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Brickhouse Environmental Expands Risk Assessment Expertise

Image of Kristina Early
Ms. Kristina Early

Kristina Early joins the Brickhouse Team

Brickhouse Environmental is excited to welcome Ms. Kristina Early to the Brickhouse team as a Senior Risk Assessor and Project Manager.  Kristina brings more than 21 years of experience conducting and managing environmental investigations and human health and ecological risk assessments at a variety of Federal USACE, USEPA, National Park Service (NPS) hazardous waste sites, as well as Voluntary Cleanup Program sites in Pennsylvania (Act 2), New Jersey (SRRA), and other states.

Kristina is a respected expert in the practice of Human Health Risk Assessment, with extensive hands-on experience in soil, groundwater, stream sediment, and vapor intrusion studies.  Her realistic assessment of transport pathways, receptors and exposure scenarios, combined with her in-depth knowledge and experience navigating the Risk Assessment process, allows us to conduct a more efficient and relevant analysis of risk during the all-important Site Characterization and Remedial Design phases of projects — and provide a final, understandable Risk Assessment Report that will stand up under regulatory review and in Court.

Kristina earned her BS Degree in Environmental Health and MS Degree in Public Health from West Chester University.

Please feel free to contact Kristina directly with any questions regarding Human Health or Ecological Risk Assessments.

Read more about our Risk Assessment services here.

Pennsylvania regulatory Updates

Soil Excavation on a Brownfield site in a city setting

Brownfields and Voluntary Cleanup (Act 2) Program

On February 15, 2020, Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Board (EQB) published proposed amendments to Pennsylvania’s Land Recycling and Remediation Standards (Act 2) Regulations.

The proposed amendments , published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, include the following:

  1. PFAS: Statewide Health Standards (SHS) will be added for Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA), Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS), and Perfluorobutane Sulfonate (PFBS).  Previously unregulated, Pennsylvania will now adopt the USEPA Health Advisory Limit of 70 ng/L for PFOA and PFOS combined.
  2. Other Statewide Health Standards: The SHS for many organic and inorganic compounds will be updated based on the latest scientific information. Most notably, the Ingestion Factor for groundwater has been increased by 20% for both residential and non-residential exposure scenarios, due to people’s increased desire to hydrate. Groundwater ingestion factors have been increased from 2.0 L/day to 4 L/day for residential intake, and 1.0 to 1.2 L/day for non-residential intake, resulting in lower SHSs for many compounds.
  3. Total PCBs in Soil: Numeric values would be calculated for total polychlorinated biphenyls in soil. PCPG reports that the Department agrees with the Cleanup Standards Science Advisory Board’s suggestion to keep the individual Aroclors in all of the tables, including Table 5A. Unfortunately, the incorrect version of Table 5A was provided to, and approved by, the EQB and the correction will be made prior to publication of the Final Rulemaking and an explanation for the correction will be provided in the Comment Response document.
  4. Professional Seals: This proposed new section mirrors language from § 245.314 (relating to professional seals) of the storage tank regulations, requiring that reports submitted to the Department which include professional geologic or engineering work be sealed by a professional geologist or engineer.

The 60-day public comment period for this proposed rulemaking ends on April 14, 2020.

Although the new standards have not yet been formally adopted, they should already be taken into consideration during Phase I and Phase II environmental due diligence assessments.

Proposed Amendments
PADEP suggests using CAPS as engineering tools

Act 2 Technical Guidance Manual – The Use of Caps as Engineering Controls

PADEP plans to finalize and publish an Appendix to the Act 2 TGM providing guidance for the use of caps as engineering controls. The planned release date is March 2020. The document will apply solely to the use of caps in attaining an Act 2 standard. It will be guidance, not regulation, and will be provided to inform remediators of recommended best practices.
The document will include guidance on cap design, construction materials, demarcation layers, documentation, maintenance, inspections, and reporting.


Look for this guidance policy to be published soon in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, followed by a 30-day public notice period for comment. Upon approval, the policy will be appended to the Act 2 TGM. For those who can’t wait, click the link below.

