Lower Risk from Faster Cleanup Under Hazardous Waste Identification Rule for Contaminated Media. J. P. Laurenson, N. D. Favre, M. J. Berg, and L. Luben, ICF Incorporated, 9300 Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA 22031; and U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20460
We used site case studies to analyze potential changes in the rate of remediation resulting from the Hazardous Waste Identification Rule for Contaminated Media (HWIR-Media) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). HWIR-Media (proposed April 29, 1996; 61 Federal Register 18780) would authorize EPA and states to remove certain lower-risk remediation wastes from most hazardous waste regulation and would modify the management requirements for the higher-risk remediation wastes. One goal of this analysis was to identify prominent "real world" examples of how remediation could be affected under HWIR-Media and how any acceleration could affect risks during and following remediation. A risk-based screen was applied to a data base of sites to select a range of seven sites for the analysis. Two key HWIR-Media options then were applied to each site: (1) the proposed Bright Line Option, which uses constituent-specific "bright line" concentrations to distinguish high and low risk contamination and only addresses contaminated media and (2) the Unitary Approach, which allows more site-specific decisions and addresses all remediation wastes. The results, while somewhat uncertain and highly site-specific, indicate that either of the HWIR-Media approaches could have resulted in accelerated cleanup compared to the status quo at the sites examined. The Unitary Approach appeared to show greater acceleration and long-term site risk reduction compared to the Bright Line Option, while the Bright Line Option appeared to show lower short-term remediation risks. Differences in costs and other factors also were assessed.
Work conducted under the direction of Colin Apse, U.S. EPA, Contract 68-W2-0008, Work Assignment 232.