Chapter 2: Federal Facilities Response Program

This volume contains documents that are related specifically to base realignment and closure. One of FFRRO's primary goals is to assist DoD, by working through EPA's regional offices. The Fast-Track Cleanup Program accelerates cleanups and speeds economic recovery of communities affected by the closing and realignment of military bases under the Base alignment and Closure (BRAC) Program. The documents in Volume II focus on issues related to cleanup, property reuse, transfer, and liability. The documents in this volume are organized as follows:

• Program Overview
• Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)
• Military Munitions/Unexploded Ordnance
• Perchlorate
• Quality Assurance
• Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Information System (CERCLIS)
• Superfund Program Implementation Manual (SPIM)
• Institutional Controls (ICs)
• One Cleanup Program
• Lead-Based Paint
• Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)
• Federal Facilities Hazardous Waste Docket
• Long Term Stewardship (LTS) and Post Construction Completion (PCC)
• Environmental Justice
• Tribes and Federal Facilities
• Community Involvement

Program Overview

In 1994, EPA reorganized its enforcement and program responsibilities thus creating the Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office (FFRRO). FFRRO was charged with the responsibility to expedite the cleanup and reuse of Federal facilities. FFRRO communicates with Congress, other federal agencies, states, local governments, tribes, redevelopment interests, and the public on cleanup and reuse issues at Federal facilities. FFRRO functions with the following specific goals in mind:

• Protecting human health and the environment at and near Federal facilities;
• Promoting reuse of federal properties in a manner that is protective of human health and the environment;
• Enhancing the cleanup process;
• Ensuring effective stakeholder involvement at Federal facilities

In support of these goals, FFRRO is responsible for activities that support national policy development and implementation, outreach and training, stakeholder participation, and interagency coordination. To view a snapshot of the program's cleanup accomplishments, please see the Midyear 2006 NPL Program Snapshot and the Midyear 2006 BRAC Program Snapshot .

Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)

• Base Reuse Process Overview
  Document describes the framework for the base reuse process and the general context for the rest of the information in the DoD Base Reuse Implementation Manual.
  
  
• Interim Guidance for EPA's BRAC Program (04/27/2006) (PDF, 69 pages, 1 MB).
  This guidance supersedes February 1996's "EPA's Guidance for Implementing the Fast Track Cleanup Program at Closing or Realigning Bases".
  
  
• Time and Cost Avoidance Attributed to EPA Participation in the Fast Track Cleanup Program (PDF, 2 pages, 99.55 KB).
  A cumulative graphic update from FY 1996 to FY 2005.
  
  
• Base Closure and Property Transfer at Federal Facilities (2005)
  Information on BRAC, specific sites, and links to DoD documents. FFRRO helps accelerate the transfer of federal property by coordinating cleanup activities and crafting property transfer arrangements. The Superfund NPL consists of the hazardous waste sites that pose the greatest threats.
  
  
• Memorandum of Understanding Between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense: Support for DoD Cleanup Implementation for BRAC Installations Rounds I-IV (10/2005) (PDF, 12 pages, 46.65 KB).
  
  
• Summary of the 2005 BRAC Commission's Actions Impacting Installations on the NPL (PDF, 2 pages, 19.14 KB). (10/05/2005)
  
  
• 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission's Final Report (09/08/2005) (PDF, 758 pages, 9.45 MB).
  The Commission's 2005 BRAC recommendations proposed by the Secretary of Defense to the President.
  
  
• Transmittal of the Policy Towards Landowners and Transferees of Federal Facilities (06/13/1997)
  This memorandum transmits EPA's "Policy Towards Landowners and Transferees of Federal Facilities", (Policy) which addresses potential liability concerns of landowners and transferees (e.g., lessees) who acquire Federal facility property.
  
  
• Military Base Closures: Revised Guidance on EPA Concurrence in the Identification of Uncontaminated Parcels under CERCLA Section 120(h)(4), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, March 27, 1997
  This memorandum is intended to provide guidance concerning the implementation of CERCLA section 120 (h)(4), as amended in 1996.
  
  
• Fast Track Cleanup at Closing Installations, Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, May 18, 1996
  Based on the success the Department has had with the Fast Track Cleanup program at installations in previous base closure rounds, the program is being extended to bases selected for closure or realignment in 1995. To implement Fast Track Cleanup at these locations and continue the program at bases in the previous closure rounds, the Fast Track Cleanup policies listed in this document are being reissued with modifications.
  
