Notes from BWSC Advisory Committee

MassDEP’s Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee met on October 27, 2022 for several hours. Typically, MassDEP posts the slides and recordings of Advisory Committee meetings here. At this time, these have not yet been posted.

A brief summary of meeting highlights is provided below.

• MCP Amendments are still on target for finalizing by end of 2022, and will become effective four months after finalization.
• MassDEP Boston and NERO moving offices by end of year.
• The eDEP Site File lookup issue has been fixed. 
• Brownfields Program
• The state is expecting to receive $900,000 from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in December 2022.
• Deadline for US EPA Brownfields Grants is November 22, 2022 (recommendation to submit by November 19). These EPA Grants are available to municipalities, EDCs, RPCs, non-profit developers, and others.
• An excellent Technical Assistance resource to Brownfields Communities is [email protected], 860-486-0611.
• For more information contact David Foss.
• Soil Beneficial Reuse and Disposal Capacity
• MassDEP (Liz Callahan and Ken Marra from BWSC, Greg Cooper from BAW, and Paul Locke from Commissioner’s Office) has been meeting regularly over the past several months with the MA Soil Beneficial Reuse Coalition (MSBRC) regarding excavate from 21E sites.
• Focus has been on certain categories of soils including
• Rejected COMM-15 materials (pH, conductivity, “not ND”)
• Historic Fill (concentrations vary)
• Remediation Waste: less than COMM-97 unlined list and less than COMM-97 lined list
• Some MSBRC proposals for action include
• Revisit closed landfills – accept COMM-97 soil for grading/shaping to prepare for post-closure
• Allow COMM-15 facilities to accept material currently rejected (pH, conductivity, >RCS-1)
• Allow aggregate material with low level contamination to be beneficially reused at 21E sites and highway rights-of-way
• Develop policy for reuse of Remediation Waste at “other” 21E sites
• Develop regulations and/or policies for soil monofill facilities recognizing inherent differences from MSW facilities
• Next steps include discussing the roles of various MassDEP advisory committees as well as making the transition to the new Governor’s administration.
• PFAS
• The 21E site list includes approximately 100 PFAS RTNs.
• PRPs are conducting the majority of Imminent Hazard responses.
• AFFF Take-Back Program
• MassDEP is continuing the collection and destruction program for legacy AFFF (Pre-2003) as well as modern foams that contain low levels PFAS compounds.
• Since August 2022, over 27,000 lbs of this foam has been collected from 10 fire departments and facilities and shipped under non-hazardous waste manifest (coded as MA99) for destruction by incineration.
• Contact Cathy Kiley, [email protected], 617-549-6854.

Comment Period on MA Climate Change Assessment Report

After over a year of extensive data analysis and stakeholder engagement, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs (EEA) is sharing a draft of the MA Climate Change Assessment for public comment. The documents available for review are posted on the project website and include:

• Draft Executive Summary
• Draft Main Report
• Draft Regional Report Summaries
• Draft Appendices

Please submit your feedback by November 16, 2022 at 5pm using the survey form found on the project website. The LSPA will not be submitting comments.

For more information: [email protected]
Mia Mansfield, Director of Climate Adaptation and Resilience
MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs