The Province of Buenos Aires amended the elimination schedule of PCBs

Pursuant to Resolution No 17/2009 (published in the Official Gazette on February 10, 2010), the Provincial Office for Sustainable Development (“POSD”) repealed Section 7 of Resolution No 1118/2002 of the Secretariat of Environmental Policy (“SEP”), which had established December 31, 2009 as the target completion date for the elimination of PCBs (Polyclorated Biphenyls) within closed systems. Additionally, a new schedule for decontamination of equipment containing PCBs was fixed.

During 2009, the POSD carried out an estimation of the existing PCBs in the Province of Buenos Aires as well as an assessment of the operative capacity available for their dechlorination.

The information gathered led to the conclusion that, in light of the estimated amount of PCB existing in the Province of Buenos Aires, and the total dechlorination capacity authorized by the province per year, the target completion date of December 31, 2009 provided by Section 7 of Resolution No 1118/2001 of the SEP was too early.

Therefore, by means of Resolution No 17/2009, the term for the elimination of PCBs was extended according to the following schedule:

(i)         For systems with PCB concentrations equal or higher than 50 ppm, only for machinery which the owners intend to maintain operational, as provided in Sections 3 and 4 of Law No 25,670: December 31, 2009.

(ii)         For systems with PCB concentrations equal or higher than 50 ppm contained in flasks or electrical equipment which are not operational: December 31, 2010.

(iii)        For systems with PCB concentrations higher than 2 ppm and up to 50 ppm: until December 31, 2010.

Thus, anyone holding non-operational equipment with PCB concentrations above 50 ppm shall proceed in its dechlorination or decontamination before December 31, 2010. The same term applies for operational equipment whose PCB concentrations are below 50 ppm.

Despite this modification, the initial term for the treatment of operational equipment with PCB concentrations above 50 ppm remains unchanged.