Environmental Cleanup -Brownfields

Management of Fill Policy

As discussed in our January 2020 Newsletter, the PADEP’s new Management of Fill Policy went into effect on January 1, 2020. Some important take-aways include:

  • The new Policy eliminates the previous numeric standards (Table GP-1), which were developed in 2004. It replaces them with Act 2 Statewide Health Standards – the lower of the current residential direct contact numeric values for soils and the residential generic soil-to-groundwater numeric values. Consequently, the clean fill standards will automatically be updated when the Act 2 regulations are next amended (see update above).
  • The amount of lab testing required for “Clean Fill” determinations can be significantly reduced through “due diligence”. Your trusted environmental professional can help you to determine how much due diligence is needed, how much it can potentially save in lab costs and time, and whether it’s worth it.
  • Once it is determined that fill material meets the definition of “clean fill”, a Certification of Clean Fill form (FP-001) must be filed electronically with PADEP (for informational purposes but not approval) before the fill material is transported to the receiving site. Beware – PADEP can review your FP-001 submission, after the fact, and come back to you if they don’t think that it’s sufficient. Therefore, it’s important to properly cover your bases before sending fill offsite.
  • A clean fill determination can be made if it is shown that the concentrations of analytes exceeding the relevant Act 2 standards are actually below background concentrations in soils in the area of the site. However, not only must the fill material be shown to meet background concentrations from the donor site, they must also be shown to meet background concentrations for the receiving site in order to send the material to that property.
Management of Fill Policy
Clean Fill Form (FP-001)

Fill material permitting

Regulated Fill – PADEP General Permit No. WMGR096

If fill material is determined to not meet clean fill standards, it may still meet “regulated fill” standards, which can still provide significant project cost savings when compared to sending the material to a landfill.

Since the material contains compounds above clean fill standards, regulated fill is still classified as a residual waste.  Therefore, it must be managed properly – in accordance with General Permit No. WMGR096 (hot link?).  This general permit was scheduled to expire on December 23, 2019 but couldn’t be modified for reissuance until after the new Management of Fill Policy was finalized.  Therefore, WMGR096 was extended in its existing form until June 23, 2021.

PADEP says that they plan to release proposed modifications to General Permit No. WMGR096 in the 2nd Quarter of 2020.  Stay tuned…

Brownfields Bulletin

 

IRS Publishes Final Opportunity Zone Regulations: Putting It All Together

The IRS released final regulations under Section 1400Z-2 that tie together many of the loose ends remaining after the publishing of two sets of proposed regulations, one in October 2018 and another in May 2019. This article will attempt to put it ALL together: the statute, the two proposed regulations, and last week’s final regulations.

Final Opportunity Zone Treasury Regulations Released

The U.S. Department of Treasury released the long-awaited final Opportunity Zone Treasury Regulations (the “Final Regulations”). The Final Regulations and explanatory materials that span 544 pages, are quite extensive and give some needed clarity into how the Opportunity Zone tax rules work. This client alert is intended to highlight just some of the changes and clarifications in the rules.

U.S. Department of Transportation Releases New Interactive Opportunity Zones Map

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s new interactive map provides information about the location and characteristics of significant transportation-related facilities that are located in or near Opportunity Zones.

Check out the PA Regulatory Update provided by Brickhouse Environmental Partner: David Farrington.

Brickhouse Environmental Green Team

Creating A Green Work Space

The Brickhouse Environmental Green Team is an active committee among the employees.   Staff members have been applying sustainable practices at home and at work for many years. More recently, several of us decided to take it to the next level to raise awareness and increase the positive impact.  After a few water cooler conversations, the Brickhouse Environmental Green Team was established in January 2020 for this very purpose. This committee is made up of a diverse group of Brickhouse Environmental employees who are setting out to turn their work space into a green space.

The goals of the Brickhouse Green team are simple:

  1. Reduce the amount of solid waste we send to landfills
  2. Reduce our carbon emissions
  3. Protect and improve our local environment

With the first and second goals in mind, our company has teamed up with TerraCycle and Subaru to establish multiple recycling collections that are open to the public. These recycling collections target various items that are not recyclable through typical municipal recycling programs. Brickhouse Environmental is currently set up to collect the following items: all brands of razors and razor packaging, k-cups, coffee creamer capsules, disposable cups, disposable straws, candy wrappers, and snack wrappers. Click here for a printable Razor flyer.  Click here for the Coffee Flyer.  While we are proud of the collection programs we currently offer, there are many more programs through TerraCycle that we hope to add in the future! In addition, the Green Team is working to reduce our kitchen waste by providing reusable hand towels in the kitchen and implementing a food-scrap composting program. These new recycling collections are in addition to preexisting recycling and waste reduction initiatives for paper, cardboard, glass and plastic that have been in place at our office for years.

Green Team Initiatives

In an effort to accomplish our third goal, the green team is brainstorming new ways to protect and improve our local environment, while our company continues to conduct long-term local initiatives and provide local remediation services to our clients. One way we are directly improving our local community is by conducting bi-annual highway-cleanups as part of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Adopt-a-Highway program. To see for yourself, be sure to check out our stretch of road along US 322 next time you are leaving West Chester! While we might be brainstorming new initiatives, local environmental remediation has always and will always be the central priority of our company.

