Ranking Hazardous-Waste Sites for Remedial Action (1994) / Chapter Skim
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9 TOWARD A UNIFIED NATIONAL APPROACH
9 TOWARD A UNIFIED NATIONAL APPROACH
Pages 251-266
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From page 251... ...
. This chapter discusses the advantages and clisac3vantages of a unified national process for setting priorities and proposes one such unified process.
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From page 252... ...
legally responsible parties all play major roles. Other federal agencies, local governments, environmental and legal con sultants, the mass media, professional anct industrial organize lions, the judicial courts, anct environmental advocacy groups are also important participants.
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The committee believes that such use of a unified scientific approach would make the scientific input into the political process more explicit and more thorough. This uniform scientific process would]
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From page 254... ...
The committee recog nizes this alternative would involve major reorganization of responsibility, authority, and budgetary resources among the three major fecleral agencies charged with cleanup of hazardous waste sites. Although all three approaches merit consideration, this chapter focuses primarily on scientific consistency because the committee's charge and expertise concentrate on the scientific factors that in fluence hazardous waste site assessment and management.
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From page 255... ...
would all be involved in selecting the best scientific approach for estimating risk to human health, human welfare, and the environment. For example, instead of each agency heacling in its own direction to assess the impacts of contaminants on water quality and on the people who tiring the contaminated water, the agencies could com Line their efforts as well as get input from scientific experts out sicle the agencies and from public interest groups.
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From page 256... ...
take time to build an economic protocol that would gain broad acceptance to practitioners, interested par ties, and theoreticians. Organization Acceptability There are obvious organizational disadvantages for the major federal agencies, and perhaps their established consultants, all of whom would have some incentive to resist the imposition of a na.
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From page 257... ...
If and when this situation becomes recognized reality, a single consistent process will be invaluable in aiding the major federal agencies to bargain with each other, as well as with the states, local governments, private sectors, citizens groups, and other stake holders because all will be negotiating from the same ciata base ant! on a more level playing field.
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From page 258... ...
Likewise, uncler decision making consistency, federal agencies can be expected to resist a decrease in their authority to decicle priorities for their sites. Some state opposition might be overcome by allowing states to use their own method of assessing cleanup priorities as long as they also take into account the results produced by the national methoc!
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From page 259... ...
If the United States is ever to aclopt a uniform national scientific and decision making process, it makes sense to do it soon. PROPOSED UNIFIED NATTONAL PROCESS FOR SETTING PRIORITIES The three major federal agencies involved in site restoration use different approaches for evaluating site risks ant!
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From page 260... ...
The ciata obtained here should be adequate to conduct a formalized assessment of the relative risk posed to human health and the environment. The objective here 260
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A continuing site-monitoring program would be needed for discovering new sites and evaluating changes over time in the potential hazards of discovered sites not undergoing remediation.
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The first level would involve sufficient remectiation to con lain the hazardous contaminants so that they wouict not present significant risk to human health ant! the environment.
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na tional scientific approach. First, this process for priority setting proposed is similar overall to approaches currently being used among federal and state agencies.
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Assuming that all three levels of cleanup would be sufficiently protective of human health ant! the environment, the degree of permanence and the extent of lane!
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From page 265... ...
make it easier for decision makers and affected parties, both public ant! private, to arrive at rational decisions for setting priorities and levels for cleanup of contaminated sites.
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