President's Letter
ASTSWMO President, Mark de Bie (CA), outlines his vision of 2017 for the Association.
Election of Officers
Ken Kloo (NJ) was elected ASTSWMO Vice-President.
April Webb (KY) was elected ASTSWMO Secretary-Treasurer.
Lifetime Achievement Award
John Regan (NH) received the ASTSWMO Lifetime Achievement award for his wonderful contributions to both his State and the Association.
Board Updates
ASTSWMO would like to thank Nancy Marker (DE) for her tremendous service as Secretary-Treasurer from 2011-2016. She will be honored at the 2017 ASTSWMO Mid-Year Meeting in Cleveland, Ohio.
April Webb (KY), who rotated off as Region 4 Board Representative, was replaced by Bud McCarty (NC).
Sandeep Burman (MN) is taking over for Bruce Oertel (IN) as the Region 5 Board Representative.
Eric Noack (NV) rotated off the Board as the Region 9 Representative and was replaced by Ameko Pato (AS).
Subcommittees
CERCLA and Brownfields
The ASTSWMO CERCLA and Brownfields Subcommittee (CaBS) planned multiple sessions for the ASTSWMO Annual Meeting, which took place October 27-28, 2016 in Washington, D.C. Sessions included TSCA (joint session with the Federal Facilities and Hazardous Waste Subcommittees), PFAS (joint session with the Federal Facilities Subcommittee), a Brownfields breakout session focusing on resiliency, cross-program coordination on contaminated sediment sites, and a roundtable to discuss EPA updates and issues. Recorded sessions for the resiliency as well as the cross-program coordination on contaminated sediment sites are available on our website.
The ASTSWMO Remedial Action Focus Group presented their report about how States can prepare, negotiate and implement their Superfund State Contracts. This report is intended to help States recognize and understand these decision points and provide some implementation strategies to assist with successful site cleanup. If you would like to read the document, please click the link below to view our most recent publications from the CERCLA and Brownfields Research Center Subcommittee.
Federal Facilities
In FY ‘16, EPA launched “FEDFacts,” a website which allows the public to easily access information on sites listed on the Federal Agency Hazardous Waste Compliance Docket (Docket). FEDFacts modernized the Docket and further fulfilled the statutory requirements established in CERCLA 120(c) to "establish a program to provide information to the public with respect to facilities which are included in the docket." Previously the lists of Docket sites, which include both National Priority List (NPL) and Non-NPL sites, were only available on the Federal Register. FEDFacts now makes this information available online. The FEDFacts website provides information on EPA’s 2300+ Federal Agency Hazardous Waste Compliance Docket sites through searchable and sortable site lists, a dashboard that compiles programmatic information and measures, and an interactive map where the public can quickly find federal facility docket sites in their communities and easily access cleanup status information on these sites.
Some other features of FEDFacts includes a customized Environmental Justice (EJ) Screen tool which allows users to evaluate EJ information at Federal Facility Docket Sites based on 1, 5, 10 and 20 mile radiuses. The site uses both current Superfund Enterprise Management System (SEMS) data as well as previous database CERCLIS data for NPL sites. For those sites not on the NPL, information is compiled from RCRAInfo, Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO), EJ Screen, Envirofacts/FRS Inventory, and the Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS). EPA created the FEDFacts website in response to input from Federal Facility Cleanup Dialogue meetings when stakeholders called for greater transparency and emphasized the importance of making information more accessible and useful.
Hazardous Waste
The Hazardous Waste Subcommittee joined with the ASTSWMO CABs and Federal Facilities Subcommittees in presenting a joint session on the new TSCA law at the 2016 ASTSWMO Annual Meeting, and organized another joint session with the Materials Management Subcommittee that addressed two cross-cutting program issues: pharmaceuticals and cathode ray tubes.
The Program Information Management Task Force took the lead in preparing an updated position paper on “RCRA Subtitle C Hazardous Waste Program Information and RCRAInfo Database Operation and Maintenance”, which was approved by the ASTSWMO Board of Directors at their October 2016 meeting.
The Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Task Force has produced summaries of the EPA 2015 Definition of Solid Waste rule, and EPA’s final Waste Analysis Plan Guidance.
Materials Management
The Materials Management Subcommittee organized a Food Waste session at the Annual Meeting, which addressed food waste reduction and food rescue activities as well as challenges in composting food scraps. The panel consisted of Emily Broad Leib, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, Director, Food Law and Policy Clinic & Deputy Director, Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, Harvard Law School; Cheryl Kollin, Program Director, Community Food Rescue, Montgomery County, MD; and Linda Norris-Waldt, Marketing/Membership Manager, US Composting Council.
