APPENDIX H, U.S. EPA Facility Pollution Prevention Guide, EPA/600/R-92/088 GLOSSARY OF POLLUTION PREVENTION TERMS This appendix describes terms specifically related to pollution prevention as they are used in this guide. Assessment Phase - See Pollution Prevention Assessment Program. Assessment Team - See Pollution Prevention Assessment Team. CERCLA - Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act. Cross-Media Transfer - Refers to the transfer of hazardous materials and wastes from one environmental medium to another. Environmental Management Hierarchy - The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 established a hierarchy as national policy. The hierar- chy follows this order: (1) Prevent or reduce pollution at the source wherever feasible. (2) Recycle, in an environmentally acceptable manner, pollution that cannot feasibly be prevented. (3) Treat pollution that cannot feasibly be prevented or recycled. (4) Dispose of, or otherwise release into the environ- ment, pollution only as a last resort. Feasibility Analysis Phase - The point in a pollution prevention program at which screened waste reduction options are evaluated technically, economically, and environmentally. The results are used to select options to be recommended for implementation. Implementation Phase - The step in a pollution prevention assessment where procedures, training, and equipment changes are put into action to reduce waste. Mass Balance - A method of accounting for the quantities of materials produced, consumed, used, or accumulated at; released from; or transported to or from a process or facility as a waste, commercial product or byproduct, or component of a commercial product or byproduct. Multimedia - Refers to all environmental media (air, land, and water) to which a hazardous sub stance, pollutant, or contaminant may be discharged, released, or displaced. Pollution/Pollutants - In this report, the terms "pollution" and "pollutants" refer to all nonproduct outputs, irrespective of any recycling or treatment that may prevent or mitigate releases to the environment. Pollution Prevention - The use of materials, processes, or practices that reduce or eliminate the creation of pollutants or wastes at the source. It includes practices that reduce the use of hazardous materials, energy, water or other resources, and practices that protect natural resources through conservation or more efficient use. Pollution Prevention Assessments - Systematic, periodic internal reviews of specific processes and operations designed to identify and provide information about opportunities to reduce the use, production, and generation of toxic and hazardous materials and waste. Pollution Prevention Assessment Team - A group assembled within a facility to conduct waste reduction assessments. They are selected on the basis of their expertise and knowledge of the process operations. Pollution Prevention Champion - One or more people designated to facilitate the pollution prevention program by resolving conflicts. Pollution Prevention Task Force - Overall group responsible for instituting a pollution prevention program, for performing a preliminary assessment, and for guiding the program through the development stages. Preliminary Assessment/Pre-assessment - A facility survey performed early in the development of a pollution prevention program for the purpose of determining which areas present opportunities for pollution prevention. The information gathered during the pre-assessment is used to prioritize sites for detailed assessment later. RCRA - Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Recycling - Using, reusing, or reclaiming materials/waste, including processes that regenerate a material or recover a usable product from it. SARA - Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act. Source Reduction - As defined in the Federal Pollution Prevention Act, source reduction is "any practice which 1) reduces the amount of any hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant entering any waste stream or otherwise released into the environment (including fugitive emissions) prior to recycling, treatment, and disposal; and 2) reduces the hazards to public health and the environment associated with the release of such substances, pollutants, or contaminants. The term includes equipment or technology modifications, process or procedure mod- ifications, reformulation or redesign of products, substitution of raw materials, and improvements in housekeeping, maintenance, training, or inventory control." Source reduction does not entail any form of waste management (e.g., recycling and treat- ment). The Act excludes from the definition of source reduction "any practice which alters the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics or volume of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant through a process or activity which itself is not integral to and necessary for the production of a product or the providing of a service." Task Force - See Pollution Prevention Task Force. Toxic Chemical Use Substitution - This term describes replacing toxic chemicals with less harmful chemicals, although relative toxicities may not be fully known. Examples would include substituting a toxic solvent in an industrial process with a chemical with lower toxicity and reformulating a product so as to decrease the use of toxic raw materials of the generation of toxic byproducts. In this report, this term also includes attempts to reduce or eliminate the use in commerce of chemicals associated with health or environmental risks. Examples include the phaseout of lead in gasoline, the attempt to phase out the use of asbestos, and efforts to eliminate emissions of chlorofluorocarbons and halons. Some of these attempts have involved substitution of less hazardous chemicals for comparable uses, but others involve the elimination of a particular process or product from the market without direct substitution. Toxics Use Reduction. This term refers to the activities grouped under "source reduction," where the intent is to reduce, avoid, or eliminate the use of toxics in processes and/or products so as to reduce overall risks to the health of workers, consumers, and the environment without shifting risks between workers, consum- ers, or parts of the environment. Treatment - Involves end-of-pipe destruction or detoxification of wastes from various separation/concentration processes into harmless or less toxic substances. Waste - In theory, the term "waste" applies to nonproduct outputs of processes and discarded products, irrespective of the environ- mental medium affected. In practice, since the passage of RCRA, most uses of the term "waste" refer exclusively to the hazardous and solid wastes regulated under RCRA, and do not include air emissions or water discharges regulated by the Clean Air Act or the Clean Water Act. The Toxics Release Inventory, TRI, refers to wastes that are hazardous as well as nonhazardous. Waste Exchange - A central office in which generators who want to recycle valuable components of their waste can register the waste for off-site transfer to others. Waste Minimization - Source reduction and the following types of recycling: (1) beneficial use/reuse, and (2) reclamation. Waste minimization does not include recycling activities whose uses constitute disposal and burning for energy recovery. Waste Reduction - This term has been used by the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and INFORM to mean source re- duction. On the other hand, many different groups have used the term to refer to waste minimization. Therefore, care must be em- ployed in determining which of these different concepts is implied when the term "waste reduction" is encountered.