摘要:

AbstractThis article presents an overview and qualitative analysis of ecological risk assessments at base closure sites nationwide. Much of the information presented was obtained from interviews, over a two‐year period beginning in the spring of 1994, with managers and staff from EPA Headquarters and Regions, Remedial Project Managers and Superfund Ecological Risk Assessment Support Staff involved with the daily operation of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program. Individuals from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of the Army, three states (Texas, California, and South Carolina), and one public interest group (Environmental and Energy Study Institute) also provided input to this study. This albeit small sample of scientists, attorneys, and others who participated in this study were chosen randomly. Their opinions, along with those of the author, do not represent the official policies of the organizations they represent. In addition, it should also be noted that the analyses and conclusions drawn in this article represent the views of the author and do not represent the opinions of all participants in this study.Included in this article is an overview of the regulatory requirements for ecological risk assessments at BRAC sites, and descriptions of the roles of various stakeholders in the process. Based on interviews with federal and state environmental decision makers, this article discusses technical and policy issues related to current ecological risk assessment activities at military base closure sites across the country. It also presents examples of ongoing ecological risk assessment studies to help illustrate the issues that must be resolved for successful risk characterization and environmental cleanup to take place. The article ends with a discussion of various options and recommendations for improving ecological risk assessments at current and future BRAC sites. These recommendations, based partly on interviews with study participants, are presented in the hopes of improving the overall cost and resource effectiveness of the program, financial as well as ecological. After all, it was evident throughout this study that the parties involved share the same goal–to clean up and transfer safe and valuable property as soon as possible so that community revitalization can occur. This article will show, however, that this goal may not be achieved unless the current system is significantly chan

ISSN:1048-4078    

DOI:10.1002/ffej.3330070102

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractRecent EPA guidance has focused on using risk assessment to support remedial action decisions (U.S. 1991). However, experience has shown that the Baseline Risk Assessment (BRA) is very time‐consuming and often yields insufficient guidance to remedial design engineers in evaluation and selection of remedial alternatives. This article presents an approach for streamlining the BRA for a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) under CERCLA and for a Remedial Facility Investigation/Corrective Measures Study (RFI/CMS) under RCRA. It uses a combination of background concentrations, applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs), and risk‐based preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) to set conservative, media‐specific screening levels for all constituents of concern (COCs) at a facility. These screening levels streamline the RI/FS and RFI/CMS process by reducing the number of areas of concern (AOCs) and COCs that require detailed risk assessment and providing remedial design engineers with early guidance on areas and constituents possibly requiring remediation, thus allowing preliminary technology identification and evaluation to proceed concurrently with the BRA.This article illustrates the utility of this approach, describing its application at a federal facility in the desert Southwest. The case study site was an ideal candidate for the screening approach in that it covered more than 22,000 acres, much of which was expected to be uncontaminated. Of the 45 AOCs initially identified in the Field Investigation Work Plan, only four AOCs required detailed risk evaluation after screening. In addition, the article describes the approach used in the case study site to screen potential risks posed by exposures to the interiors of concrete weapons storage bunkers (ig

ISSN:1048-4078    

DOI:10.1002/ffej.3330070103

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe Hanford Site in central southeastern Washington State is now cleaning up its act. Created back in the 1940s by the Atomic Energy Commission, now known as the Department of Energy (DOE), the Hanford Site produced the world's first plutonium for atomic bombs. Since that time, more reactors and processing plants were built, as its mission of producing atomic materials for our national defense continued. But this mission is done and the cold war is over. The reactors have been decommissioned, and the new mission of cleanup and restoration has begun. This article discusses some of the current cleanup technologies being used on the site, as well as innovative technologies which could be future value.

ISSN:1048-4078    

DOI:10.1002/ffej.3330070104

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractGIS and advanced visualization system technology for displaying underground conditions is being applied extensively to site investigations by federal agencies. Environmental compliance systems relating to emissions management, permitting, chemical inventory management, and traditional adherence to regulations have not received a comparable degree of application of GIS technology; they are being addressed by more traditional database management approaches. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate an integrated approach whereby a common database structure and GIS are used to manage both remediation and regulatory compliance data at large government facilities, and to provide access to information at a management level. The system integrates facility drawings, process flow diagrams, building drawings, photographs, MSDS documents, budgets, regulatory drivers, and remediation costs and schedule data within a common framework. The system also interfaces with high‐end and low‐end visualization software to

ISSN:1048-4078    

DOI:10.1002/ffej.3330070105

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractSince the inception of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1969, no definitive guidance has been established for determining the scope of issues or the level of detail suitable for presentation within a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (P‐EIS). Lacking such guidance, an inordinate amount of time and resources are often consumed in determining the issues and level of detail that are most appropriately addressed within a P‐EIS versus the more detailed scope and level of detail best reserved for lower‐tier documents. Experience indicates that P‐EISs are often over bloated and unnecessarily complex. Consequently, there is a great deal of inconsistency in the preparation of P‐EISs among federal agency programs.A paradigm for assisting decision makers in making such determinations is presented below. This model expedites the preparation of P‐EISs by providing a systematic approach for determining the scope and level of detail that are most appropriately addressed at the programmatic level. Thus, the model provides agencies with an excellent means for streamlining the NEPA process by descoping needless and unnecessary issues fro

ISSN:1048-4078    

DOI:10.1002/ffej.3330070106

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractIncreasingly, facilities that have been assesed a penalty for a violation of an environmental law have sought to reduce the amount of their penalty by agreeing to execute supplemental environmental project (SEPs). A SEP is defined by EPA as an “environmentally beneficial project which a defendant/respondent agrees to undertake in settlement of an enforcement action, but which the defendant/respondent is not otherwise legally required to perform.”1SEPs are used by both the EPA and state regulatory authorities as an enforcement tool that provides affirmative environmental benefits beyond the deterrence and prevention that can be secured through the usual administrative and judicial mechanisms (e.g., penalties and injunctio

ISSN:1048-4078    

DOI:10.1002/ffej.3330070107

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractNearly all of the myriad federal environmental statutes that have been passed have included waivers of sovereign immunity. In order for federal practitioners to understand the nature of these waivers, and how extensive they are, it is important to understand the history of waivers by viewing them through the Supreme Court's interpretation of what is required for Congress to yield federal control to the states with respect to federal facilities.One area in which further exploration is necessary is states requiring professional engineers or registered engineers to certify permit applications or closure plans in accordance with state permit laws and regulations, in environmental fields as these laws and regulations apply to federal facilities. This issue is further complicated when the program has been given delegated authority by EPA. What is the effect of a program that has not been approved by EPA but still regulates an environmental area that will have a significant effect on a federal facility with respect to this same requirement?

ISSN:1048-4078    

DOI:10.1002/ffej.3330070108

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe performance and administration of a government contract are intertwined with contractor compliance with environmental laws. This presents a complex myriad of concerns for both the regulating federal agency, the federal agency administering the contract, and the contractor. This article examines the unique situation in which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) must exercise its sovereign obligations under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (RHA), while administering a fixed‐priced construction contract in its proprietary capacit

ISSN:1048-4078    

DOI:10.1002/ffej.3330070109

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:1048-4078    

DOI:10.1002/ffej.3330070110

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:1048-4078    

DOI:10.1002/ffej.3330070111

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY