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PA EPA ISSUES FINAL DRAFT STATE VOLUNTARY CLEANUP GUIDANCE
Release Date: 08/08/97
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 1997
EPA ISSUES FINAL DRAFT STATE VOLUNTARY CLEANUP GUIDANCE
EPA, with the support of the U.S. Department of Justice, recently issued the final draft State Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP) guidance. This guidance, “Developing Superfund Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) Language Concerning State Voluntary Cleanup Programs,” will set out a context for cooperation between the federal government and states regarding cleanup of lower risk hazardous waste sites. The guidance is significant for developers. It will provide certainty needed for cleanup and redevelopment to take place at lower risk contaminated sites. Financial and real estate sectors are sometimes reluctant to redevelop brownfields and lower risk sites because they are concerned about potential liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). Some developers also have expressed concern that the uncertainty stemming from overlapping federal/state cleanup authorities acts as a costly disincentive for cleanup and redevelopment of these sites. By addressing these concerns this guidance would benefit communities seeking to cleanup and redevelop brownfields and other lower risk sites. The U.S. General Accounting Office has estimated that there are approximately 450,000 brownfields sites currently in the United States. Generally, these sites are not the highly contaminated sites that call for response from the conventional federal Superfund program. Many states have established voluntary cleanup programs representing alternative approaches to cleaning up and redeveloping these brownfields sites. These state voluntary cleanup programs allow volunteers or private parties to initiate the identification and cleanup of sites through the use of less extensive administrative procedures. In some cases, these private parties can obtain some relief from future state liability for past contamination. The VCP guidance would encourage the EPA regions to develop partnerships with the states through MOAs. The negotiation of an EPA/state MOA will be an opportunity to plan the division of labor at sites. The guidance further sets out baseline criteria that EPA will employ to evaluate State Voluntary Cleanup programs. EPA will request states to address these criteria during the negotiation of MOAs. EPA will not exercise cost recovery authority and does not generally anticipate taking CERCLA removal or remedial action at sites covered by an MOA except under limited circumstances detailed in the guidance. Copies of the draft guidance can be accessed electronically through EPA’s Homepage https://www.epa.gov/brownfields. Copies can also be obtaining by calling the EPA RCRA/Superfund Hotline at 1-800-424-9346 or 703-412-9810.
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