The Sustainable Materials Management Task Force has developed a food waste webpage that will provide resources about food recovery activities by States, the Federal Government, and other organizations.
Tanks
Video from the 2016 Annual Meeting in Washington on UST System Corrosion courtesy of the ASTSWMO Tanks Subcommittee. Click here!
Upcoming Meetings
ASTSWMO Mid-Year Meeting, Renaissance Hotel in Cleveland, OH, April 26-27, 2017.
Registration is not open.
ASTSWMO UST Workshop, May 23-25, 2017, Louisville, KY.
Registration is not open.
ASTSWMO Joint Hazardous Waste and Materials Management Training, Summer 2017.
More information to come!
RCRA Summit
ASTSWMO, ITRC, and the Horinko Group hosted the RCRA Summit held in Washington, DC on October 26, 2016. It was a true meeting of the minds as experts from around the country met to discuss the 40th anniversary of RCRA and their reflections on the past as well as their hopes for the future.
ASTSWMO Gives Back
ASTSWMO's most recent charity recipient was FAN DC, a non-profit specializing in providing students in foster care with resources. The donation of over $1,000.00 was presented at the 2016 ASTSWMO Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. Thank you to meeting attendees who donated to this worthy cause.
ASTSWMO Achievements
ASTSWMO member, Monica Sheets (CO), Federal Facilities Subcommittee Chair, named Employee of the Year in Colorado! Below is the nomination write-up by Martha Rudolph, Director of Environmental Programs, CO Department of Public Health & the Environment, describing Monica's accomplishments:
I am nominating Monica because she was instrumental in obtaining critical stakeholder support for the listing of the Bonita Peak Mining District on the federal National Priorities List (NPL).
For many years, the state and EPA have been meeting with the Animas River Stakeholders Group (ARSG) and with Silverton and San Juan County community members and elected officials to discuss the condition of the mine workings in the Upper Animas Watershed, and the need to take action to respond to the on-going historic contamination from these workings. The Upper Animas watershed is one of the more contaminated watersheds in the state because of the extensive historic mining in the area for well over 100 years. Many attempts have been made to obtain the support of the local communities to list the area on the NPL: to do so would be the first step in securing necessary funding under CERCLA to remediate the mine sites. Despite many, many discussions with the communities, for years no support for the listing was forthcoming.
Then, in August of 2015, the spill at the Gold King Mine happened. Communities were concerned, not only about the immediate impacts from the spill, but also what the potential might be for future mine disasters in the area. Monica saw this as an opportunity to reengage the communities in discussions about listing the area on the NPL. She took it upon herself – with help from her staff – to initiate discussions with the local communities. Seeing that there was some interest in more dialog about the listing, she scheduled a multi-day tour of several CERCLA sites across the state with all interested local officials. Monica designed the tour so that these officials could meet with the local host officials and others at the other CERCLA sites – and she asked the host officials to give their candid description of the CERCLA process, and whether they would support the CERCLA listing if they could do it over again. She selected sites to visit where there had been controversy and disagreement over the listing – she wanted the Animas locals to get a full, fair and realistic assessment of the CERCLA process. The tour was a success – but not because the Animas locals suddenly embraced the listing of the Animas watershed – but because they were willing to continue to talk about the potential listing.
Over the next several weeks, Monica traveled to Durango and Silverton many times to continue to meet with the local officials and the ARSG, to answer questions and to talk about what listing would mean. Gradually the local officials began to talk more positively about the listing, but some challenges remained: they wanted certain conditions to be fulfilled before they would agree to support the listing. Many of the desired conditions could not be granted because of legal and financial reasons. Monica patiently would explain the limitations to the group. Eventually, after many more meetings and conversations, the local community indicated that it would support the listing on the NPL. A letter was sent to the Governor expressing such support, the Governor in turn sent a letter of support to the EPA, and just within the last two weeks, the EPA has officially listed the Bonita Peak Mining District on the NPL.
It is hard to express just how important and significant this listing is. The state and EPA have been working with the Animas community for years to try to get this site listed. Because Monica saw an opportunity based upon the unfortunate Gold King Mine spill, and she worked creatively and patiently with the local community, the site is now listed.
And, while this was all happening, she also had to help with the response to the Gold King Mine spill, respond to multiple inquiries from the Governor’s office, the Attorney General’s Office, the media and others regarding the Gold King Spill. Throughout all of this Monica remained upbeat, cheerful, and extremely responsive to all requests. And, she also was able to continue with her “day job” as the manager of the Remediation Program.
For her outstanding contributions this year, I am pleased to nominate Monica.
