[CPEO-MEF] ECA Adopts Long-Term Stewardship Resolution

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Subject: ECA Adopts Long-Term Stewardship Resolution

Energy Communities Alliance (ECA), the the membership organization of 
local governments that are adjacent to or impacted by Department of 
Energy (DOE)activities, adopted a Resolution Concerning Long-Term 
Stewardship Activities at DOE Sites, on October 3, 2000, during the ECA 
Fall Conference. The Resolution is attached.

Please address questions to Audrey Eidelman, ECA Program Manager, at 
audrey@energyca.org.

ENERGY COMMUNITIES ALLIANCE RESOLUTION CONCERNING LONG-TERM STEWARDSHIP 
ACTIVITIES AT DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SITES

WHEREAS, the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is the membership 
organization of local governments that host, are adjacent to, and 
impacted by current and former Department of Energy (DOE) sites; and 

WHEREAS, long-term stewardship includes all of the activities (legal 
controls, engineering controls, physical barriers, etc.) that are needed 
when contamination will remain at a site at levels that will preclude 
unrestricted use of land or water in order to maintain an adequate level 
of protection to human health and the environment for 100, 10,000 and 
even one million years at some sites; and

WHEREAS, local governments are asset holders for their communities, 
having land use authority and responsibility for protection of human 
health, welfare and the environment in its community; and 

WHEREAS, long-term stewardship is increasingly being considered by DOE 
as a substitute for complete remediation of a Site due to the lack of 
effective technologies and insufficient funds; and 

WHEREAS, according to DOE, environmental contamination will remain at 
approximately 109 DOE sites that will preclude unrestricted future use 
of land and/or surface and groundwater and create long-term stewardship 
responsibilities for the federal government; and

WHEREAS, DOE, EPA at Superfund sites, and the state work together to 
make the final environmental remedy decisions  and determine whether and 
how long-term stewardship will be used at DOE sites; and

WHEREAS, local governments and Tribal nations currently have no formal 
role and are not permitted to participate in the formal environmental 
remediation decisions at DOE sites in or adjacent to their community; 
and

WHEREAS, local governments are interested in working with DOE, the EPA 
and their state government and having a substantive role in long-term 
stewardship issues to protect the human health, welfare and the 
environment in their communities; and

WHEREAS, uncertainties associated with long term stewardship include the 
adequacy of funding, lack of convincing evidence that land use controls, 
institutional controls and other stewardship measures are reliable and 
can be enforced in perpetuity, lack of identified parties responsible 
for stewardship implementation, and the absence of a comprehensive 
system to identify, track, and store cleanup records; and 

WHEREAS, ECA and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), are working 
under a cooperative agreement with DOE to study the role of local 
governments in long-term stewardship through which they have held two 
national roundtables on long-term stewardship and have conducted three 
case studies on long-term stewardship at Rocky Flats, Oak Ridge and Los 
Alamos; and

WHEREAS, DOE at the national and site level does not have a formal 
long-term stewardship policy or implementation plan; and 

WHEREAS, local governments are concerned that future generations should 
not bear the burden of long-term stewardship without sufficient 
information, protection, and resources.

NOW THEREFORE, it is hereby resolved by ECA that:

1. Remedy Selection.  The highest priority in remedy selection must be 
the long-term safety and health of the community surrounding the DOE 
Site and protection of the environment.  All aspects of establishing, 
maintaining and funding long-term stewardship activities should be 
considered during the remedy selection process. DOE, EPA and state 
regulators should formally include local governments and involve them in 
the decision making process and cleanup agreements to ensure that land 
use authorities are involved, that local concerns are integrated, and 
that the role of local government is developed with the support of the 
implementing parties. 

2. Preference for Permanent Remedies. Local Governments prefer that DOE 
facilities be remediated to a level, which allows unrestricted use, and 
avoids long-term stewardship.  However, where remediation to such a 
level is not practical due to current technical or budgetary 
constraints, ECA wants covenants inserted into final remedy decision 
documents detailing the stewardship plan, and funding.

3. Planning for Stewardship. DOE should plan for site disposition and 
stewardship more systematically than it has to date.  The planning must 
include the identification and involvement of all the parties that may 
have a role in stewardship activities, including local governments.

4. Contingency Planning.  DOE should implement the National Research 
Council recommendation that "DOE should plan for uncertainty and 
fallibility; develop appropriate incentive structures; undertake 
necessary scientific, technical, and social research and development and 
plan to maximize follow-through on phased, iterative and adaptive 
long-term institutional management approaches at sites where 
contaminants remain."  

5. Funding for Long-Term Stewardship. Funding for stewardship activities 
must be adequate and reliable.  Before the final remedy is agreed to at 
a site, DOE, EPA and the state, with input from the local government, 
must ensure that the funding for the required stewardship activity will 
provide permanent financial security, clearly define the role of the 
parties who will manage the funding and clearly identify the funding 
source(s).

6. Environmental Contamination. DOE must fully characterize document, 
map and fully disclose environmental contamination, cleanup level and 
long-term stewardship activities at its sites, and provide this detailed 
information to the communities impacted by its Sites.  Local communities 
require detailed characterization and environmental contamination 
information so as to be prepared to deal with long-term stewardship 
failures when they occur.

7. Technological Advances: Re-evaluation and Modification of the Remedy. 
DOE or subsequent federal managers should implement a systematic process 
for re-evaluating and modifying existing end states over time to ensure 
that developments in science, technology and other knowledge are 
incorporated into long-term stewardship strategies.

8. Record-Keeping. A reliable, up-to-date records management facility 
that is accessible to the community is required for the success of 
long-term stewardship activities. DOE should work with local governments 
to develop a records management facility that will always be accessible 
at, or near the location of the stewardship activities.  Records can 
then be kept and updated with the local land use jurisdiction, to ensure 
a local record of contaminants and restrictions on property that is 
either conveyed to non-federal entities or retained in federal 
ownership.  Local governments may be willing to perform record-keeping 
activities, if adequate federal funding is provided for the additional 
costs of performing the activity.  This is not intended to preclude 
national or regional records management facilities that would maintain 
duplicate records as fail-safe measures.

9. Long-term Stewardship Office.  The current Office of Long-Term 
Stewardship should be maintained and adequately funded within DOE 
Headquarters to provide guidance and support to DOE Field Offices. The 
Office should develop a national policy on long-term stewardship with 
affected parties that is implemented in each DOE field and site office, 
and which addresses the limitations of relying upon stewardship as a 
remedy. 

10. Field Office Implementation.  Each DOE field and site office, where 
long-term stewardship will be required, should designate an individual 
as a point of contact for long-term stewardship at the local level.  
Continuity in staffing for the long-term stewardship program is 
essential to ensuring the success of this program.  The point of contact 
must work closely with the local government to develop a site-specific 
long-term stewardship plan.

11. Citizen Involvement.  ECA is supportive of citizen participation in 
planning for long-term stewardship.  Citizen participation is not a 
substitute for direct involvement of the affected local governments.

Passed and adopted the __3_ day of October 2000.

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