Georgia’s Voluntary Remediation Program “Reopener”
April 1, 2010The Georgia Environmental Protection Division ("EPD") appears to be in agreement with a proposal to streamline and improve the Voluntary Remediation Program ("VRP") application process. The avowed purpose is to open the doors wider and to encourage the enrollment of a greater number of contaminated sites into the program.
Brief Background
One year ago, the VRP Act was passed by virtually unanimous vote of the Georgia General Assembly. The new VRP law is self-funded through participant fees and reimbursements and establishes a privatized program that employs modern risk-based corrective action principles under which responsible parties use registered professionals to more quickly and cost-effectively investigate and remediate contaminated sites. In point of fact, a fully-implemented VRP would free up EPD resources to concentrate on other, "non-voluntary" contaminated sites.
At the same time that the law went into effect, EPD announced its intention to refuse any VRP applications due to lack of agency funding, in spite of the program's privatized, cost-saving structure. After several meetings with industry representatives, EPD finally announced on January 6, 2010, that it would begin accepting applications. EPD also published an application form that created an extensive list of time-consuming and costly entrance criteria. The bottom line effect was to turn the program on its head by imposing as a prerequisite to program participation a requirement that a contaminated site must be fully investigated, tested, modeled, and planned, not while under the VRP, but before it was even enrolled.
To date, despite intense public interest in the VRP, only a handful of applications have been submitted. The inescapable conclusion is that hundreds of contaminated sites that otherwise would be eligible to enroll in the VRP have been discouraged from applying for the program as a result of EPD's application process.
EPD's New Application
After meetings with the Director and staff, we understand that EPD has agreed to abandon its initial application form and replace it with a more streamlined approach. Although the new application form has not yet been posted on EPD's website, and the precise components may vary, we understand that the new application form will require the preparation of a preliminary conceptual site model ("CSM") based upon reasonably available information known at the time of application. The CSM is to include the following elements:
A preliminary remedial plan; A table of delineation standards; Brief supporting text, charts, and figures illustrating the setting, sources of contamination, how contamination might move within the environment, potential receptors, and exposure pathways; and A projected milestone schedule for investigation and remediation, including the following four generic milestones:
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division ("EPD") appears to be in agreement with a proposal to streamline and improve the Voluntary Remediation Program ("VRP") application process. The avowed purpose is to open the doors wider and to encourage the enrollment of a greater number of contaminated sites into the program.
Brief Background
One year ago, the VRP Act was passed by virtually unanimous vote of the Georgia General Assembly. The new VRP law is self-funded through participant fees and reimbursements and establishes a privatized program that employs modern risk-based corrective action principles under which responsible parties use registered professionals to more quickly and cost-effectively investigate and remediate contaminated sites. In point of fact, a fully-implemented VRP would free up EPD resources to concentrate on other, "non-voluntary" contaminated sites.
At the same time that the law went into effect, EPD announced its intention to refuse any VRP applications due to lack of agency funding, in spite of the program's privatized, cost-saving structure. After several meetings with industry representatives, EPD finally announced on January 6, 2010, that it would begin accepting applications. EPD also published an application form that created an extensive list of time-consuming and costly entrance criteria. The bottom line effect was to turn the program on its head by imposing as a prerequisite to program participation a requirement that a contaminated site must be fully investigated, tested, modeled, and planned, not while under the VRP, but before it was even enrolled.
To date, despite intense public interest in the VRP, only a handful of applications have been submitted. The inescapable conclusion is that hundreds of contaminated sites that otherwise would be eligible to enroll in the VRP have been discouraged from applying for the program as a result of EPD's application process.
EPD's New Application
After meetings with the Director and staff, we understand that EPD has agreed to abandon its initial application form and replace it with a more streamlined approach. Although the new application form has not yet been posted on EPD's website, and the precise components may vary, we understand that the new application form will require the preparation of a preliminary conceptual site model ("CSM") based upon reasonably available information known at the time of application. The CSM is to include the following elements:
- A preliminary remedial plan;
- A table of delineation standards;
- Brief supporting text, charts, and figures illustrating the setting, sources of contamination, how contamination might move within the environment, potential receptors, and exposure pathways; and
- A projected milestone schedule for investigation and remediation, including the following four generic milestones:
|
Months from VRP Enrollment |
Requirement |
|
12 |
Horizontal delineation on property with access |
|
24 |
Horizontal delineation on all property |
|
30 |
Vertical delineation and final remediation plan with cost estimate |
|
60 |
Compliance status report |
Until EPD posts the new application form on its website, some uncertainty will remain as to its exact components and schedules.
Moving Forward
A new VRP application is a step in the right direction. The VRP presents a "win-win" opportunity for sites to be cleaned up faster and more cost-effectively, without expenditure of State funds. The VRP needs to be fully opened for business, and we hope that EPD's new application approach signals a larger commitment to the program's risk-based purposes and policies.