If you would like to take advantage of our recycling programs while also helping to reduce your own carbon footprint, you can drop off any of the items mentioned above at the Brickhouse Office.

Drop off location:  515 South Franklin Street, West Chester, PA 19382

Date/Time:  Fridays from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Questions?  Contact Molly Bowe at 610-692-5770

or email mbowe@brickhouse-environmental.com

Printable Flyers:  Click here for a printable Razor flyer.  Click here for the Coffee Flyer. 

Want to Learn More?

If you liked what you read, be sure to sign up for the Brickhouse Environmental Newsletter to stay informed of the team’s progress and if you are interested in making your office more “green” check out this article “Greening Offices: 25 Tips to Get You Started”.

 

Pending Revisions to the ASTM Phase I ESA Standard (E1527-13)

Professionals involved with commercial and industrial real estate transactions are almost assuredly familiar with the ASTM “Phase I Environmental Site Assessment” (ESA).  Well, the current version of the ASTM Standard is due for revision in 2020.

Environmental due diligence has been an important factor in commercial and industrial property transactions since the 1980s, as proper due diligence was identified as a specific need for federal liability protection under CERCLA.  In 1993, ASTM published E1527, the first “standard practice” for environmental professionals conducting Phase I ESAs.  Since that time, the “ASTM Phase I Standard” (E1527) has been recognized as the industry standard for conducting the first phase of environmental due diligence.

Every 8 years, the ASTM standards expire and need to be revised. That time period will soon come for ASTM E1527-13, as it sunsets on December 31, 2021.  Therefore, the new standard (E1527-21) must be finalized and published sometime in 2021.

The ASTM E50.02 subcommittee is working on updating several aspects to the standard.  Key changes to E1527 are anticipated to include:

  • Clarifications to the HREC and CREC definitions. The task group is working to refine the definitions for HRECs and CRECs and relationships between the various types of Recognized Environmental Conditions.
  • Expansion of Historical Research to adjoining properties.  The current version of the standard specifically requires historical research of the subject property, but the updated standard may require a more robust investigation of adjoining properties and the surrounding area.
  • Non-Scope Considerations may be modified to reference emerging contaminants, especially PFAS.

Brickhouse Environmental is participating on the ASTM E50.02 subcommittee, and we will continue to track the status of the updated ASTM Phase I Standard.  Continue to check our website and ASTM.org for future updates.

 

New Year, New Stormwater Permitting Requirements

Just in time for the New Year, the PADEP has issued a new Final General NPDES Permit for discharges of stormwater associated with construction activities (PAG-02). This reissued General Permit contains: new requirements for impaired water discharges; site inspections; new modules; and plenty more. These changes also cover existing general NPDES permits, which could bump existing general permit holders into individual permits, particularly for discharges into streams with certain Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL’s).

The more significant changes to the NPDES PAG-02 Permit include:

  • PAG-02 Permits will only be renewed until December 7, 2024, which is the date the statewide PAG-02 General Permit will expire;
  • Permittees will need to implement a non-discharge alternative or best management practices (BMPs) for:
    • Certain impaired surface waters; and
    • Surface waters covered by a TMDL, in addition to complying with any specific waste load allocation assigned to your discharge in a TMDL;
  • The measurable rainfall that triggers a post-storm inspection has been clarified to be a minimum 0.25 inches;
  • Observed deficiencies in E&S or PCSM Plans require the completion of a new Visual Site Inspection Report;
  • The new General Permit now requires the submission of proof of instrument recording, both at the time of Notice of Termination submission, and at the time an application is submitted to transfer permit coverage, if applicable
  • PAG-02 Permits now require the submission of new E&S and PCSM Modules;
  • The Application for NPDES/WQM Permit Transfer will now be used for transferring General Permit coverage to a new permittee;
  • The Co-Permittee Acknowledgement Form for Chapter 102 Permits will now be used to add new operators that must be co-permittees to your General Permit coverage;

Are you effected by these new stormwater permitting requirements?

In order to determine if the new General Permit conditions will impact existing permit holders, existing NPDES permittees must complete and submit an Acknowledgement Form of these changes to the PADEP by March 9, 2020. Permittees must submit an individual NPDES permit application by March 9, 2020 if they are no longer eligible for General Permit coverage, or if they will be unable to comply with the terms and conditions of the 2019 General Permit.

Brickhouse Environmental’s staff of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Scientists are experienced at providing cost-effective stormwater management permit solutions and responding to our client’s needs. For more information, please contact Al Yates, P.E. (ayates@brickhouse-environmental.com).

Links:

PAG-02 General Permit and supporting Documents are available through DEP’s Library:  http://www.depgreenport.state.pa.us/elibrary/

Department of Environmental Protection’s Construction Stormwater website