You are here:
2003/2004 STATISTICALLY VALID NONCOMPLIANCE RATE (SVNR) INSPECTIONS FOR THE FOUNDRY SECTOR IN EPA REGION 4
Impact/Purpose:
SESD is supporting the 2003/2004 SVNR initiative mandated by the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) by conducting Case Development Investigations/Evaluations (CDIEs) at randomly selected foundries in EPA Region 4. The objectives of the CDIEs are: 1) to sample foundry wastestreams being managed by the facilities as non-hazardous waste to determine if the materials exceed Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Toxicity Characteristic (TC) regulatory levels for metals, and 2) depending on their nature and origin, to sample piles of foundry waste that may be found on facility grounds to determine if the materials exceed TC regulatory levels or Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) treatment standards. A final report containing process information and results of laboratory analyses is then prepared by SESD and submitted to the designated Region 4 inspector appointed to the facility by the Waste Management Division. This information serves to support the inspector's Comprehensive Environmental Investigation (CEI) report for the facility and will be used by the OECA in the determination of a statistically valid noncompliance rate for the foundry sector in EPA Region 4.
Description:
The SVNR initiative involves the determination of a compliance rate for the foundry sector in EPA Region 4. A compliance rate is an estimate of the percentage of all the facilities in a population in compliance. The actual rate could be determined if all facilities were inspected, but since there are insufficient resources to do this, OECA can only estimate this from a sample of inspections. A portion of the facilities inspected must be chosen at random in order to arrive at a statistically valid estimate. Determination of a compliance rate allows EPA to determine the level of compliance in a given population, and identify national trends of noncompliance which may provide insight into sectors of the regulated community which require greater compliance monitoring and/or compliance assistance. SESD supported the initiative by conducting 16 CDIEs as mentioned in the "Objectives/Intended Use" section above.