Transcript VRP Outreach

VRP Outreach
June 12, 2012
Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality
Welcome
Jeffery A. Steers. Director, Division of Land Protection and Revitalization
Brownfields and the VRP
Presented by:
Meade Anderson, Virginia Brownfield Coordinator
Brownfields Legislation, Federal and
Virginia, 2002
• January 11, 2002 - Small Business Liability Relief
and Brownfields Revitalization Act
• Amended Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or
Superfund) by providing funds to assess and clean
up brownfields
• Virginia – Brownfield Restoration and Land Renewal
Action – April 2002 – paralleled federal and pulled
existing VRP under the umbrella of Brownfields
Brownfields Act Summary
• Small Business Liability Relief
• Brownfields Revitalization Funding
• Brownfields Liability Clarifications SectionContiguous Properties, Prospective Purchasers
and Windfall Liens, Innocent Landowners
• State Response Programs (128a funding)
• Additions to National Priorities List (deferral for
list if under cleanup )
Brownfields – The Definition
• "Brownfield" means real property; the expansion,
redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential
presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or
contaminant.
§ 10.1-1231. Brownfield Restoration and Land
Renewal Policy and Programs
It shall be the policy of the Commonwealth to encourage
remediation and restoration of brownfields by removing barriers
and providing incentives and assistance whenever possible. The
Department of Environmental Quality and the Economic
Development Partnership and other appropriate agencies shall
establish policies and programs to implement these policies, including
a Voluntary Remediation Program, the Brownfields Restoration and
Redevelopment Fund, and other measures as may be appropriate.
Program Funding
• 128(a) Grant from the EPA provides bulk of
funding for the VRP and associated activities
• 128(a) capped at approx. $50 M for all states and
tribes
• Decreasing allocations as increasing applicants
apply for that $50M
• As grant awards have decreased, DEQ has
focused funding on staff for VRP
Program Funding (continued)
• VRP Statutes originally passed in 1995
• Code of Virginia amended in 2002 to add to the
Brownfield Restoration and Land Renewal Act
• § 10.1-1232 - 5. Registration fees to be collected
from persons conducting voluntary remediation to
defray the actual reasonable costs of the voluntary
remediation program expended at the site not to
exceed the lesser of $5,000 or one percent of the
cost of the remediation.
• Fee structure adapted from 17 years ago and has not
been updated to account for actual program costs
Background on Brownfields &
Voluntary Programs
• 2011 State Brownfields and Voluntary Response
Programs: An Update from the States
• http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/state_tribal/up
date2011/bf_states_report_2011.pdf
• Summaries program set up and funding
• Many states have alternative/supplemental fee
structures for the voluntary cleanup programs
and Brownfields comfort letters
Other Use of Grant Funds
• Site Specific Assessments (previously targeted
brownfield assessments)
• Special projects such as inspection of institutional
controls, mapping/GIS of sites, and scanning
• Outreach such as Brownfields Conferences, VRP
Outreach, technical assistance to local
government
Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser
• All disposal of hazardous substances at the facility
occurred before the person acquired the facility.