  
• DoD Guidance on Accelerating the NEPA Analysis Process for Base Disposal Decisions (05/18/1996)
  This guidance implements the President's plan to expedite the disposal of closing military bases by directing that all documents required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 be completed, to the extent practicable, within 12 months of receipt of a Local Redevelopment Authority's (LRA) final reuse plan.
  
  
• DoD Guidance on Improving Public Involvement in Environmental Cleanup at Closing Bases (05/18/1996)
  This guidance implements the President's plan to expedite the closure and reuse of closing military bases. This guidance directs the Components to involve the community near a closing base in the cleanup program by making information available, providing opportunities for comment, and establishing and seeking public participation on a Restoration Advisory Board (RAB).
  
  
• DoD Policy on the Environmental Review Process to Reach a Finding of Suitability to Lease (FOSL) (05/18/1996)
  This policy provides guidance to Department of Defense (DoD) Components on the process to identify and document parcels of real property made available through the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process and which are environmentally suitable for outlease. The DoD Components may develop implementing procedures containing additional requirements based on their own specific organizational needs and unique requirements but which will, at a minimum, include, but not conflict with, the following documentation and procedures.
  
  
• DoD Policy on the Implementation of the Community Environmental Response Facilitation Act (CERFA) (05/18/1996)
  This policy provides guidance to the Department of Defense (DoD) Components on implementing the Community Environmental Response Facilitation Act (CERFA), Public Law 102­425, October 19, 1992, as it amends Section 120(h) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 (42 U.S.C. Section 9620(h)) for identifying and documenting all uncontaminated real property, or parcels thereof, at installations undergoing closure or realignment.
  
  
• EPA's Guidance for Implementing the Fast-Track Cleanup Program at Closing or Realigning Military Bases, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, (Final) February 16, 1996
  This memorandum transmits EPA's final "Guidance for Implementing the Fast Track Cleanup Program at Closing or Realigning Military Bases."
  
  
• Transmittal of the Revised Model Comfort Letter Clarifying National Priority Listing, Uncontaminated Parcel Determinations, and CERCLA Liability Involving Transfers of Federally Owned Property, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, January 19, 1996
  This memorandum transmits EPA's revised model comfort letter which addresses various issues concerning perceived National Priorities List (NPL) stigma and Superfund liability.
  
  
• DoD Guidance on Establishing Base Realignment and Closure Cleanup Teams (Fall 1995)
  This guidance implements the President's plan to expedite the disposal and reuse of closing military bases by creating partnerships and accelerating environmental cleanup activities. It establishes a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Cleanup Team (BCT) for each Department of Defense (DoD) closing or realigning base where property is available for transfer to the community and empowers the team with the authority, responsibility, and accountability for environmental cleanup programs at these installations, emphasizing those actions which are necessary to facilitate reuse and redevelopment.
  
  
• Memorandum of Understanding Between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense
  Support for Implementation of Fast Track Cleanup at Closing Department of Defense (DoD) Installations, February 3, 1994 and Amendment Number One, September 25, 1995
  The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is to establish responsibilities and funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) assistance in accelerating cleanup at closing DoD installations.
  
  
• DoD Base Reuse Implementation Manual, (executive summary) Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Economic Security, July 1995
  
  
• DoD Community Guide to Base Reuse, Office of Economic Adjustment, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Economic Security, May 30, 1995

• Executive Summary
  
  
• Environmental Policy Memo 95-01, Environmental Requirements for Federal Agency-to-Agency Property Transfer at BRAC Installations, Department of the Navy, May 26, 1995  ⁽³⁾
  This policy memorandum clarifies the environmental requirements which must be met for the transfer of Navy/Marine Corps BRAC property to another federal agency.
  
  
• Asbestos, Lead Paint, and Radon Policies at BRAC Properties, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, October 31, 1994  ⁽²⁾
  The purpose of this memorandum is to request that you implement the attached Department of Defense (DoD) policies on asbestos, lead paint and radon at base realignment and closure (BRAC) properties.
  
  
• Finding of Suitability to Transfer BRAC Property, Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, June 1, 1994
  The two documents attached to this memorandum provide guidance on the environmental review process for transferring property. The guidance was prepared by a joint OSD, Military Department, and EPA workgroup and is a fundamental element in our guidance for the lease or transfer by deed of BRAC properties.
  
