For Immediate Release: Tuesday, August 30, 2016
U.S. EPA agrees to impose penalties for
federal facilities that continue to use
pavement sealants containing coal-tar
In 2012, Montgomery County became first county in Maryland
to approve ban on certain coal-tar products
used to seal driveways and parking lots
ROCKVILLE, Md., August 30, 2016—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to impose penalties that would penalize federal facilities that continue to use certain coal-tar products in sealants used on pavements. The sealants have been recognized to contaminate soils, lakes and homes as they disintegrate and run off after application.
Montgomery County became a national leader in 2012 when the County Council unanimously approved Bill 21-12 to prohibit the use and sale of certain coal-tar products that are generally used as sealants on driveways and parking lots. Passage of the legislation made Montgomery the first county in Maryland, and one of the largest counties in the nation, to prohibit the sale of sealants containing those coal-tar products.
Councilmember Craig Rice was the chief sponsor of the bill, which was co-sponsored by Councilmembers Marc Elrich, Nancy Navarro and Hans Riemer, and then Councilmember Valerie Ervin.
The Montgomery bill aimed to control problems caused by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) released into the environment through the use of coal tar pavement products. PAH compounds have been cited as probable human carcinogens. Pavement sealant is a liquid that is sprayed or painted on some asphalt pavement to protect the pavement surface. Sealcoat products generally have a coal-tar pitch or asphalt base. Coal-tar based sealcoat products are usually composed of 20 to 35 percent coal-tar pitch and have about 1,000 times more PAHs than do sealcoat products with an asphalt base.
As part of a settlement agreement, in 2019 the EPA has agreed to impose penalties on any of several thousand federally-regulated industrial facilities across the country that continue to use sealants with coal-tar products. The facilities not in compliance would not be eligible for coverage under EPA’s industrial stormwater general permit if they apply or reapply coal tar pavement sealants. The affected sites include airports, marinas, trucking centers and other paved industrial sites.
EPA’s change came through the settlement agreement that obligates EPA to research and propose a number of changes to its industrial stormwater permitting program. The settlement was negotiated on behalf of a coalition of environmental groups that had challenged EPA's industrial stormwater permit. The coalition includes the Waterkeeper Alliance, Apalachicola Riverkeeper, Galveston Baykeeper, NY/NJ Baykeeper, Snake River Waterkeeper, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper, Ecological Rights Foundation, Our Children’s Earth Foundation, and Conservation Law Foundation.
“Although it is just a small step, this is the first time EPA has agreed to take action on coal tar sealants,” said Councilmember Rice. “It also opens the possibility that the federal government will move to ban all use of coal-tar sealant products, like Montgomery County and some other local jurisdictions have done.
“Coal tar-based sealants are the largest source of PAH contamination to our urban lakes and pose a threat our communities and the environment. For the past several years, residents who live in our County’s areas where coal-tar based sealants had been used are assured that these contaminants will no longer plague their neighborhood streams and lakes. Now there is hope this same action will take place on a national scale.”
The U.S. Geolological Survey and the American Chemical Society have explained that sealcoat does not stay on a pavement permanently. Sealcoat manufacturers generally recommend re-applications between one and five years, depending upon the product used. The particles can be washed off the roadway by rain and carried through storm drains in streams, ponds and stormwater management devices. Other particles can be blown away offsite by wind or tracked indoors on the soles of shoes. Release ID: 16-263