Clock is Ticking for LSPA's S. 2737 on Home Heating Oil Insurance

The LSPA's Senate Bill S.2737, which would require insurance companies to provide first- and third-party coverage for home heating oil releases, is once again under consideration by the Massachusetts House Committee on Ways and Means. This is the second time that the bill has passed the Senate and landed here. We are asking for your help in the next few days to get this bill to the Governor's desk. 

Especially if your state representative is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means (and even if they are not) NOW is the time to get their attention. The more requests from constituents, the more visibility and support our bill gets. The legislature’s formal session ends on July 31, 2024.  

Next Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee Meeting

The Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee meets quarterly and provides input to MassDEP on waste site cleanup regulations, policies and programs. All are welcome to attend and participate. Meetings are recorded and may be viewed later.

MassDEP's next Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee meeting will be Thursday, August 15 from 9 to 11 am. Please visit this website for additional information.

The following LSPA practice tip was introduced at the June 2024 Membership Meeting, which was held remotely on June 18, 2024 via Zoom.  

Are you studying for the LSP exam? 

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has issued the newest installment of and opened a public comment period on its Risk Characterization Guidance; this draft guidance covers Chapters 6-10 of the longer document. All pertinent information has been posted to MassDEP’s MCP Amendments web page.

With this email, the LSPA’s Regulations and Technical Practices Committees are soliciting comments on this latest document; the LSPA will be providing comments to MassDEP by close of business on September 12, 2024. 

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) announced that the application for the FY2025-26 Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) is now available. This grant opportunity provides $200,000 in funding, with up to $20,000 per community or municipal applicant group selected for an award, to enhance public involvement and promote a better understanding of the cleanup of contaminated sites in their communities. 

The application deadline is Friday, September 6, 2024.

On June 5, 2024, the LSPA sent our comments to MassDEP’s Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup (BWSC) as part of its public comment periods on two draft guidance documents: 

• Risk Characterization Guidance, Chapters 1-5, Public Review Draft
• Interim Guidance on Implementing Activity and Use Limitations (Interim AUL Guidance) 

For both sets of comments the LSPA adhered to our typical process for collecting and submitting comments on draft documents:

Voting is now open for the 2024-2025 LSPA Board of Directors election. Board positions will take effect July 1, 2024. 

There are three open seats on the Board for this election; the three-year term is from FY '25 through FY '27. Provided below are the candidates on this year's ballot. Please click on each candidate's name to read more about them.

The LSP Association requests your nominations for our 2024 "Contribution to the Practice" Awards. If you know of a deserving candidate and wish to nominate the person and/or organization, please complete this form. The deadline for nominations is Friday, August 9, 2024. The awards are presented annually in the fall either via live webinar or at the LSPA’s October dinner meeting.

Nominations are solicited in the following categories:

The following LSPA compliance tip was introduced at the May 2024 Membership Meeting, which was held remotely on May 16, 2024 via Zoom.  

Compliance Tip of the Month
 The U.S. EPA has promulgated MCLs for PFAS in drinking water; states are required to establish their own regulations that are no less stringent than the federal standards within two years.

In February 2024, the LSPA heard from a few members that their insurance carriers were adding PFAS exclusions to their professional liability policies. This has since been confirmed by other LSPs and practitioners. Some consulting firms have been able to negotiate exceptions for PFAS “sample collection and testing,” and others have been successful in waiving exclusions for all PFAS-related activities. 

We urge you to share this information with the appropriate colleagues at your company and to review your insurance policy carefully. Remember: Given the ubiquity of PFAS, these types of exclusions could apply to many sites, whether or not PFAS is a primary contaminant of concern. 

MassDEP Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) Program 
FY25-26 Opportunity and Application
Anticipated Release Date:  June 4, 2024

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup is pleased to announce the upcoming release of the FY25-26 Technical Assistance Grants (TAGs) funding opportunity. TAGs aim to support community and municipal groups in fostering public participation in decisions related to assessment and cleanup activities at oil or hazardous material disposal sites. Recipients of TAGs may use funds to access expert advice and technical assistance, and to facilitate community education for qualifying projects. 

MA Senate Passes LSPA Bill Mandating Insurance for Home Heating Oil Releases

The LSPA is pleased to announce that on April 25, 2024, the Massachusetts Senate passed the LSPA’s bill, S.2737, An Act relative to the remediation of home heating oil releases. Senator Paul Feeney, Chair of the Joint Committee on Financial Services, spoke in support of the bill prior to the vote. Read the press release on this and two other consumer protection bills from the office of Senate President Karen Spilka. 

Voting will open on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 for the 2024-2025 LSPA Board of Directors election. Board positions will take effect July 1, 2024. 

Ballots will be sent by email to all LSPA members, both Full and Associate. We encourage all members to vote.

MassDEP’s deadlines for written comments have been extended to June 5, 2024 for both guidance documents currently posted on the MCP Amendments web page: “Risk Characterization Guidance, Chapters 1-5, Public Review Draft” and “Interim Guidance on Implementing Activity and Use Limitations.”

The two LSPA groups reviewing these guidance documents are still looking for comments. If you want to join the review group or have comments you wish to share on the Risk Characterization Guidance, please contact [email protected] by no later than May 9th. 

The LSP Association Scholarship Fund is now accepting applications for educational scholarships for the 2024-2025 academic year. Deadline for submission is Friday, May 3, 2024.

The scholarship program supports continued education within environmental fields of study at colleges and universities throughout New England.

The LSPA sent a survey on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to our 750 members in mid-January 2024. Given the increased discussion about and use of AI, the LSPA was interested to learn to what level our members are involved with AI at work and in their personal lives. 

We received 93 responses (12% - much lower than usual). A summary of what you and your colleagues reported is attached here.

The following LSPA compliance tip was introduced at the March 2024 Membership Meeting, which was held remotely on March 14, 2024 via Zoom.  

LSPA Compliance Tip of the Month
Per 310 CMR 40.1406 of the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP), an “Informational Notice to Property Owners” BWSC Form 122 must be completed to advise an owner that their property falls within the boundaries of a disposal site. The MCP specifies when such written notices must be provided and what information they must contain. Copies of all written notices required must be submitted to MassDEP with the corresponding Phase II Report or Permanent or Temporary Solution Statement. 

A MassDEP BWSC Advisory Committee meeting was held on February 15, 2024. This webpage has slides and video from the meeting. Some highlights are below.

In this video, Brian Roden, BWSC Audits and Enforcement Coordinator, provides a summary of the 2024 MCP Amendments for AEPMMs addressing Vapor Intrusion.

There is an LSPA WES Professional Practice Grant effort underway to collect and analyze available air data (collected both from perimeter stations and from personal monitors, as available) from a variety of asbestos impacted sites.

The LSPA is reaching out on behalf of the Haley & Aldrich research team to solicit additional air monitoring data from asbestos sites. So far, all the data they have is from NERO sites. Ideally, they would like to add two projects each from SERO, WERO, CERO. It would be most helpful if the projects also tested soil for percent asbestos (as opposed to identifying presence of asbestos solely through visual inspection). 

The Nominating Committee of the LSP Association (LSPA) is in the process of developing a slate of candidates for the three available positions on the LSPA's Board of Directors. These are three-year positions beginning on July 1, 2024. The Board is comprised of nine members, two of whom may be Associate (non-LSP) members. Current Board members are listed on the LSPA website here. 

We are posting this information in advance of developing the slate to solicit your suggestions for possible candidates, as well as to inform you about the process. The criteria that the Nominating Committee considers for a candidate for our Board of Directors include: