Illinois – July 10, 2003
The Weekly Roundup is published by the MNG Center for Environmental Strategies and Technology of SRA International, on behalf of the Land Renewal Network, a forum to address RCRA, CERCLA, and Brownfields policies. The following items are of interest this week:
GENERAL
BREAKING NEWS: President Bush has announced his intention to name Marianne Lamont Horinko as EPA’s Acting Administrator; Ms. Horinko currently serves as the Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER). She has implemented a reorganization of that office following OSWER’s increased and more visible role in national security efforts following the terrorist attacks of September 11 (see related story below). The President will designate Stephen L. Johnson, currently the Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, as the agency’s Acting Deputy Administrator.
FIRST PHASE OF OSWER REORGANIZATION TAKES EFFECT: Marianne Horinko announced in a July 8 memo that the first phase of the reorganization of OSWER was completed and in effect as of June 24. As part of this reorganization, the Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (OERR) was renamed the Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI), and the Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office (CEPPO) is now considered a new line office, renamed the Office of Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (OEPPR). The reorganization, which was undertaken to address new programmatic responsibilities in the area of homeland security, also moved the emergency response and oil spill programs from OERR into CEPPO (now OEPPR); it had also moved the Technology Innovation Office (TIO) into OERR (now OSRTI). According to the memo, OSTRI and OEPPR are “planning a second phase of internal reorganizations over the next several months.” We will keep you apprised of developments.
OSWER TO PROVIDE REGIONS FUNDING FOR ONE-CLEANUP PILOT PROJECTS: A memo from OSWER AA Marianne Lamont Horinko to EPA Regional Administrators states that each region will be provided $40,000 to assist with pilot projects that address area-wide contamination and engage in cross-program cleanup efforts. According to the memo, “The goal [of the pilot projects] is to promote cross-program coordination, planning, and ideas about the cleanup and reuse of contaminated areas.” The projects are components of EPA’s One Cleanup Program and the Land Revitalization Agenda, which seek to foster consistency among cleanup programs and identify methods to facilitate the cleanup and productive reuse of contaminated properties, respectively. Ms. Horinko also distributed guidelines to help the regions plan and implement the projects. The guidelines state that the funds, which must be obligated by September 30, 2003, can be used to “identify an area-wide problem or issue and/or specify a process for conducting an area-wide pilot project; conduct planning and outreach meetings with involved EPA program offices, agencies, State and Tribal partners and other stakeholders; and develop an action plan by September 30, 2003, to address the selected area-wide problem.” The agency hopes that successful pilot projects can serve as models to be applied to large-scale contamination problems. Information on the One Cleanup Program is available at http://www.epa.gov/oswer/onecleanupprogram, and information on the Land Revitalization Agenda can be accessed at Land Revitalization Initiative.
SCIENCE BOARD ENDORSES EPA’S CANCER RISK GUIDANCE: The Science Advisory Panel responsible for reviewing the “Supplemental Guidance for Assessing Cancer Susceptibility” has determined that the science supports EPA’s conclusion that early life stages have increased susceptibility to carcinogens compared to adults, and suggests that a broader look at the scientific literature beyond the studies included in the Supplemental Guidance analysis further strengthens that conclusion. Moreover, the Panel urged EPA to go further and conclude that there is sufficient evidence to assume non-mutagenic carcinogens also pose a greater risk when exposures occur early in life, and recommended that EPA divide early exposures into three periods-ages 0 to 2, 3 to 8, and 9 to 15. Such a division would allow EPA to focus on the particular risks faced by pre-pubescent and pubescent children and to develop an adjustment factor for each age group. The Panel also stated that the adjustment factors of 3 and 10, which the agency proposed to use, “were not derived with strict scientific and statistical rigor” and should be better supported. Further, the Panel said that EPA’s final guidance “needs to be abundantly clear that this is a policy decision and that the Supplemental Guidance adjustment factors may need modification in the future.”
EPA’s cancer risk guidance has been controversial and its last final guidance was published in 1986. The agency has since issued three revisions of draft guidance for public comment, but it has not issued any version as final. Although the immediate implications of the proposed guidance are unclear, if adopted, cleanup levels at wastes site will be substantially lower. For example, using EPA’s suggested adjustment factors of 10 and 3, a Site Screening Level for soil of 2 ìg kg-1 would decrease to 1 ìg kg-1 for lifetime exposure to mutagenic carcinogens.
