U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 Greener Cleanup Interim Policy Goal The goal of U.S. EPA Region 5's Greener Cleanup Interim Policy is to enhance the environmental benefits of federal cleanup programs by promoting technologies and practices that are sustainable. This policy also identifies coordinators for greener cleanups for the Superfund and Land and Chemicals Divisions. The objectives of this Greener Cleanup Interim Policy are to: • Protect human health and the environment by achieving remedial action goals; • Reduce air pollutant emissions and greenhouse gas production; • Minimize impacts to water quality and water resources; • Support sustainable human and ecological use and reuse of remediated land; • Minimize material use and waste production; and • Conserve natural resources and energy. This Greener Cleanup (GC) Interim Policy applies to all Superfund cleanups including those performed by Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs), States or Tribes through Cooperative Agreements, EPA and/or the Army Corps of Engineer contractors, and Federal Facilities; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action cleanups performed under EPA oversight; EPA-led Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) cleanups; and cleanup work implemented through EPA's Brownfields grant program. This policy is the first step for Region 5 with regard to Greener Cleanups. In the longer-term, Region 5 is working with representatives from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin to develop a Region 5 Greener Cleanup Strategy that will promote this policy for inclusion in state-authorized and other state-lead cleanup programs and describe data collection and evaluation efforts needed to develop a final regional GC policy. The Policy encourages cleanup practices that: • Employ energy conservation and efficiency approaches, including Energy Star equipment and renewable forms of energy to the maximum extent possible; • Use cleaner fuels, diesel emissions controls and retrofits, and emission reduction Scope Policy ------- strategies; • Utilize practices that minimize the production and/or use of contaminants/pollutants; • Utilize water conservation and efficiency approaches including WaterSense products; • Divert from landfill, via reuse and recycling, at least 50% (by weight) of the uncontaminated construction and demolition (C&D) materials generated at the site; • Incorporate environmentally sustainable site design, including use of compost for erosion control and as a soil amendment and use of native plants during re-vegetation; • Use compost and foundry sand in manufactured soils purchased for use on the site in an environmentally safe manner; • Utilize industrial materials, such as foundry sand, recycled asphalt shingles, recycled concrete aggregate and coal combustion products, and products with recycled content within regulatory requirements and in an environmentally safe manner; • Utilize assessment tools and techniques, such as geophysical methods and direct push sampling apparatus, that minimize energy consumption and time required to perform environmental assessments on potentially contaminated sites; • Use environmentally preferable purchasing; • Ensure high efficiency methane recovery from landfills and use of methane as a fuel source; • Use Environmental Management System (EMS) practices such as reducing the use of paper by moving to fully electronic transmittal of project documents and implementation of waste reduction and recycling programs at all work sites; and • Support additional greenhouse gas emission reduction technologies and measurement of reduced emissions. Use of these and other green remediation technologies are the "point of departure" for Superfund, RCRA, LUST, and Brownfields cleanups, and will be standard unless a site- specific evaluation demonstrates impracticability or favors an alternative green approach. This Greener Cleanup Interim Policy does not change clean-up goals, but calls for the use of environmentally sustainable methods to achieve those cleanup goals. A comprehensive set of greener approaches to site cleanup may be found at www.clu- in.org/greenremediation and www.epa.gov/region09/cleanup-clean-air. Additional tools and technologies for EPA staff may be found at the following intranet site: www.epa.gov/oswer/greencleanups/index.html. Region 5 intends to measure the cost differentials and environmental benefits associated with implementing this Greener Cleanup Interim Policy. Examples include, but are not limited to, tracking quantities of materials reduced, reused, or recycled; carbon or greenhouse gas reductions; and water conserved or replenished. The Region may use existing progress reporting requirements in enforcement instruments, grants, and contracts to collect this data. ------- Identification of GC Coordinators The Greener Cleanup Coordinators for the Superfund and Land and Chemicals Divisions of Region 5 are: The GC Coordinators will coordinate all Superfund and Land and Chemicals GC activities and participate in regional and national workgroups regarding greener cleanups, including those involving the development of metrics and definitions/measure of progress. The GC Coordinators will also develop and participate in cross-divisional teams and develop networks and electronic information sharing. Longer-Term Actions Region 5 will continue to work with the Region 5 EPA/State Greener Cleanup Workgroup, which includes representatives from various cleanup programs in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, to develop a Region 5 Greener Cleanup Strategy (Strategy) that will promote this interim policy for inclusion in state- authorized and other state-lead cleanup programs and describe data collection and evaluation efforts needed to develop a final regional GC policy. This interim policy is a living document and will be updated and/or supplemented as needed. Brad Bradley Superfund GC Coordinator (312) 886-4742 bradlev.brad@epa.gov Gary Victorine RCRA Land Revitalization Coordinator (312)886-1479 victorine.gary@epa.gov Richard C. Karl Director Superfund Division Director Land and Chemicals Division ------- |