FUDS Technology Clarified

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

CORPS CLARIFIES FUDS TERMINOLOGY

The Army Corps of Engineers is apparently responding constructively to
questions raised by state regulators and others over its program for
remediating Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS). In a May 3, 1999
memorandum signed for Major General Milton Hunter, Corps Director of
Military Programs, the Corps instructs its personnel to change what it
has been calling a Preliminary Assessment (PA) to PAE for Preliminary
Assessment of Eligibility. The purpose of this clarification is to
distinguish the Army Corps Inventory Project Report (INPR) process,
which "serves to determine the eligibility of a property and any
associated project for cleanup under the FUDS program," from U.S. EPA's
Preliminary Assessment. The memo explains,  "The PA utilized by EPA is
for the determination of the hazard ranking score for properties to be
included on the National Priorities List (NPL)."

The memo also addresses the No Further Action conclusions sometimes
drawn by Corps assessors, a finding increasingly being questioned by
state regulators. It says: "Another topic of discussion and disagreement
has been the No Further Action (NOFA) term. The perception is that the
terminology represents a final determination when an eligible property
or an associated project is found to have non DoD [Department of
Defense] action. This is not the case. NOFA does not mean that the
property is considered to be clean or that the FUDS Program will not
review any new information regarding DoD activities as it becomes
available. If contamination is indicated in the future, USACE [U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers] will reconsider the status of the property. However,
the term NOFA is now changed to 'NDAI', an acronym for 'No DoD Action
Indicated'. This term is more indicative of a determination that is open
to further or future review and is not a final decision."

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Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/968-1126
lsiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org