  
• Memorandum of Understanding Between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense
  Procedures to Determine Environmental Suitability for Leasing Property Available as a Result of a Base Closure or Realignment, May 4, 1994
  
  Military Munitions/Unexploded Ordnance
  
  
• Military Munitions/Unexploded Ordnance
  
  
• Handbook on the Management of Munitions Response Actions (05/2005) (PDF, 315 pages, 3.42 MB).
  The handbook is designed to provide a common nomenclature to aid in the management of munitions and explosives of concern (MEC) which includes unexploded ordnance (UXO), abandoned and/or buried munitions (discarded military munitions, or DMM), and soil with properties that are reactive and/or ignitable due to contamination with munitions constituents.
  
  
• Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Management Principles (03/07/2000) (PDF, 12 pages, 348 KB)
  A set of management principles to address UXO at Closed, Transferring, and Transferred Ranges, developed jointly by DoD and EPA.
  
  
• BRAC Environmental Fact Sheet on Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) (Spring 1999) (PDF, 4 pages, 297 KB)
  
  Perchlorate
  
  
• Perchlorate at Federal Facilities
  
  
• Assessment Guidance for Perchlorate (01/26/2006) (PDF, 3 pages, 443.87 KB)
  This guidance replaces previous OSWER guidance regarding perchlorate under the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR Part 300.
  
  Quality Assurance
  
  
• FFRRO's Quality Assurance webpage, which provides Quality Assurance Policy and Guidance, Data Quality, and Background.
  
  CERCLIS
  
  

  The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) Database is a extensive database that contains general information on sites across the nation and U.S. territories including information on location, contaminants, and cleanup actions taken. CERCLIS is also a planning tool used in aiding to forecast future workloads. The regions are responsible for entering the site-specific information.

• A web-based site profile version of CERCLIS.
  
  SPIM
  
  

  The Superfund Program Implementation Manual (SPIM) is a planning document that defines program management priorities, procedures, and practices for the Superfund program (including Federal facilities). The SPIM provides a link between the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), EPA's Strategic Plan, and the Superfund program's internal processes for setting priorities, meeting program goals, and tracking performance. It establishes the process to track overall program progress through program targets and measures.

  Measure: The Superfund Comprehensive Accomplishments Plan (SCAP) is used by the Superfund National Program, the managers, the AA OSWER, OECA, and others to monitor the progress each region and the overall program is making towards achieving the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) targets and annual performance goals.

  To more clearly reflect the relationship between GPRA and the SCAP process, GPRA annual performance goals and measures and program targets and measures are defined as follows:

• GPRA Annual Performance Goals (APG) and GPRA Annual Performance Measures (APM) - The Agency's Annual Plan describes the specific annual performance goals, annual performance measures, and activities aimed at achieving the performance goals at NPL sites that will be carried out during the year. APGs are the specific activities that the Agency plans to conduct during the fiscal year in an effort towards achieving its long-term strategic goals and objectives identified in the EPA Strategic Plan.



• APMs are used by managers to determine how well a program or activity is doing in achieving milestones that have been set for the year. Program Targets and Measures are activities deemed essential to tracking overall program progress. Program targets are used to identify and track the number of actions that each region is expected to perform during the year and to evaluate program progress. Program measures are used to show progress made in achieving program priorities.

For a complete list of federal facility program targets and measures please see page D-10, D-11, and D-12 in Appendix D of the Superfund Program Implementation Manual.

Institutional Controls (ICs)

Institutional controls are actions, such as legal controls, that help minimize the potential for human exposure to contamination by ensuring appropriate land or resource use. Although it is EPA's expectation that treatment or engineering controls should be used to address principle threat wastes and that groundwater should be returned to its beneficial use whenever practicable, ICs can and do play an important role in remedies.

ICs are used when contamination is first discovered, when remedies are ongoing and when residual contamination remains onsite at a level that does not allow for unrestricted use and unlimited exposure after cleanup. The National Contingency Plan (NCP) emphasizes that ICs are meant to supplement engineering controls and that ICs should rarely be the sole remedy at a site

• Superfund's Institutional Controls (ICs) Webpage.
  
  
• Federal Facility Land Use Control Rod Checklist (10/2006) (PDF, 5 pages, 16.08 KB).
  EPA Regional programs are responsible for ensuring that land use controls (LUCs) or ICs are properly documented for federal facility NPL sites and for some BRAC sites. The LUC checklist describes the critical LUC commitments and descriptions which are needed to ensure protectiveness.
  