The draft report, issued June 20 by EPA’s Supplemental Guidance for Assessing Cancer Susceptibility Review Panel, will be discussed in a public teleconference tentatively scheduled for August 5. A Federal Register notice announcing the teleconference will be published soon. The draft report of the Science Advisory Board’s review panel is available at SUPPLEMENTAL GUIDANCE FOR ASSESSING CANCER SUSCEPTIBILITY FROM
EARLY-LIFE EXPOSURE TO CARCINOGENESIS (SGACS) REVIEW PANEL.
LAND RENEWAL (Brownfields, Superfund Redevelopment, USTfields)
EPA TO INCLUDE REUSE INFORMATION IN PERFORMANCE MEASURES: Beginning in FY 2004, EPA is planning to incorporate two new performance measures in its evaluation of the Superfund program’s cleanup successes. The agency will track as program performance measures the number of sites (or portions thereof) that have been determined to be ready for reuse and the acres that are ready for reuse following Superfund cleanup activities. EPA will provide definitions for these performance measures in the FY 2004/2005 Superfund Program Implementation Manual, and will issue guidance in Fall 2003. The addition of these measures will support EPA’s Land Revitalization Agenda, which is intended to promote post-remediation reuse through policy and programmatic support; they will also serve as budget request justifications under the Government Performance and Results Act. The agency is expected to develop similar performance measures for other programs, including the RCRA and UST programs, in the future.
SUPERFUND
CLEANUP RESPONSIBILITY TRANSFER AGREEMENT MAY BE MODEL FOR FUTURE CLEANUPS: A recent agreement that transfers cleanup responsibilities of a Superfund site from a potentially responsible party (PRP) to a third-party contractor may be used by EPA as a model for future cleanups. Under the agreement, the responsibility to clean up the Mattiace Petrochemical Superfund site in New York was transferred to an outside contractor in exchange for payment and the provision of environmental insurance. A critical component to the settlement was the acquisition of the insurance by Mattiace Industries, Inc., to cover unforeseen cleanup expenditures and operation and maintenance activities. The use of environmental insurance to help facilitate the transfer of responsibility is viewed by both EPA and industry as an effective way to allow PRPs to settle quickly, while helping to direct money towards the cleanup as opposed to lengthy court battles. Although such agreements help PRPs to distance themselves from Superfund liabilities, it does not completely clear PRPs of liability. PRPs can still be held liable if cleanups are not performed up to EPA standards. The agency hopes that the approach used at the Mattiace Petrochemical Superfund site can serve as a model for other Superfund cleanups, as well as for cleanups under the Brownfields program and at federal facilities.
UPCOMING EVENTS
THE 2003 RCRA NATIONAL MEETING: PUTTING RESOURCE CONSERVATION INTO RCRA: This year’s meeting will focus on the Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC) and will be held in Washington, D.C., on August 12-15. The RCC now focuses on several different programs, including waste, water, air, pollution, prevention, pesticides, and compliance, and seeks to promote innovative methods to reduce waste and recover energy in order to protect human health and the environment. For more information on the RCC, visit: The Resource Conservation Challenge. Additional information on the conference can be found at The 2003 RCRA National Meeting: Putting Resource Conservation into RCRA.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT CONFERENCE AND TRAINING: EPA will host its annual Community Involvement Conference and Training in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 22-25. The sixth annual event invites federal, state, local, tribal, and academic parties to learn from a variety of educational sessions focusing on public participation and community involvement in environmental and economic issues. More information on the conference and training is available at Community Involvement Conference.
EIGHTH ANNUAL NATIONAL BROWNFIELDS CONFERENCE; CALL FOR IDEAS DEADLINE IS JULY 17: Brownfields 2003: Growing a Greener America will be held in Portland, Oregon, October 27-29. This free conference is the official, EPA-co-sponsored conference on brownfields issues. Brownfields 2003 will feature educational sessions, exhibits, roundtable discussions, mobile workshops, and the latest news on brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. Conference planners have issued the Call for Ideas, which is intended to generate suggestions for topics, forums, and possible speakers for conference sessions. Suggestions must be submitted to ICMA, the lead non-federal co-sponsor for the conference, by July 17. The form for submitting ideas can be found at Brownsfield 2003, along with registration, exhibit, advertising, and other information.
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Land Pollution Information
