United Stales Office of Publication 9234;z-TSFS
Environmental Protection Solid Waste and November 1991
Agency Emergency Response
&EPA ARARs-Assist System:
Availability of CELDS Computerized
Database for the Identification of ARARs.
Office of Emergency and Remedial Response
Office of Program Management OS-240 Quick Reference Fact Sheet
Section T21(d) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act (CERCLA), as amended by the 1986 Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA),
requires, thatGft-siteremedial action mustatutntywaiwFederatetnore MfingenrSLte appUcable or
relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs) upon completion of the remedial action. The revised
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan of 1990 (NCP) requires
compliance with ARARs during remedial actions as well as at completion, and compels attainment of
ARARs during removal actions to the extent practicable, considering the exigencies of the situation.
See NCP, 40 CFR section 300.415(0 (55 FR 8666, 8843) and section 300.435(5X2) (55 FR 8666,
8852) (March 8, 1990).
In order to facilitate the identification of requirements that may be potential ARARs, this Fact
Sheet announces the availability of a computer database that can assist those Remedial Project
Managers (RPMs), On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs), State personnel at State-lead CERCLA sites,
potentially responsible parties (PRPs), and other persons involved in performing response actions at
CERCLA sites. Also, the computer database is useful for persons who wish to search for State or
Federal environmental requirements for non-ARAR related purposes. In addition, this Fact Sheet
describes planned enhancements to the database.
DISCLAIMER: Note, however, that this system does not make judgments about the ARAR
status of requirements.
The Office of Program Management (OPM) within the EPA Office of Emergency and
Remedial Response (OERR) has convened a Federal Agency Users Group to help direct the
development and operation of the ARARs-Assist system. Of the Users Group, the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) is the first Agency to join with EPA to fund the database enhancements. Together with
the DOE Office of Environmental Guidance, Office of Environmental Restoration, and Office of
Environmental Compliance, OPM has engaged the Construction Engineering and Research Laboratory
(CERL) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to enhance the Corps' existing environmental
regulations database, the Computer-aided Environmental Legislative Data System (CELDS). At the
same time, the EPA Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory is developing an expert system. This
component will ultimately t« linked to the database in a computerized ARAR selection system called
"ARARs-Assist". The ARARs-Assist system will help to:
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Equalize the knowledge base of requirements that may be potential ARARs for
all parties;
leSsen costly delays due [0 disagreement over ARARs identification;
Speed up progress toward remedial action by facilitating remedy selection; and
thus, '. .
Build greater public confidence.
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Even now, before completion of the enhancements, these goals can be partially met by using
the CELDS database. Therefore, OPM recommen4S that persons involved in ARARs identification
begin to take advantage of the capabilities offered by CELDS. Funher, OPM requests that CELDS
users offer suggestions on ways to improve the system.
What Is -the ARARs-ASslst system?
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The ARARs-Assist sysrem.consists.of_tWoparts. The first is ~ e?tpe~ system that will be
designed [0 guide the user through the ARARs' identification process. The expen system will prompt
.tQ~~~~~!"",~i.~ate.d site £~~~~- (h~~~geologic..inf.0rmation, con~inants, affected.. .
media. ere). Once these characteristics are (1efiiie(f;"~expe1'F$YsrefIr'!11tSGlCtFtftt?da~an(t'~...., .
identify Federal and State requirements that are potential ARARs for the site. Theexpen system
being developed by EPA's Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory .in CinCinnati, Ohio, is scheduled to
be available in prototype form for field-testing during.FY 1993. This expen system will be tlnIced
with the enhanced CELDS database. .
The second pan of the ARARs-Assist system is the database. The Corps, at CER.L in Urban;
IL, are developing the database. The ARARs-Assist database will be an enhancement of CELDS,
which was initially developed in 1972 to provide Anny planners and environmental officers rapid
access to environDiental regulations in order to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act
Updated continuQusly, CEI,.DS makes new infonnation available to the user at both the begirming and
middle of each month. . .
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CELDS is a collection of detailed absttacts of most. Federal and State environmental
regulations. Through the abstracts, CELDS provides qUick access to current regulations that may
affect .the' environment. as well as to data for environmental impact analysis and erivironmental quality
management The abstracts are written in a straightforward n3rratlve style without legal jargon. Each
regulation is examined for its relevancy to the database, abstracted, indexed, and entered into the
database in a consistent format While intended as a guide to the original statute and/or regulation, a
CELDS abstraCt is not intended to replace the original documents or to resolve legal problems. Where
the Regions intend to rely Ufion specific provisions. it may be appropriate to cons1#J the fullteit.
How do I use CELDS?
Abstracts are retrieved using a personal computer as directed by the CELDS User's Manual.
The user structures each step of .the search by issuing a series of commands' in combination with .
keywords, the names of political jurisdictions, and subject categories that relate to the user's search.
