UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AI
                        WASHINGTON, D.C.  20460
                                                   9360.8-10
                                                   EPA/540/F-94/046
                                                   PB94-963285
                                                   AUGUST 1994

                                                       OFFICE OF
                                              SOLID WASTE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE
                                         OSWER Directive 9360.8-10
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:  Interim Guidance  for  the  Determination of Significant
          and Substantial Harm  Facilities  For OjU Pollution Act
          Response Plans
FROM:     Henry L. Longest  II,  Director
          Office of Emergency and  Remedial/^fe^bnse

TO:       Director, Waste Management  Division
               Regions I, IV, V, VII
          Director, Emergency and  Remedial  Response Division
               Region II
          Director, Hazardous Waste Management  Division
               Regions III, VI, VIII,  IX
          Director, Hazardous Waste Division
               Region X
          Director, Environmental  Services  Division
               Regions I, VI, VII

     This transmits the "Interim Guidance for the Determination
of Significant and Substantial  Harm Facilities."   This Interim
Guidance supplements the proposed  response  plan revisions to 40
CFR Part 112 of February 17, 1993.  The purpose of this guidance
is to assist Agency personnel in determining  whether a facility
could reasonably be expected to cause "significant and
substantial harm to the environment."  The  Oil  Pollution Act
(OPA) of 1990 requires that such facilities must  have their
facility response plans reviewed and  approved by  the Agency.  The
Interim Guidance includes a description of  the  screening process,
forms to document the determination process,  and  an attachment
that explains the justification for each criterion.

     The Interim Guidance was prepared with the input of Regional
On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs), the  Office of General Counsel
(OGC), the Office of Waste Programs Enforcement (OWPE),  the US
Coast Guard (USCG) and the Research and Special Programs
Administration (RSPA) of the Department of  Transportation (DOT),
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),  and
the Minerals Management Service (MMS).
                                                          Printed on Recycled Paper

-------
     The Interim Guidance has three screens for use in
determining if a facility poses a risk of significant and
substantial harm to the environment.  The screens are organized
according to the ease of obtaining the required information.   To
evaluate a particular facility, the three screens should be used
sequentially.  The first two screens evaluate information from
the facility plan.  The third screen performs two functions:

     (1) to allow facilities to be designated as significant and
     substantial risk based on site-specific characteristics that
     are not captured under the first two screens, and

     (2) to re-evaluate those facilities that were designated as
     significant and substantial risk under the first two
     screens, but that may have unique locational or facility-
     specific circumstances that mitigate the potential to cause
     significant and substantial harm.

If a facility is not identified by any of the three screens,  the
facility would not reasonably be expected to cause significant
and substantial harm to the environment.

     To ensure national consistency in making these
determinations, I strongly suggest that the screening process
described in the guidance be documented on the attached forms for
each facility identified as reasonably expected to cause
significant and substantial harm.

     Facilities designated as significant and substantial risk
should be notified of their status and be requested to provide to
EPA by July 18, 1993 a certification of the implementation of
resources described in their response plan.  This will enable EPA
to evaluate a facility's certification prior to the August 18,
1993, statutory deadline.  Approval of a facility's certification
will allow it to remain in operation until February 18, 1995, or
until its response plan is approved prior to February 18, 1995.

     If you have questions on the use of the criteria, please
contact Bobbie Lively-Diebold at (703) 356-8774.

Attachment

cc:  Regional Removal Managers
     Cecilia Smith, OWPE
     Tom Beisswenger, OGC
     Superfund Document Center,  (OS-245)

-------