• All appropriate inquiries into the previous
ownership and uses of the facility
• All legally required notices with respect to the
discovery or release
• Full cooperation, assistance, and access
BFPP, Continued
• Institutional Controls
– Complies with any land use restrictions established or
relied on in connection with the response action
– Does not impede the effectiveness or integrity of any
institutional control
• BFPP not otherwise responsible party, and not
affiliated (familial or corporate) with responsible
party
BFPP, Continued
• The person exercises appropriate care with respect to
hazardous substances found at the facility by taking
reasonable steps to—
– stop any continuing release
– prevent any threatened future release
– prevent or limit human, environmental, or natural resource
exposure to any previously released hazardous substance
• Self Implementing Program on both the federal and state level
Providing BFPP Status Letters
• BFPP – Brownfields Summary Form
• All Appropriate Inquiry with Phase I ESA in accordance with ASTM E1527-05
• Self implementing program as it is set up with the EPA
• In Virginia, to help facilitate redevelopment we will issue a BFPP
status letter as a form of a comfort letter
• Phase II ESA may be needed
• DEQ staff review of submitted data along with agency records should
help eliminate pitfalls for a buyer
• Also provide Lender Liability Letters and Contiguous Property Owner
Letters
• Does NOT eliminate the need for “Appropriate Care”
Appropriate Care
• Must take “appropriate care” in order to maintain
the protections
• Construction of a playground on a contaminated
site without protections is not appropriate care
• Construction of a parking lot over contaminated
soil may be appropriate care
• Enrolling a site into VRP is clearly appropriate care
Future Trends
•
•
•
•
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“Process Incentives”
Seat at the table for all involved, all along
Pre-purchase or pre-development meetings
Off-setting costs for stake in project
Positive media and success story PR
Reasons for Involving DEQ
• Liability Protections for purchase – BFPP
• Protections during cleanup under VRP
• Enforcement Immunity at completion of clean – VRP
with MOA with EPA
• Agency “buy in” to Cleanup Goals
• Partner at the table for solutions
• Resolve liability before sale or purchase
• Satisfy lending institutions
• Facilitate future sales
Brownfield Tax Relief Form
•Typically, form sent with Eligibility Letter
•DEQ responses with a confirmation letter
•If site is enrolled in the VRP, the
confirmation is straight forward.
•These tax credits must be approved by
Congress although at times late in the
year but costs allowed were retroactive
•Once DEQ provides confirmation of the
remediation project the tax credit is dealt
with by the project developer and tax
personnel
•Costs allowed include: Site assessment
and investigation; Site monitoring;
Cleanup costs; Operation and
maintenance costs; State voluntary
cleanup program oversight fees; and
Removal of demolition debris
Risk Based Decision-Making Soil/Debris Management
• Internal committee reviewed other examples and drafted a
process
• Have completed public notice and two public informal
meetings
• Variance during interim; future regulatory change
• Should be a tremendous benefit to Brownfields
redevelopment projects
• Not intended to replace the need for remediation but rather
to provide a common sense risk based tool to manage low
level soils
Revitalization Goals
• Virginia Brownfields Policy – Encourage, Remove
Barriers, Provide Incentives & Assistance
• Process sites and complete cleanup to a risk based
standard
• Get sites cleaned up, redeveloped, and back into
productive reuse
• Increase in value leads to additional tax income to
locality
• Rising tide theory – benefits come to the community
and adjacent properties
• Our goals should be very much parallel to the goals of
the participants in the programs
• We must all work smarter!
Questions?
VRP Overview and DEQ’s Internal Process
Presented by:
Kevin Greene, VRP Program Manager
Brief History
• Statute implemented in July 1995
– Operated under “agreement” format
• Regulations promulgated in 1997
– Agreements no longer necessary
• Memorandum of Agreement with EPA January 2002
• Regulations revised in 2002
– Only minor modifications made
• Brownfield Restoration and Land Renewal Act enacted in 2002
What made the VRP Different?