  
• A Citizen's Guide to Understanding Institutional Controls at Superfund, Brownfields, Federal Facilities, Underground Storage Tanks, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Cleanups Cleanups (03/01/2005) (PDF, 9 pages, 1.62 MB).
  This guide defines ICs and other related terms, discusses the different types of lCs, discusses when, why, and how ICs are used, identifies entities that may be involved in the implementation, monitoring and enforcement of lCs, and discusses the role of the community throughout the IC life-cycle.
  
  
• Institutional Controls and Transfer of Real Property under CERCLA Section 120(h)(3)(A), (B) or (C) (1999).
  This document provides guidance to the EPA on the exercise of EPA's discretion under CERCLA section 120(h)(3)(A),(B), or (C) when EPA is called upon to evaluate institutional controls as part of a remedial action.
  
  

  One Cleanup Program

• Improving RCRA/CERCLA Coordination at Federal Facilities (12/21/2005) (PDF, 4 pages, 1.7 MB).
  The policy re-emphasizes the 1996 EPA policy on RCRA/CERCLA coordination, and encourages early and continued coordination between Federal facilities and regulatory agencies, including states. EPA encourages regions, states and federal agencies to integrate cleanup activities and regulatory requirements to ensure that activities proceed expeditiously and efficiently, minimizing duplication of effort and second-guessing of remedial decisions.
  
  
• Joint Repositories Policy, Transmittal Memo and Sample Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) ) (04/26/2005) (PDF, 15 pages, 1.9 MB).
  The "Policy on Joint Repositories at Mixed-Ownership Hardrock Mine Sites" encourages EPA Regions to work with federal land management agencies in considering the benefits of using joint repositories as a potential cleanup option to address human health and environmental risks at abandoned mixed-ownership, hardrock mine sites, and/or mining-impacted watersheds.
  
  
• Lead Regulator Policy for Cleanup Activities at Federal Facilities on the National Priorities List (11/07/1997).
  This policy furthers the RCRA/CERCLA coordination concepts presented in "Coordination Between RCRA Corrective Action and Closure at CERCLA Site Activities," and focuses on the unique coordination issues associated with Federal facilities listed on the NPL.
  
  
• Memorandum: Coordination Between RCRA Corrective Action and Closure and CERCLA Site Activities, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (09/24/1996).
  This memorandum discusses three areas: 1) acceptance of decisions made by other remedial programs, 2) deferral of activities and coordination among EPA RCRA, EPA CERCLA and state/tribal cleanup programs, and 3) coordination of the specific standards and administrative requirements for closure of RCRA regulated units with other cleanup activities.
  
  

  Lead-Based Paint

• Lead-Based Paint Guidelines for Disposal of Department of Defense Residential Real Property – A Field Guide (12/1999) (PDF, 56 pages, 599.94 KB).
  DoD and EPA have developed this joint interim final Field Guide
  
  
• Management of Lead-Based Paint in Non-Residential Areas at Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Properties (05/17/1999) (PDF, 3 pages, 357.12 KB).
  Memo transmitting the agreements EPA and DoD reached on August 14, 1998, and to provide a schedule for completing the actions the agencies agreed to jointly undertake.
  
  

  Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)

• PART Information Office of Management and Budget's PART website.
  
  
• FFRRO's Scores After Being PARTed in 2005 (2005).
  
  

  Federal Facilities Hazardous Waste Docket

• FFRRO Federal Agency Hazardous Waste Compliance Webpage.
  
  

  Post Construction Completion (PCC) and Long Term Stewardship (LTS)

• National Strategy to Manage Post Construction Completion Activities at Superfund Sites (October 2005).
  The PCC Strategy is a management framework of goals, with recommended approaches and initiatives, that is designed to provide greater assurance that remedies put in place under CERCLA remain protective over the long-term.
  
  
• Long Term Stewardship Task Force Report and the Development of Implementation Options for the Task Force Recommendations (10/11/2005)
  Long term stewardship (LTS) applies to sites and properties where long-term management of contaminated environmental media is necessary to protect human health and the environment over time. EPA formed the LTS Task Force in 2004 to evaluate the state of long-term stewardship across its various waste cleanup programs. The Task Force released this report to address a variety of challenges facing EPA and its partners responsible for ensuring LTS.
  
