MassDEP’s Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup (BWSC) held an Advisory Committee meeting on August 15, 2024. Click here for the meeting agenda and click here for slides from that meeting.

Representatives of LSPA’s Regulations Committee attended the meeting and provided the following top takeaways (in no particular order):

• MassDEP continues to work on a draft policy (the so-called “Comm-24” policy) which would specify the parameters which must be met to allow contaminated soil from one MCP site to be reused at another MCP site. This draft policy is expected to be available for public review and stakeholder engagement before the end of 2024.
• MassDEP is drafting a PFAS Q&A document using questions posed by external stakeholders and internal MassDEP staff. Topics include: Standards; MCP Notification; Site Assessment; Risk Assessment; Treatment; Analysis; and Downgradient Property Status.
• MassDEP met separately with the LSPA and National Grid in July to discuss some areas of the revised MCP Q&A. As a result, MassDEP will be clarifying Coal Tar Waste Deposit definitions and requirements. EPC determinations are being revised as well. 
• The Commonwealth has two years to comply with EPA’s new PFAS MCL. BWSC is coordinating its efforts to promulgate MCP cleanup standards with the standards being developed by the Drinking Water Program. 
• MassDEP is considering changes to the current Imminent Hazard concentration of greater than or equal to 90 ng/L for PFAS 6. 
• MCP soil standards are not expected to change significantly. 
• MCP standards for reportable concentrations (i.e., RCGW-1) and Method 1 risk standards (i.e., GW-1) will reflect changes to the MassDEP Drinking Water Program’s drinking water standards.
• Because EPA drinking water standards include PFAS compounds not currently covered by MassDEP PFAS6 drinking water standards and MCP cleanup standards, MassDEP will include these additional PFAS compounds in its standards.
• Until new Massachusetts PFAS standards are finalized, the current PFAS standards remain in effect.
• If you have PFAS Program questions or comments, please contact: John Ziegler, PFAS Coordinator, MassDEP-BWSC, (617) 874-6733; [email protected].
• A Western MA Brownfields Roundtable will take place on Sept. 17, 2024, from 9:00 am to12:30 pm at the offices of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission in Springfield, MA. For more information, contact David Foss, MassDEP’s Statewide Brownfields Coordinator, at [email protected].
• Data Management Update: eDEP forms have been updated based on the 2024 MCP Revisions. A new version of the Site File Viewer was released in July 2024. If you have questions about Searchable Sites, eDEP, or the File Viewer, contact [email protected].
• The next MassDEP BWSC Office Hours Meeting will be Thursday, Sept. 19 at 9:00 am. The next BWSC Advisory Committee Meeting will be Thursday, November 21 at 9:00 am. More details here.

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.

Provided below is new information from both US EPA and MassDEP.

Ongoing Updates on MCP-Related Information
Watch this space on the MassDEP website for updates and “related information” on the 2024 MCP. At this time, updates include:

On May 30, 2023, the LSPA submitted comments to USEPA via the Federal eRulemaking Portal regarding the proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for PFAS, under Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0114. Read the LSPA comment letter here. This was the first time in over a decade that the LSPA has commented on a proposed USEPA rule.

This USEPA webpage provides a summary of the proposed rule, along with links to supporting materials, technical materials, and background information. A small group of LSPA members including toxicologists, public health risk assessors, and LSPs with decades of experience reviewed and provided comments on this rule. The LSPA comments were organized according to the topics outlined in the slides from this USEPA presentation, Proposed PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (epa.gov).

On March 14, 2023, EPA announced the proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for six PFAS including PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (commonly known as GenX Chemicals), PFHxS, and PFBS. EPA anticipates finalizing the regulation by the end of 2023. For more details click here.

The LSPA will review the proposed regulation and provide comments to EPA during the public comment period, which ends on May 30, 2023. If you have comments you would like the LSPA to consider, please send them to [email protected] by April 28, 2023.

On March 14, 2023, EPA announced the proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for six PFAS including PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (commonly known as GenX Chemicals), PFHxS, and PFBS. The proposed PFAS NPDWR does not require any actions until it is finalized. EPA anticipates finalizing the regulation by the end of 2023. For more details click here.

EPA is requesting public comment on the proposed regulation. The public comment period will open following the proposed rule publishing in the Federal Register. Public comments can be provided at that time at www.regulations.gov under Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0114.

