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Georgia's VRP

April 12, 2010

As an update to our April 2, 2010 alert, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division ("EPD") posted to its website today a revised VRP application form.  The revised form can be found here: http://www.gaepd.org/Files_PDF/forms/hwb/VRPchecklist.pdf.

After meetings with the Director and staff, EPD has agreed to streamline the application process in order to encourage the enrollment into the VRP of a greater number of contaminated sites.

EPD's New VRP Application

EPD's initial VRP application form, posted on January 6, 2010, created a requirement that sites must be fully investigated, tested, modeled and planned before they were even enrolled in the program.  EPD's extensive list of time-consuming and costly entrance criteria discouraged all but a handful of eligible parties from applying.  In contrast, the new streamlined VRP application is to be based upon reasonably available information known at the time of application.  The new application must include a preliminary conceptual site model ("CSM") and preliminary remedial plan, with the following elements: 

  • A table of delineation standards;
  • Brief supporting text, charts, and figures (no more than 10 pages, total)  illustrating the site's surface and subsurface setting, the known or suspected sources of contamination, how contamination might move within the environment, the potential human health and ecological receptors, and the complete or incomplete exposure pathways that may exist at the site; and
  • A projected milestone schedule (Gantt chart format preferred) for investigation and remediation of the site, including the following four generic milestones:

 

  Milestone

Requirement

Within the first 12 months after enrollment

The participant must complete horizontal delineation of the release and associated constituents of concern on property where access is available at the time of enrollment.

Within the first 24 months after enrollment

The participant must complete horizontal delineation of the release and associated constituents of concern extending onto property for which access was not available at the time of enrollment.

Within 30 months after enrollment

The participant must update the site CSM to include vertical delineation, finalize the remediation plan and provide a preliminary cost estimate for implementation of remediation and associated continuing actions.

Within 60 months after enrollment

The participant must submit the compliance status report required under the VRP, including the requisite certifications.

After enrollment in the VRP, semi-annual status reports must be submitted to EPD describing implementation of the plan during the preceding period and updating the CSM and schedule.

A Step in the Right Direction

EPD's new VRP application is a positive step towards the goal of fully opening up the VRP for business.  We remain hopeful that EPD's new application signals a larger commitment to the program's risk-based incentives for voluntarily cleaning up contaminated sites in a fast and cost-effective manner.