NEWS GOVERNMENT States turning to voluntary programs to speed cleanups In May, Pennsylvania and Michigan joined the growing number of states to ratify voluntary cleanup laws that encourage cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated property. The laws, which allow private parties to initiate site cleanups with varying levels of state oversight, offer an alternative to federal or state "Superfund" cleanups. EPA is taking an interest in these programs and is evaluating how it can support, extend, and assess state efforts. These voluntary cleanup laws address a number of problems facing states and private parties. Landowners and developers want to avoid the time, expense, and liability issues of Superfund or state regulations; financial institutions want to avoid the liability they incur in developing contaminated sites; and states want to speed up and reduce the cost of cleanups. Contaminated land represents a major development problem for many states. In contrast to the National Priorities List of more than 1200 seriously contaminated sites, there are more than 70,000 contaminated sites on state lists, including former industrial sites or "brownfields." Although most states have the authority to allow private parties to clean up in accordance with rigorous state regulations, voluntary cleanup laws create an official alternative that uses a nonconfrontational regulatory approach and allows partial or complete user financing and some protection from future liabilities. State laws, however, vary widely in the cleanup standards used, oversight and approval procedures, and liability provisions. For example, the main purpose of Nebraska's 1994 Remedial Action Plan Monitoring Act is to speed up real estate transactions, according to a Department of Environmental Quality lawyer. A fee of $10,000 obtains a quicker state action in accordance with existing procedures but no promise of protection from state liability. In contrast, Pennsylvania's new law
makes financial institutions and development agencies immune from liability for cleaning up pollution they did not directly cause. Volunteers can also choose from among three levels of cleanup standards with different degrees of state oversight. Ohio and Massachusetts have placed their voluntary cleanup programs in private hands. Ohio's Real Estate Clean-up and Re-use Program authorizes the state EPA to certify consultants and laboratories to handle voluntary cleanups. The certified professionals also can verify that the cleanup has been done properly. As quality control, Ohio EPA will audit at least 25% of voluntary cleanup actions and 25% of the no-action findings. Minnesota has the longest history of voluntary cleanups— about 550 have been started and half are completed, according to Ken Haberman, supervisor of the state's Pollution Control Agency Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup program. Minnesota's cleanup standards are used mainly to determine whether or not a site requires further attention. If so, further action is developed on a site-specific basis. Consultants agree that the program works. "They've been
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fair and cooperative," says Steve Heikkila, of DPRA environmental consultants in St. Paul. Minnesota has a close relationship with EPA Region V which partially funds the program's staff. In May, Region V signed a "comfort letter" stating that once the state had certified a site as completed, EPA would not get involved under most circumstances. Nationally, EPA also supports the states' efforts, according to EPA Brownfields Initiative coordinator Crane Harris. "We need to get more properties cleaned up and we need to give some parameters that limit up-front cleanup costs so that the environmental considerations become just another part of the business decision." EPA will soon announce a policy to limit lender liability and is considering the role of insurance to cover the risk of excessive costs, Harris says. The Agency recently formed a Voluntary Cleanup Working Group to consider how it might certify or endorse voluntary cleanup programs. But it's a difficult task, Harris says. "The states' goals and their laws are all different, so EPA needs to somehow evaluate outcomes and not procedures." —REBECCA RENNER
