HIGHLIGHTS AND UPDATES

Members present:  David Begelfer, Bill Betters, Susan Chapnick, Chris Davis, Steve Dodge, Larry Feldman, Ileen Gladstone, Jeff Hardin, Ralph Child (for Jeff Porter) and Janine Commerford.  Fifty-nine people signed the sign-in sheet.

Opening Remarks - Janine Commerford welcomed the group.  Her opening remarks included the following:

• Two of the new administration's environmental priorities are controlling greenhouse gases and growing the state's energy alternatives. 
• Nancy Fitzpatrick (NERO) will Chair the new Indoor Air Workgroup. 
• Rich Packard (taking a leave of absence from his job as SERO's ER chief) will work full time on implementing the Oil Spill Act over the next 6 months.
• Public notice of draft regulations (Supplemental MCP package and RCRA Corrective Actions) will appear in the Massachusetts Register on January 26. 
• The asbestos-in-soil regulations are under review at EOEA.

Historic (formerly known as Urban) Fill Workgroup Update - Paul Locke related that the workgroup has developed a conceptual streamlining proposal for handling historic fill sites under  the MCP.  Key features require sampling, notifying, assessing, and documenting findings for historical fill sites.  The February 15 workgroup meeting will be used to discuss possible regulatory language implementing the conceptual proposal, as well as the definition of "historic fill".

RCRA Corrective Action Regulations Update - Paul Locke (and Jeff Chormann from the Bureau of Waste Prevention) discussed EPA's delegation of authority for the federal RCRA Corrective Action program to MassDEP. (http://mass.gov/dep/service/regulations/newregs.htm#rcra) Public notice of the draft regulations will be published in the Massachusetts Register on January 26.  The regulations will allow the 28 affected sites to be remediated under the MCP using an LSP, which will satisfy all pertinent federal and state requirements except for public involvement.  MassDEP will require public involvement beyond that required under the MCP by eliciting public comment at the time of remedy selection and on RAO audit findings; all corrective action sites will undergo an audit.  MassDEP expects its regulations to be promulgated this spring and for EPA to propose the delegation in the Federal Register in the fall.

Indoor Air Workgroup  - Nancy Fitzpatrick introduced herself as the Chair of the newly formed Indoor Air Workgroup and related that its purpose is to review recent information on typical indoor air concentrations.  Workgroup findings will help MassDEP update its list of values of typical concentrations of chemicals in indoor air.  MassDEP is asking its stakeholder universe to share indoor air data sets, particularly for residential settings, by February 28, and to participate in the workgroup. The workgroup webpage includes a form (http://mass.gov/dep/cleanup/iawg.htm) to provide relevant information, both for the data and for information that helps provide context.  The next workgroup meeting will be held March 8 at MassDEP's Boston office.

Supplemental MCP Regulations Update - Liz Callahan, Rafael McDonald (ORS), and Jeff Mickelson discussed the Supplemental MCP Regulation package (formerly known as the 2006 Supplemental MCP package), a 67-page document that is now available for review at http://mass.gov/dep/cleanup/laws/regulati.htm#mcp07.  The public comment period will end on April 16.  Four hearings have been scheduled: http://mass.gov/dep/public/publiche.htm#wsc

Rafael noted that a number of the numerical standards included in this package had also been included in the previous (Fall 2004) package.  At that time, MassDEP received public comments that resulted in significant changes to the values; we decided to provide an opportunity to review and comment on the revised values.  For other chemicals, revisions are being proposed for the first time to be consistent with previous changes to the Massachusetts Drinking Water Standards and Guidelines.  Finally, this package includes changes resulting from updates to physical constants and other qualitative and quantitative data that factor into the standard-setting process.  The spreadsheets that accompany the proposed standards describe the basis for each proposed change.

Liz and Jeff briefly discussed other proposals included in the package.  Among the most significant is the "White Knight" provision that establishes new cleanup deadlines for eligible parties who wish to perform work and who are not affiliated with the site's PRPs.  These parties would typically be given a new 5-year timeframe to achieve an RAO, although some would be subject to MassDEP-imposed interim deadlines.

AUL Mapping Preview - MassDEP has created a user-friendly map that can locate sites with AULs and access important information about the sites.   Eventually, the tool will provide access to the actual AUL language.  Mapping programs similar to Google Earth or NASA's World Wind can be used to view the maps, eliminating the need for more sophisticated GIS programs.  MassDEP is looking to expand the information made available in this format.  The maps are available online at http://mass.gov/dep/service/compliance/maps.htm#kml. [Note: Water supply locations will not routinely be made available through anonymous download, such as these maps, for security reasons.]

MassDEP's ITO is scoping the requirements for a MassDEP document management system.  When fully implemented, the system will allow for increased access to information - such as an on-line file review system.  MassDEP recognizes that the system would need to address both the new eDEP submittals and the universe of printed documents now in our files.  When the document management system is in place, site-specific documents can be made more accessible through a map interface like the one demonstrated today.

Stakeholders interested in identifying issues that should be considered during the scoping and building of the document management system should send email to bwsc.information@state.ma.us. 

Next Meeting - The next Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, March 22 at 9:30 a.m.

Handouts/Other information

Urban Fill Workgroup Handouts

MS Word 110 KB | PDF 180 KB

RCRA Corrective Action Regulations

Web page

Indoor Air Workgroup

Web page

Supplemental MCP Regulations

Web page

AUL Mapping

MS Powerpoint 88 KB | PDF 85 KB