  
• Memorandum of Understanding on Long-Term Stewardship at Federal Facilities in the United States (04/09/2003)
  The purpose of this MOU is to provide a common understanding and basis for discussion and coordination between ECOS and relevant federal agencies regarding LTS.
  
  

  Environmental Justice

• FFRRO's Environmental Justice Web Page
  
  
• National Environmental Justice Advisory Council Web Page
  NEJAC was chartered in 1993 as a federal advisory committee that provides independent advice, consultation, and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on matters related to environmental justice.
  
  
• Transmittal Memo for OSWER Response to NEJAC Report on Federal Facilities (10/05/2005) (PDF, 2 pages, 70 KB)
  OSWER's response to recommendations made by NEJAC in their October 2004 report.
  
  
• Environmental Justice and Federal Facilities: Recommendations for Improving Federal Facility Efforts with Environmental Justice Communities (10/15/2004) (PDF, 94 pages, 1.39MB)
  This NEJAC Federal facilities Working Group's report provides recommendations to EPA and other federal agencies on how to improve communication, cultural sensitivity, health services, lack of resources and stakeholder influence in the decision-making processes at Federal facilities in communities striving to reach environmental justice.
  
  
• The Model Plan for Public Participation (February 2000)
  This model plan can be used as a tool that will enhance the public participation process.
  
  
• Environmental Justice Fact Sheet (April 1996)
  This fact sheet explains how and why environmental justice came into the EPA.
  
  
• EPA Insight Policy Paper: Executive Order #12898 on Environmental Justice, March 1994
  A memorandum from President Clinton to the heads of all departments and agencies on "Executive Order on Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations" from February 11, 1994.
  
  

  Tribes and Federal Facilities

• FFRRO's Tribes and Federal Facilities Web Page
  Tribal governments have distinct roles in cleanups of Federal facilities under treaties with the U.S. government. Accordingly, FFRRO works in partnership with tribal governments, both at the facility level and at the national policy-making level.
  
  
• Technical Outreach Services for Native American Communities (TOSNAC)
  TOSNAC is a national program coordinated through the Haskell Environmental Research Studies Center at Haskell Indian Nations University. The program provides technical assistance to American Indians dealing with Federal facilities cleanup issues.
  
  
• National Tribal Environmental Council (NTEC)
  NTEC is a national tribal organization that provides outreach and conducts research on a variety of hazardous substance contamination issues that impact tribes.
  
  
• Talking Stick (January 2004) PDF, 2 pages, 113KB)
  In ongoing efforts to strengthen communication with American Indians living on or near Federal facilities regarding progress made throughout the environmental restoration process, FFRRO works to involve tribes in the cleanup process through various forums. This publication is a general brochure about EPA's involvement at Federal facilities sites around Indian Country.
  
  

  Community Involvement

• Superfund Community Involvement Handbook (April 2005) (PDF, 156 pages, 2.5 MB)
  This handbook presents legal and policy requirements for Superfund community involvement and additional suggestions for involving the community in the Superfund process.
  
  
• Federal Facilities Environmental Restoration Dialogue Committee (June 1999) (PDF, 7 pages, 115 KB)
  This introductory brochure outlines the goals and purpose of the FFERDC.
  
  
• The Final Report of the Federal Facilities Environmental Restoration Dialogue Committee: Consensus Precipices And Recommendations For Improving Federal Facilities Cleanup (April 1996)
  A comprehensive document detailing consensus policy recommendations aimed at improving the process by which Federal facility environmental cleanup decisions are made.
  
  
• FFRRO's "Community Involvement: Advisory Boards and Public Forums" Web Page
  
  
• Superfund Community Involvement Toolkit
  The Superfund Community Involvement Toolkit is a comprehensive and practical tool for promoting successful community participation in the Superfund process. The Toolkit contains 47 tools, each of which describes activities that Superfund Site Teams have used successfully or provides information on available resources.
  
  
• DoD's RAB Program Homepage
  This site includes documents such as policies, guidance, and fact sheets on the operation of RABs alongside installations conducting environmental cleanup.
  
  
• DoD's Restoration Advisory Board Rule Public Information Web Site
  
  
• DOE's SSAB Program Homepage
  Site-Specific Advisory Boards (SSAB) provide consensus advice and recommendations to DOE’s environmental restoration and waste management activities.