Each mill's Milestones Plan is their unique description of what they will do, and when they will do it, to make progress towards the VATIP goals.
If a mill enrolls in the VATIP, they need a Milestones Plan covering each fiber line they enroll in the program. The permit writer will use the Milestones Plan to incorporate enforceable interim requirements into the mill's discharge permit. In this way, the Milestones Plan will provide valuable benchmarks to demonstrate progress towards achieving the VATIP goals.
The regulatory amendment makes the Milestones Plan a requirement for mills participating in the VATIP.
What has to be in a Milestones Plan?
EPA carefully describes the specific requirements in new regulatory language at 40 CFR 430.24(b) and (c).
Briefly, the Milestones Plan must include:
- a description of each technology component or process modification the mill intends to implement,
- the master schedule showing the sequence of implementing new technologies and process modifications, and
- descriptions of the anticipated improvements in effluent quality.
Additional Information and Copies
Contact Troy Swackhammer at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, Engineering and Analysis Division (4303), 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20460, (202) 260-7128. The e-mail address is swackhammer.troy@epa.gov.
For more information, view the complete text of the amendment as published in the Federal Register.