The U. S. EPA and EPA Region 1 have issued the Final National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permits for discharges of pollutants to Waters of the U. S. in waste waters from certain dewatering and remediation-related activities. This Dewatering and Remediation General Permit (DRGP) covers discharges to certain waters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of New Hampshire, sites in Connecticut and Rhode Island located on Indian Country lands, and federal facilities in Vermont.

This DRGP is a combined reissuance of the Remediation General Permit (RGP) that became effective on April 8, 2017, and expired on April 8, 2022, and the Dewatering General Permit (DGP) that became effective on April 25, 2015, and expired on April 7, 2022. The new general permit combines the former Discharge General Permit (DGP) for non-remediation construction projects with the Remediation General Permit (RGP). The DRGP authorizes discharges of groundwater, surface water, potable water, and storm water associated with following activities: site remediation, site dewatering, infrastructure dewatering and remediation activities, and material dewatering.

LSPA's July 2020 Member Newsletter has been published! Table of Contents is listed below. Please log in to your account and visit Member Materials to view the full newsletter.

In this Issue....

• President's Message
• PFAS Analysis of Drinking Water by EPA Method 533
• Temporary Solutions: 2018-2019 NOAFs and Draft MCP Amendments
• Review of FY18 NOAFs for LNAPL
• Lessons Learned from MNA- and ROS-related NOAFs
• Findings From FY18 Risk Characterization NOAFs

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the “EPA’s Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Action Plan.”  This 60-page PFAS Action Plan identifies EPA-led short-term actions, longer-term research, and potential regulatory approaches designed to reduce the risks associated with PFAS in the environment.  Read the full action plan and a summary fact sheet here: https://www.epa.gov/pfas/epas-pfas-action-plan 

The Executive Summary lists “Key EPA Actions Addressing PFAS-Related Challenges”:

• EPA will initiate steps to evaluate the need for a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for PFOA and PFOS. We will convene our federal partners and examine everything we know about PFOA and PFOS in drinking water.
• EPA is beginning the necessary steps to propose designating PFOA and PFOS as "hazardous substances" through one of the available statutory mechanisms, including potentially CERCLA Section 102.
• EPA is currently developing groundwater cleanup recommendations for PFOA and PFOS at contaminated sites and will complete this task by fall of this year.
• EPA is taking action in close collaboration with our federal and state partners to develop toxicity values for GenX and PFBS by this summer. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Scott Pruitt, announced the appointment of Alexandra Dapolito Dunn to become Regional Administrator for Region 1. With over two decades of experience in environmental law, legislation, policy, and regulatory affairs, Ms. Dunn will oversee federal environmental protection efforts in: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. 

Alexandra Dunn currently serves as executive director and general counsel for the Environmental Council of States (ECOS), a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to helping state agencies improve environment outcomes for Americans. Since 2014, Ms. Dunn has helped state governments improve water infrastructure, air pollution control, site cleanup, chemical management, and economic development. Prior to joining ECOS, Ms. Dunn served as executive director and general counsel for the Association of Clean Water Administrators.

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Remediation General Permit
Signed by EPA and MassDEP

By: Isaac Anderson, Project Manager, Cooperstown Environmental and LSPA Technical Practices Committee Member

By: Isaac Anderson, Project Manager, Cooperstown Environmental and LSPA Technical Practices Committee Member

Many of you know that the 2010 Remediation General Permit (RGP), issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1 (EPA) under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), expired in September 2015. As noted in the LSPA email blast sent on September 15, 2016, the Draft RGP was published in the Federal Register on August 18, 2016, and EPA accepted public comments until September 19, 2016. What many of you are left wondering is, what happens next, and what should you do in the interim if you have a project that requires coverage under the RGP before the new RGP is available?

For a Limited Time…
Complimentary Viewing of ASTM’s Standard Guide for Greener Cleanups

Updated TCE Documents

MassDEP has recently made minor revisions to two TCE-related documents (last updated in March, 2014):

1. TCE Toxicity Information:  Implications for Chronic and Shorter-Term Exposure – Fact Sheet (August 15, 2014)

• tcestat.doc (360 KB, MS Word)
• tcestat.pdf (764 KB, PDF)

1. EPA Trichloroethylene Toxicity Values and ORS Recommendations Regarding Remediation Targets & Timeframes to Address Potential Developmental Risks (August 15, 2014)

• tcevalsm.doc (245 KB, MS Word)
• tcevalsm.pdf (186 KB, PDF)