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Site Remediation News
November 1997 (Vol 9 No 3) - Article 02

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States Join Forces to Break Down Barriers to the Use of Innovative Technologies
By: Brian Sogorka
Bureau of Environmental Evaluation & Risk Assessment

Over the past year, environmental regulators from 26 states have been working with industry, stakeholders, and the federal government to reduce interstate barriers to the deployment of innovative hazardous waste management and remediation technologies. This group, known as the Interstate Technology and Regulatory (ITRC) Cooperation Work Group, recently announced the completion of more than 20 guidance documents intended to speed the deployment of innovative technologies.

More specifically, the ITRC has tried to address the problem created by the maze of federal, state, and local requirements which often vary from state to state and region to region. As a result of these differences, technology buyers are reluctant to expose themselves to a lengthy permit process that may result from a lack of appropriate performance data assuring the regulatory agency that the technology will work at the site in question.

The solution proposed by the ITRC is that state environmental regulatory agencies should accept performance data gathered in another state as if the testing had been done in their own state. In order to have confidence that these performance tests are conducted in a manner that is acceptable to all of the states, the ITRC has created protocols (called technical regulatory guidance documents) for technology vendors and regulators to use in conducting and reviewing demonstrations. These protocols help the vendor and regulator prepare a comprehensive test plan and collect performance data that can be used to support regulatory approval at multiple sites. In addition, these protocols help regulators review a remedial action plan (or request for regulatory approval) to determine if the performance data that is submitted is adequate.

To date, the ITRC has developed 11 technical and regulatory guidance documents which are categorized in the chart below:

Non-Table Text Version of Chart

ITRC TECHNICAL REGULATORY GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS
TECHNOLOGY CONTAMINANT
Hydrocarbons In Soils Metals In Soils Mercury Contaminated Waste Mixed Waste
(Rad Waste)
VOCs
(Chlorinated Solvents)
In-Situ Bioremediation 1) guidance for Hydrocarbons in Soil & Ground Water       2) guidance
3) cost & performance
Low Temperature Thermal Desorption 4) guidance   5) guidance* 5) guidance* 6) guidance
Permeable Barrier Walls   anticipated in FY 98   anticipated in FY 98 7) guidance
8) design specification
Site Characterization (SCAPS) 9) certified technology       10) technology evaluations
Soil Washing 11) guidance* 11) guidance* 11) guidance*   11) guidance*
* Documents 5 and 11 are each one document that applies to multiple contaminants

The use of these documents offers a consistent approach to the review and approval of the listed technologies at sites undergoing clean-ups. This saves the state in application review time, training costs, and helps lessen the uncertainty associated with innovative technologies. Industry benefits through a consistent and predictable process for the regulatory review and approval of these technologies. Similarly, technology developers have a guide for the collection of performance data that will likely be requested by regulators when their technology is commercialized. Finally, as more states incorporate these documents into their formal guidance or rules, technologies which are successfully used can gain even more expeditious review and approval for multi-site deployment across the nation.

In addition to these documents, the ITRC has also developed more general guidance and case study reports in the following areas: emerging technologies such as phytoremediation, electrokinetics, plasma technologies, natural remediation, brownfields and voluntary cleanup programs as they relate to innovative technology and performance based contracting.

Copies of these protocols and more information on the ITRC are available on the Internet at: http://www.westgov.org/itrc. If you have a site contaminated with the pollutants below and you would like to use one of the listed technologies, or would like additional information, the following New Jersey DEP-SRP staff can be contacted: Brian Sogorka at 609-633-1344, Matt Turner at 609-984-1742, John Prendergast at 609-984-9757 or Frank Camera at 609-633-7840.

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