Ideas and Insights

Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded their final report from their Superfund Task Force. What were the findings, and what does it mean for Environmental Professionals and risk managers? In all, the main focus of the Task Force was set on achieving five goals to efficiently and safely cleanup sites to encourage more revitalization initiatives throughout the U.S. Here is a quick overview of the final report details.

Commissioned on May 22, 2017, the EPA brought together a dedicated task force to come up with recommendations and measurable indicators that focus on five goals related to addressing sites on the National Priorities List (NPL). Those five goals included:

• Expediting Cleanup and Remediation
• Re-Invigorating Responsible Party Cleanup and Reuse
• Encouraging Private Investment
• Promoting Redevelopment and Community Revitalization
• Engaging Partners and Stakeholders

In this final report, the Task Force concludes the schedule to implement these goals through 42 recommendations, which in turn will be measured by 15 indicators; with some already in place, and others to roll out some time between next year and FY 2021.

Some of the outcomes worth notably mentioning, in addressing goal 1) Expediting Cleanup and Remediation, the EPA has already put into place through an Emphasis List, which prioritizes sites that pose great health risk to a surrounding area; those sites have been given immense attention to cleanup and create new economic opportunities.

Also, in addressing goal 3) Encouraging Private Investment, the EPA has updated its position on the Use of Site-Specific Agreements with Third Parties in NPL Sites. In this case, the Agency has issued a new policy memorandum, “Agreements with Third Parties to Support Cleanup and Reuse at Sites on the Superfund National Priorities List,” which gives authority to Regional case teams and the national CERCLA Liability and Reuse Action Team to foster site-specific agreements that encourages cleanup and reuse of an NPL site. Additionally, through this effort, the EPA has redeveloped a list of Superfund NPL sites with the greatest expected redevelopment potential.

As a national environmental data provider, Envirosite helps our diverse clientele manage and observe data findings with related National Priorities List (NPL) sites along with other reported and potentially contaminated sites. It is our top priority to ensure that our clients receive our data accurately, swiftly, and easily to make critical decisions related to sites of interest.

We also believe in advancing technology to align with the business needs of our clients, which is why we created Envirobility. This cloud-based application serves as a pre-screening tool that uncovers potentially hidden environmental risks. When it comes to planning future reuse opportunities, utilizing Envirobility provides the controls for making more informative and cost-effective decisions based on environmental conditions. See how this product can serve your business needs, and schedule a demo.