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Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)

In 1989, Brookhaven National Laboratory was listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the National Priorities List of sites to be remediated.  For this reason, environmental remediation at BNL is carried out under the requirements of the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).  All remediation work is conducted under the framework of an Interagency Agreement among the U.S. Department of Energy, the EPA, and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) which was signed in 1992. 

The High Flux Beam Reactor (HFBR) was not identified as an Area of Concern in the Brookhaven Interagency Agreement.  However, the Department of Energy (DOE) has agreed to follow the CERCLA framework - characterization and preparation of a Feasibility Study and Proposed Remedial Action Plan - for the decommissioning of the HFBR.  Upon the selection of the remedy and issuance of the Proposed Remedial Action Plan, the Administrative Record for the project will be formally established.  After public input is received on the Proposed Plan, a final remedy, which is protective of human health and the environment, will be selected by DOE with approval from EPA and the concurrence of NYSDEC.  The final remedy will be documented under CERCLA in a Record of Decision (ROD).  The ROD will include DOE's responses to community comments in a Responsiveness Summary.

Definitions
 

CERCLA is the federal law that establishes a program to identify, evaluate, and remediate sites where hazardous substances may have been released, leaked, poured, spilled, or dumped into the environment.

National Priorities List is a formal listing of the sites that have been identified for possible cleanup.  Sites are ranked by the EPA based on their potential for affecting human health and the environment.

An Area of Concern is an area where releases of hazardous substances may have occurred or a location where there has been a release or threat of a release of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant (including radionuclides).

Feasibility Study (FS) is a process for developing, evaluating, and comparing remedial alternatives, using data gathered during site characterization.  An FS defines the objectives of the remedial action and analyzes in detail the remedial action alternatives.

  

The Proposed Remedial Action Plan summarizes the remedial alternatives presented in the analysis of the FS and identifies the preferred alternative and the rationale for selecting the preferred alternative.

A Record of Decision (ROD) documents the final remedy selected for the sites, and includes a responsiveness summary, which addresses comments received on the Proposed Plan during the public comment period.  When the ROD is finalized, remedial design and remedial action begin.

The Administrative Record contains the documents, including technical reports, which form the basis for selection of a final remedy and acts as a vehicle for public participation.

Last Modified: May 22, 2009
Please forward all questions about this site to: John Burke
 


DOE, Office of Science One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation for the State University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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