• Remediation is not mandated by other programs
• The explicit use of Engineering and Institutional Controls
• Site Specific Risk Based Clean-up Standards
• Closure that constitutes enforcement
immunity
– Final Agency Action
– Immunity is Transferable
• End use driven - not process driven
– No “Cook Book”
• Regulations are less than 12 pages long
Memorandum of Agreement between
EPA and DEQ
• Executed in February 02
• Constitutes determination of “no federal interest” in sites
that have completed cleanup under the VRP
• Provides comfort that EPA won’t pursue a VRP participant
• Sets de facto performance expectation on the VRP
– Consistent remediation standards
– Demonstrative progress towards completion
46 Other
136
Manufacturing
123 Dry
Cleaners
36 Land
Disposal
11 MGP
21 Rail
Yards
Certificates Per Year
25
20
15
10
5
0
96
98
'00
'02
'04
'06
'08
'10
Cumulative Totals
400
350
300
250
Applications
Certificates
200
150
100
50
0
'97 '98 '99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11
147
Certificate Issuance Time After 1999
2200
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
zz
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
•Averages
•Since 1999 - 1150 days
•Apps w/ Cert submitted since 1/1/06- 745 days
•Staff hours /site- 160
2009
2011
Voluntary Remediation Program
Certificates & Institutional Controls (total 237)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Groundwater Use restriction
Residential Use restriction
Other (SSDS, etc)
Excavation Limitation
No institutional controls
83%
45%
20%
18%
10%
Remediation Programs
Voluntary
Remediation Program
Risk Assessment
Brownfields
Program
Program
Application
Enrollment Fee
submitted
Site Considered
“Enrolled”
Regional Office
Review
Eligibility
Confirmed
Kickoff Meeting
(NEW)
Technical
Documents/Revisions
Submitted for DEQ
Review
Site Characterization
Report
Revisions/Comments
Demonstration of
Completion Report
Risk Assessment
Public Notice
NO
Is Remedial
Action Necessary?
DEQ Concurrence of
SCR and Risk
Assessment
Certificate Drafting
YES
Certificate Issuance
Certificate
Recordation and
Return to DEQ
Remedial Action
Completion
Report
DONE!
Remedial Action
Performed
Remedial Action
Work Plan
The Risk Assessment
Vapor intrusion
Characterization
Groundwater
Characterization
Soil
Characterization
Ecological
Characterization
Risk
Assessment
Land Uses
VRP Funding /Staffing
•100% federal funded program
•No DEQ funds allocated to VRP
•Annual competition for $50 MM
•149 applicants in FFY 12 ( 10/1/12- 9/31/13)
•Virginia was awarded $550,000 for FFY 12
•FFY 12 Workplan
•100% salaries
•3 FTE RPMs
•1 FTE Risk support
•1 FTE Admin.
•No travel to sites
•Limited training/outreach
VRP Grant Funding
(in 1000’s)
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Excerpt for 128 (a) FY 12 funding guidance
“In FY13 the maximum amount that EPA will consider for a funding request will likely decrease at a
rate up to 30% a year, and could decrease at a greater rate depending on enacted Congressional
budget amounts and demand for funding.”
Other Duties As Assigned
• Program Administration
– Tracking 400 sites
• Site Database Management
– Planned & Completed sites list
– Semi annual report
– Sites with no Activity
» Status inquiry / Finding current owner
• Institutional Control Tracking
– On EPA Radar Screen!
• Electronic Imaging of VRP files
– FOIA
• VRP Regulations
– TAC meetings in 2008-2009
• Proposed draft submitted August 2009
Other Duties As Assigned
• Program Administration
– Tracking 400 sites
• Site Database Management
– Planned & Completed sites list
– Semi annual report
– Sites with no Activity
» Status inquiry / Finding current owner
• Institutional Control Tracking
– On EPA Radar Screen!
• Electronic Imaging of VRP files
– FOIA
• VRP Regulations
– TAC meetings in 2008-2009
• Proposed draft submitted August 2009
What You’re Going To Hear Today
• Tips for Characterization
– You know the site, we don’t. You
conclude, we concur
– Conceptual site model
– Several rounds of sampling
• Plume Stability
– Evaluate offsite risk
• Formatting
– Summary Tables
– Nice maps
– Full and complete responses
• State all assumptions
– Follow the format/terminology of
the Regulations
– Show your work
• It takes time! 2 years+
•First come, first serve
•Participation is Voluntary
•Tank Closure does not a certification
make
-TPH is of little value
•Meetings early in the process
•It’s all about the risk!
•Certificate language is fixed
•Uncertainty
Questions ?