DoD Updates
DoD and the State Memorandum of Agreement (DSMOA) Team issued a revised DSMOA Cooperative Agreement (CA) guide in April 2016. The DSMOA CA guide provides guidance and procedures to the DoD Components and States for administering the DSMOA program. Specifically, the CA guide discusses DSMOA eligibility, the CA process, DSMOA financial management, performance reports, and dispute resolution. The revised CA guide reflects changes in the DSMOA program that have occurred since DoD finalized the 2006 version of the CA guide. One major change is the development of the DSMOA portal, which is a DoD website for registered users that participate in the DSMOA Program. Using the portal, DoD Components and States can complete the six step CA process, manage points of contact, update joint execution plans, submit payment requests, and complete performance reports. The revised CA guide also reflects updates to the DSMOA eligibility policy from the May 4, 2012 DoD DSMOA eligibility memorandum, and clarifies the dispute resolution process and provides model language for dispute resolution.
Beginning in calendar year 2017, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) will start to require that the DoD Components using advanced classification on munitions response sites contract to use accredited organizations for this work. OSD signed a memorandum in April 2016 establishing the DoD Advanced Classification Accreditation Program (DAGCAP) to provide a unified program for organizations performing advanced classification to demonstrate competency and document conformance to minimum quality systems requirements. By using DAGCAP accredited organizations, DoD ensures data quality and builds confidence in decisions it makes using data from advanced classification. More information is available at http://www.denix.osd.mil/mmrp.
State News
Iowa UST Professional’s Refresher Course Huge Success
Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), Underground Storage Tank (UST) Section organized and hosted one their best UST professional refresher courses since the program’s inception. Get the full scoop below:
Alumni Outreach
Are you close to retirement? Do you know retired State and Territorial managers who used to be active in ASTSWMO? ASTSWMO staff would like the personal contact information for retired or soon-to-retire waste managers. Staff continues to work on a plan to create a mentoring network for young professionals who work in RCRA C and D, Tanks, CERCLA, Brownfields, and Federal Facilities. Send your contact information to Dania Rodriguez: 202-640-1061 or daniar@astswmo.org.
Members in Action
Are you interested in volunteering on an ASTSWMO Task Force or Focus Group? Fill out the New Member Interest Form and email it to one of our Staff! The 2016 Members in Action Rotation has created many new openings. Check out the Subcommittee Rosters!
ASTSWMO Webinars
The CERCLA & Brownfields Subcommittee’s Remedial Action Focus Group prepared a Superfund State Contract Webinar in October. If you have any questions regarding the webinar, please contact Scott Lauher (scottl@astswmo.org) .
Please stay tuned as ASTSWMO Subcommittees produce future webinars.
ASTSWMO Strategic Plan
Know anyone in your staff that has been with your agency for 5 years or less? Tell them about ASTSWMO! Succession planning has been a big topic for discussion for ASTSWMO members! Help the next generation learn about ASTSWMO and our network!
ITRC Upcoming News
The Interstate Technology Regulatory Council (ITRC) will be opening up new registration on December 1st for 9 technical teams in 2017. One exciting new team – PFAS will focus on producing technical resources to help regulators and stakeholders improve their understanding of the current science regarding PFAS compounds. The team will be led by Dr. Ginny Yingling, MN Department of Health; and Mr. Bob Mueller, NJDEP. The scientific community’s understanding of PFAS sources, site characterization, environmental fate and transport, analytical methods, and remediation is growing rapidly. However, there is no one central clearinghouse available that presents this information in a manner conducive to those other than subject-matter experts. As a result, there is a gap in the broad technical understanding necessary for informed and expedited decisions by regulators. The ITRC will produce a series of six Fact Sheets, each synthesizing key information for one of the following core subjects: (1) History and Use of Environmental Sources, (2) Nomenclature Overview and Physicochemical Properties, (3) Fate and Transport, (4) Site Characterization Tools, Sampling Techniques, and Laboratory Analytical Methods, (5) Remediation Technologies and Methods, and (6) Regulatory Summary. Following the Fact Sheets will be the release of a technical-regulatory guidance document and a companion internet-based training course.
All are welcome to join the new teams. State members participating on teams may be eligible for travel reimbursement to the 2 annual team meetings. For more information and to register for a team, please see www.itrcweb.org.
ASTSWMO Remembers
We are saddened to share the news that Joe Coyne (MA) passed away on November 29, 2016 after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Joe represented Region 1 on the CERCLA Post Construction Focus Group and was also the Vice-Chair (2012 – 2015). He was a tremendous person, leader, and a loving father. He will be missed.
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