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EPA To Begin Superfund Adaptive Management Pilot Program

Monday, October 08, 2018

Torrence_jpgBy Allison A. Torrence

AMUnder the Trump Administration, EPA has expressed a renewed focus on the Superfund program and making sure that site cleanups operate optimally. In 2017, EPA established a Superfund Task Force, “to provide recommendations for improving and expediting site cleanups and promoting redevelopment.” The Superfund Task Force has made a number of recommendations, including recommending that EPA “Promote the Application of Adaptive Management at Complex Sites” and “Broaden the Use of Adaptive Management (AM) at Superfund Sites.”

According to the Superfund Task Force,

Adaptive Management is an approach used at large and/or complex sites that focuses limited resources on making informed decisions throughout the remedial process…Under an Adaptive Management strategy, Regions are encouraged to consider greater use of early and/or interim actions including use of removal authority or interim remedies, to address immediate risks, prevent source migration, and to return portions of sites to use pending more detailed evaluations on other parts of sites.

To implement the Superfund Task Force recommendations, EPA has issued a pre-decisional draft plan that describes how it will implement an Adaptive Management Pilot Program at selected Superfund sites across the country.

EPA believes that Adaptive Management will streamline decision making, facilitate site progress, and help control costs. Key elements of EPA’s Adaptive Management plans include:

  • Define Site/Project Objectives
  • Model(s) the site being managed
  • Identify potential actions
  • Monitor and evaluate outcomes
  • Incorporate learning into future decisions
  • Stakeholder participation

EPA presented information about the Adaptive Management Pilot Program in an October 2018 webinar. Comments on the Adaptive Management Pilot Program are due October 9, 2018. Later in October 2018, EPA Regions will nominate sites to participate in the pilot programs, and EPA anticipates selecting pilots by November 2018.