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GENERAL SECTION
US EPA Streamlining? One Cleanup Program
In an April 8, 2003 address to the Environmental Council of States (ECOS), Marianne Horinko, Assistant Administrator of the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) announced a new initiative, the One Cleanup Program.
TOO MANY PROGRAMS?
Since the 1970s, a series of specific legislation has been enacted, each new law intended to result in the cleanup of specific environmental challenges. This has lead to different state and federal programs intended to address cleanup activities at unregulated hazardous substance sites (Superfund), regulated hazardous waste sites (RCRA Corrective Action), leaking underground storage tank (LUST) sites, brownfield sites, ad nauseaum.
This had lead to inconsistencies among programs which has fostered often uncomfortable levels of uncertainty in both the regulated communities and the general public.
EPA’S VISION
Through the One Cleanup Program, US EPA hopes to establish new levels of intra- and inter-agency coordination that will lead to:
- More consistent and effective cleanups,
- More useful public information about those cleanups, and
- Better cross-program performance measures
The program is intended to address all of the cleanup programs mentioned above as well as federal facilities through a long-term initiative “designed to support the ongoing planning and quality improvement efforts of EPA cleanup programs.”
THE NEXT STEP
The One Cleanup Program can be viewed as the logical next step in those ongoing quality improvement efforts. For several years, US EPA has been implementing reforms and streamlining their hazardous waste cleanup programs with the goal of expediting cleanups. And, for years, there has been a policy that the RCRA and CERCLA programs should recognize their common elements rather than focusing on distinctions of approach with the result that cleanups under either program should satisfy the other. The One Cleanup Program takes this a step further in applying cross-program, cross-agency coordination and planning to this process.
US EPA FACT SHEET
A fact sheet is available online at http://www.epa.gov/oswer/onecleanupprogram/docs/OCPFactSheet.pdf.
SUMMARY
While the One Cleanup Program may reduce uncertainties for companies subject to the requirements of multiple environmental programs, it may also ultimately reduce the degree of regulatory flexibility provided by the very existence of those programs. For additional information and updated information on the status of the One Cleanup Program, please contact Dave Strayer at The Payne Firm by calling 513-489-2255 or by email to dcs@paynefirm.com.
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