. The se~h PrQC~s~ ~ows th~, user,U? ex~we the};ELD~ dat1b~ and~trieve reCords that contain
the information on the topics of interest ." . . .,. .,. '
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The search strategy involves three basic
steps. First, the user decides whether to search
Federal regulations, State regulations, or both;
second, the user determines which broad subject
category to search (see Highlight 1); and third,
the user identifies the keywords needed to
retrieve the desired records. Keywords are the
terms used by CELDS to index every record and
can include, but are not limited to: chemical
names; categories of pollutants; and, types of
activities or products being regulated.
How do I access CELDS?
To access CELDS, the user needs a
remote terminal, a modem, and a connection to a
telephone line; Offices thaf use~a Local Area
Network (LAN) may place an interface with
CELDS-on their LAN»,a&jQERR has done.
Since CELDS is part of the Corps'
Environmental Technical Information System
(ETIS), the user needs an ETIS login code for
identification to gain access. A temporary login
code, as well as an instruction manual on how to
use CELDS, can be obtained by calling the
ETIS Program Office, (217) 333-1369.
HIGHLIGHT 1
Subject Categories Covered Within
Current CELDS and Future ARARs-
Assist System:
hazardous waste
air quality
solid waste
. potable water quality
underground storage tanks
surface and ground water quality
pesticides
oil and gas well management
radiation
toxic substances
- motor vehicles and-aircraft/airplane
noise control
coastal zones
^*- " '- V^"r''i"-~*^rtl':.*» ' ^ ~^-\"^fF-^xT*^1 """ '«iT"~-1 "'L"'-Vir^1^*?"^
dredging and channelization
erosion and sedimentation
wetlands
historic preservation
endangered species
Ordinarily, individual users are charged at the rate of $95 per hour for each minute that they
are accessing CELDS. However, EPA and DOE intend to make special arrangements with CERL for
agency-wide subscriptions to allow their personnel to use CELDS without being charged.
How will ARARs-Assist be completed?
: EPA currently has an Interagency Agreement (IAG) in place with the Corps for the, continued
enhancement of the CELDS database. Both EPA and DOE are providing matching funds for the
highest priority enhancements. These include the addition of the full texts of all Federal and State
statutes and regulations and the creation of abstracts of all of the statutes. Other enhancements will be
added as soon as funding is made available by other Federal Agency User Group participants.
What future enhancements are planned for CELDS?
CELDS currently contains abstracts for most Federal and State environmental regulations. If
other agencies participate with EPA and DOE, the database enhancements to CELDS could be
complete by the end of FY 1993. The completion of the expert system is expected to take longer, ,
although a model system is scheduled to be integrated with CELDS and available for wide-scale field
testing at EPA Regional Offices and DOE Operation Offices by October 1992 (see Highlight 2).
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Further information on ARARs- Assist
and GELDS can be obtained from Rhea Cohen,
of EPA/OPM (FTS or (202) 260-2200). Written
inquiries and comments can be sent to Ms.
Cohen either through the OPM FAX machine at
(FTS or (202) 260-3847) or by mail to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, mail code
(OS-240). 401 M Street, S.W., Washington,
D.C 20460.
NOTICE: The policies set out in this
fact sheet are not final Agency action,
but are intended solely as guidance.
They are not intended, nor can they be
relied upon, to create any-rights-
enforceable by any party in litigation
with the United States. Response
I" "II" I " ""' --- 1"**" - °±±t"^± t^"^ ',
* .ni-- -~f- '«' ^ «>*« ~jKri-~s- «fc- i
to follow the
,. . . _-- - __
'i-SIS-STlE; - ?. wiis -»B * *..,,/ p!-**M«s»f
personnel may deci
guidance provided in this fact sheet, or
to act at variance with the guidance,
based on an analysis of site-specific
circumstances. The Agency also
reserves the right to change this
guidance at any time without public
notice.
vvEPA
United Slates
Environmental Protection
Agency (06-240)
Washington, DC 20460
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
HIGHLIGHT 2
Completed ARARs-Assist System
Will Include But Not Be Limited To
the Following Features:
Detailed abstracts and full text of the
following requirements that address
environmental protection and facility
siting:
Federal and State statutes and
regulations;
* Indian Tribal laws;
.. . * .Federal Agency-Memoranda of
Agreement;
» International treaties; and,
Additional components to simplify
ARARs identification, as follows:
Electronic mail box;
Catalogue of EPA Superrund
publications;
National Contingency Plan and
Index;
Proposed Federal and State
environmental requirements;
Tutorial on identification of
potential ARARs;
* EPA and DOE examples of
ARARs selection;
Access to other .systems developed
by EPA and other Agencies;
System training for EPA
Headquarters and Regional staffs,
as well as those of other
participating Agencies.
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