Environmental Law

First Glance at Proposed Changes to Chapter 250 Regulations

By M. Joel Bolstein

The Department has posted on its website some proposed changes to the regulations for the Land Recycling Program.   They can be found on the home page for the Cleanup Standards Scientific Advisory Board.

The proposed regulatory changes are "for discussion purposes only."  They have not been sent to the Environmental Quality Board. 

The most significant items are as follows:  (1) many of the statewide health standards for soil and groundwater will be revised to reflect changes to the methodologies used by US EPA in calculating MCLs;  (2) the vapor intrusion guidance is incorporated by reference into the regulations; and (3) the Department will explicitly recognize that groundwater samples taken for characterization purposes can be used for purposes of demonstrating attainment.      

In terms of revising the cleanup standards, in looking through the charts it is clear that some numbers will go up and some will go down.  The one change that jumped out at me was the proposed new statewide health standard for MTBE in groundwater which will go from 20 ppb to 190 ppb for residential and 960 ppb for non-residential properties.  At many brownfield sites where petroleum products are the contaminant of concern, MTBE can be the driver in delaying closure of the site.  That is likely to change if and when the new standards are adopted. 

With regard to statewide health standards that are proposed to be decreased, I was told by Troy Conrad, the Director of the Land Recycling Program, that the Department has no intention of reopening any Act 2 releases at sites that demonstrated attainment under the existing statewide health standards.  Those releases are valid, having been obtained under the standards existing at the time the Act 2 Final Report was approved.  Moreover, those releases recognize that the sites are safe and protective of human health and the environment, and PADEP is right to leave those releases alone.  It would be a real nightmare for the Department and for brownfield redevelopers to have to revisit each and every site where a release was obtained from the onset of the Land Recycling Program almost 15 years ago.   

Inasmuch as the cleanup standards will be changing, environmental consultants and brownfield redevelopers in Pennsylvania would be smart to look at the proposed changes to the Chapter 250 regulations that are now on the Department's website to see if those changes will have any effect on current and future brownfield remediation projects.          

Full post as published by PA Brownfields Environmental Law on October 06, 2009 (boomark / email).