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Superfund Redevelopment
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| A
Quick Look |
| For several years EPA has
supported community efforts to return Superfund sites to use through
the SRI. |
| The "Return to Use" initiative focuses on National Priorities List sites that were cleaned up before EPA's current emphasis on considering reuse during response activities. |
| EPA will review remedies in place to identify alterations to the remedy to encourage reuse. |
| EPA's new Ready for Reuse Determination is a tool that is used to indicate to the marketplace a property's suitability for reuse. |
| EPA will establish demonstration projects through partnerships with communities to overcome obstacles to reuse. |
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EPA's Superfund
Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) reflects its commitment to
consider reasonably anticipated future land uses when making remedy decisions
at Superfund hazardous waste sites so that these sites can be cleaned
up to be protective of human health and the environment under future uses.
Through case studies, fact sheets, an online database of sites, and an
Internet site, SRI is providing information about reuse options and the
lessons learned through these projects. It is forming partnerships with
states, local government agencies, citizen groups, and other federal agencies
to restore previously contaminated properties as valuable assets for communities.
Some of SRI's most valuable partnerships are with private groups with
national memberships. For example, the
U.S. Soccer Foundation provides free design and engineering services
and sports equipment to communities that want to build soccer fields on
Superfund land that has been cleaned up, and where EPA has determined
that recreational use is appropriate. The Academy
of Model Aeronautics also has an agreement with SRI to provide services,
such as mowing and fence maintenance, on cleaned-up land in return for
SRI's help in identifying suitable Superfund land that can used by their
membership for flying model airplanes. SRI is exploring similar arrangements
with partners that want to make agreements with local communities for
appropriate use of cleaned-up properties. These partners contribute their
services and expertise to communities in exchange for use of the land.
SRI contributes information about suitable sites and contacts with Regional
staff and local stakeholders. EPA also is committed to the ongoing evaluation
of its policies and practices to determine whether changes are needed
to further the effort to reuse sites.
Passage of the Brownfields Law in January 2002 clarified CERCLA
liability provisions for landowners and potential property owners including
the requirement to conduct all appropriate inquiries into the previous
ownership, uses, and environmental conditions of a property. Spotlight
3 provides additional information on All Appropriate Inquiry.
On November 10, 2004, EPA announced a new phase of SRI, the
"Return to Use" initiative. The Initiative focuses
on National Priorities List sites that were cleaned up before EPA's current
emphasis on considering reuse during response activities. Many of these
sites have remained vacant. Returning these sites to beneficial use will
provide local communities with valuable green space, recreational amenities,
or commercial property. Removing the stigma associated with fenced and
vacant Superfund sites may also increase local property values and the
tax base. As part of the Initiative, EPA is committed to reviewing remedies
in place to determine whether there are relatively modest ways to remove
barriers to reuse that are not necessary for the protection of human health
and the environment or the remedy. Such actions might include modifying
fences that are no longer necessary, issuing Ready for Reuse (RfR) Determinations
that identify how a site can be used while maintaining protection of people
and the environment, eliminating misleading signs and unnecessary obstacles
when conditions at the site no longer merit them, and ensuring that institutional
controls are appropriate and effective.
As a starting point for the Initiative, EPA is establishing demonstration
projects through partnerships with communities to overcome obstacles
to reuse. For its part, EPA will:
- Perform appropriate risk and remedy analyses to support decisions
that consider reuse of sites.
- Issue RfR Determinations.
- Direct communities to tools and resources, such as comfort
letters and involuntary acquisition fact sheets, which relate
to liability issues.
- Connect communities with EPA's national reuse partners, such as the
U.S. Soccer Foundation.
- Work with communities that are creating site reuse plans to
ensure that the remedies will support the planned activities.
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| Ready
for Reuse Determinations |
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On February 18, 2004, EPA issued its new Guidance
for Preparing Superfund Ready for Reuse Determinations at Superfund
sites. A RfR determination is a new type of document developed
by the Agency to provide potential users of Superfund sites with
an environmental status report that documents a technical determination
by EPA, in consultation with states, tribes, and local governments,
that all or a portion of a real estate property at a site can support
specified types of uses and remain protective of human health and
the environment. With this new guidance, EPA provides its staff
with the information needed to make and document these determinations,
and thus takes a major step forward in its effort to facilitate
the reuse of Superfund sites. With the creation of the RfR determination,
potential users and the real estate marketplace will have an affirmative
statement written in plain English and accompanied by supporting
decision documentation, that a site identified as ready for reuse
will remain protective as long as all required response conditions
and use limitations identified in the site's response decision documents
and land title documents continue to be met.
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The expectation for local communities is a commitment to the reuse of
the Superfund site. Additional contributions will depend on the site's
needs and the community's resources.
The Superfund Redevelopment Help Desk at (434) 817-0470 provides
Regional Superfund Redevelopment coordinators, RPMs, site attorneys,
OSCs, CICs and other staff with information and assistance in carrying
out Superfund reuse-related activities. It operates from 8 am to
5 pm, Monday through Friday, with voice mail service after hours.
For more information see the following resources:
Groundwater Pump and Treat Systems: Summary of Selected Cost and Performance Information at Superfund-Financed Sites
EPA 542-R-01-021a and EPA 542-R-01-021b |
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Groundwater Remedies Selected at Superfund Sites
EPA 542-R-01-022 |
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Institutional Controls: A Site Manager's Guide to Identifying, Evaluating, and Selecting Institutional Controls at Superfund and RCRA Corrective Action Cleanups
EPA 540-F-00-005 |
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Pilot Project to Optimize Superfund-Financed Pump and Treat Systems: Summary Report and Lessons Learned
EPA 542-R-02-008 a-u |
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| Pump and Treat and Air Sparging of Contaminated Groundwater at the Gold Coast Superfund Site, Miami, Florida, September 1998 |
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| Pump and Treat and In Situ Bioremediation of Contaminated Groundwater at the Libby Groundwater Superfund Site, Libby, Montana, September 1998 |
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| Pump and Treat of Contaminated Groundwater at the Mid-South Wood Products Superfund Site, Mena, Arkansas, September 1998 |
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| Pump and Treat of Contaminated Groundwater at the SCRDI Dixiana Superfund Site, Cayce, South Carolina, September 1998 |
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| Pump and Treat of Contaminated Groundwater at the Solid State Circuits Superfund Site, Republic, Missouri, September 1998 |
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| Pump and Treat of Contaminated Groundwater at the United Chrome Superfund Site, Corvallis, Oregon, September 1998 |
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| Pump and Treat of Contaminated Groundwater at the Western Processing Superfund Site, Kent, Washington, September 1998 |
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Reuse Assessments: A Tool to Implement the Superfund Land Use Directive
OSWER Directive 9355.7-06P |
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Solidification/Stabilization Use at Superfund Sites
EPA 542-R-00-010 |
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| Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program Demonstration Reports |
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| Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation Program: Technology Profiles, Eleventh Edition |
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Demonstration Program, Volume 1 (EPA 540-R-03-501) |
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Emerging Technology Program, Volume 2 (EPA 540-R-03-501A) |
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Monitoring and Measurement Program, Volume 3 (EPA 540-R-03-501B) |
| Superfund Representative Sampling Guidance |
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Use of Monitored Natural Attenuation at Superfund, RCRA Corrective Action, and Underground Storage Tank Sites
OSWER Directive 9200.4-17P |
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