UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460 OSWER 9355.0-99 April 16, 2004 MEMORANDUM SUBJECT: Tracking of Institutional Controls (1C) and Formation of the Superfund 1C Management Advisory Committee FROM: TO: Michael B. Cook, Director Is/ Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation Susan E. Bromm, Director /s/ Office of Site Remediation Enforcement Superfund National Policy Managers, Regions 1-10 Director, Office of Environmental Stewardship, Region I Director, Environmental Accountability Division, Region IV Regional Counsel, Regions II, III, V, VI, VII, IX, and X Assistant Regional Administrator, Office of Enforcement, Compliance, and Environmental Justice, Region VIII Purpose This memo requests that you identify a management representative to the Superfund 1C Management Advisory Committee by April 30, 2004 and nominate a management representative from the Superfund Regional Counsel's office to be considered for participation on this committee. As you know, we are establishing this committee to advise and guide in the development of a strategy and guidance for implementing a comprehensive 1C program for Superfund sites. We also want to thank you for naming Regional 1C Program and Legal Coordinators and for their attendance at the April 13-14, 2004 meeting and training session held in Chicago. This meeting was very productive and we believe the outcomes will be very helpful in developing the 1C strategy discussed at the Division Directors meeting in Kansas City. Background Over the past three years the Superfund Program has hosted a number of cross- program/cross-agency forums to identify issues and potential solutions for the proper identification, evaluation, selection, implementation, monitoring and enforcement of ICs. Regional participation in these forums has significantly improved our understanding of the challenges involved in establishing and maintaining effective and durable ICs, and the Regions ------- have been particularly helpful in identifying innovative and practical solutions to begin to address these challenges. Additionally, Regional support in the development of cross-program guidance has also helped to begin to fill an important gap in the post-construction business process. However, a significant workload still remains that prompts us to establish a more formal mechanism for implementing this program. Implementation Training for Data Entry to Institutional Controls Tracking System (ICTS) As most of you know, we have been working toward the development of an Institutional Controls Tracking System (ICTS) and the system is now ready to begin accepting data. As we discussed in Kansas City, we have targeted initial data entry by the end of June for Superfund sites that are construction complete. We completed an introductory meeting on April 13 and 14 at the Region 5 Office in Chicago for the program 1C Regional Coordinators and 1C Legal Coordinators. The primary purposes of this meeting were to train the Regional and Legal 1C Coordinators on the 1C Tracking System and help identify and prioritize policy issues for the Superfund 1C Management Advisory Committee. Superfund 1C Management Advisory Committee As we discussed at the March Division Directors meeting in Kansas City, another important aspect of implementing an effective and durable 1C program is our decision to establish a Superfund 1C Management Advisory Committee. Phyllis Anderson, Associate Director, Assessment and Remediation Division, and Karin Koslow, Chief, Policy and Guidance Branch, Office of Site Remediation Enforcement will Co-chair this Committee. We request that by April 30, 2004 each Region provide the name of a manager from the Superfund Program who will participate in the Superfund 1C Management Advisory Committee. We also would like three or four Regional Counsel Superfund Branch Chiefs to participate; if your Region is interested, please forward the name of this individual as well. This Committee will be charged with addressing national policy issues that will assist in the development of a national strategy and guidance for implementing a comprehensive institutional controls program for Superfund sites. The Committee will replace the current ad hoc groups that have provided advice to date on 1C guidance and tracking. As data are entered into ICTS, we expect issues will arise that relate to program implementation and "filling the gaps" where data are needed. We will be looking to the Superfund 1C Management Advisory Committee to assist in raising these issues, working toward their resolution, and providing recommendations to address challenges that are presented. Because we expect a number of significant issues will be referred to this group, we request that your representative be someone with management responsibility. In addition to the activities noted above, the Advisory Committee representative will be asked to ensure that a Region-specific Action Plan is developed that will make sure ICs are in place, appropriate, and operating at NPL sites; and that corresponding data are entered in ICTS over the next several years. ------- As a first step, the Superfund 1C Management Advisory Committee is being asked to track the progress on entering 1C data into the ICTS so that we can complete data entry for all construction completion sites by the end of June. As we discussed at the Division Directors meeting, we recommend the Regions consider providing the highest priority for data entry to deleted sites. Conclusion There is a substantial amount of work to be done to reinforce the use of effective and durable institutional controls as an integral part of the Superfund program. You may wish to consider establishing a team in the Region who can work with the 1C Management Advisory Committee representative and the 1C Coordinators on 1C implementation issues. We look forward to working collaboratively with you and your staff to identify, prioritize and implement long-term stewardship solutions that get Superfund sites back into productive use safely and reliably. If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Your staff is welcome to contact Michael Bellot for programmatic and K.C. Schefski for enforcement related 1C questions. Mike's telephone number is (703) 603-8905 and his email is beilot.michael@epa.gov, K.C.'s telephone number is (202) 564-8213 and his email is schefski.kenneth@epa.gov. cc: Barry Breen, OSWER Phyllis Harris, OECA Ramona Travota, OSWER Rosemarie Kelly, ORE OSRTI Managers OSRE Managers Jim Woolford, FFRRO Debbie Dietrich, OEPPR Robert Springer, OSW Cliff Rothenstein, OUST Linda Garczynski, OBCR Dave Kling, FFEO Earl Salo, OGC Nancy Riveland, Superfund Lead Region Coordinator, USEPA Region 9 NARPM Co-Chairs Joanna Gibson, OSRTI Documents Coordinator Superfund Regional Counsel Branch Chiefs, Regions 1-10 ------- ------- |