WASHINGTON – In an effort to restore Superfund cleanup to its rightful place at the center of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s core mission, Administrator Scott Pruitt is prioritizing Superfund cleanup and streamlining the approval process for sites with remedies estimated to cost $50 million or more. The revision to EPA’s delegation of authority will ensure decision making comes straight from the Administrator. EPA’s Superfund program is responsible for the cleanup some of the nation’s most contaminated areas.
“I am making it a priority to ensure contaminated sites get cleaned up. We will be more hands-on to ensure proper oversight and attention to the Superfund program at the highest levels of the Agency, and to create consistency across states,”
said Administrator Scott Pruitt. The Administrator of EPA has always had the authority to sign-off on Superfund remediation efforts. Until recently, however, this authority had been delegated many layers into the bureaucracy, resulting in confusion among stakeholders and delayed revitalization efforts. Putting the decision of how to clean up the sites directly into the hands of the Administrator will help revitalize contaminated sites faster.
An interagency memo explains:
It is through this enhanced cooperation and continuous involvement that we will work to revitalize this essential Agency effort while enhancing consistency in remedy selection across States and the Regions. Administrator Pruitt has prioritized Superfund cleanup as part of his effort to refocus EPA on its intended mission. Last month he
visited the USS Lead Superfund Site in East Chicago, Ind., to view ongoing cleanup activities. Administrator Pruitt met with East Chicago residents, federal, state and local officials, and
pledged improved coordination and communication as cleanup continues. He was the first EPA Administrator to visit this Superfund site, which was listed on the National Priorities List of the worst contaminated sites in the country in 2009.
The delegation of authority memo issued on May 9, 2017, is here:
https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/cercla-memo-directive-prioritize-superfund-cleanups Full text of Administrator Pruitt’s memo cover letter: The Superfund program is a vital function of Environmental Protection Agency, and under my administration, Superfund and EPA’s land and water cleanup efforts will be restored to their rightful place at the center of the Agency’s core mission. As such, in order to facilitate the more-rapid remediation and revitalization of contaminated sites and to promote accountability and consistency in remedy selection, I have issued the accompanying revised CERCLA delegation of authority. With this revised delegation, authority previously delegated to the Assistant Administrator for Office of Land and Emergency Management and the Regional Administrators to select remedies estimated to cost $50 million or more at sites shall be retained by the Administrator.
The purpose of these revisions is to improve the remedy selection process and to involve the Administrator and the Administrator’s office in this process more directly. In light of this revised delegation, please take all necessary steps to adjust associated consultations, reviews, and other practices in a manner consistent with the revised delegation. As part of effectuating this adjustment to the remedy selection process, I ask that you involve the Administrator’s office early-on and throughout the process of developing and evaluating alternatives and remedy selection. This is particularly important for sites where you anticipate that the preferred remedial alternative and/or the remedy selected in the Record of Decision will be estimated to cost more than $50 million and thus will require the Administrator’s approval and signature of the Record of Decision. It is through this enhanced cooperation and continuous involvement that we will work to revitalize this essential Agency effort while enhancing consistency in remedy selection across States and the Regions.
Please consult the revised delegation for additional information. The revised delegation is effective immediately. MDMR begins program to rebuild oyster reefs BILOXI, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources this week began a program to rebuild and revitalize oyster reefs in the western Mississippi Sound.
Employees and contractors started a multi-phase project to plant 350 acres of cultch material on several reefs over the next few weeks.
“The purpose of this project is to restore Mississippi’s oyster reefs and increase future production,” said Erik Broussard, assistant director of MDMR’s Shellfish Bureau. “We will do an additional planting in the fall and next spring to continue restoration efforts.”
The reefs included in this phase are Pass Christian, Henderson Point, Pass Marianne, St. Joe and Waveland.
Broussard asked that fishermen with crab traps in these areas move them until the cultch planting is complete.
Photos courtesy MS Department of Marine Resources
MDMR contractors and employees are planting 350 acres of cultch material on oyster reefs in the western portion of the Mississippi Sound to restore the reefs.
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is dedicated to enhancing, protecting and conserving marine interests of the state by managing all marine life, public trust wetlands, adjacent uplands and waterfront areas to provide for the optimal commercial, recreational, educational and economic uses of these resources consistent with environmental concerns and social changes. Visit the DMR online at dmr.ms.gov.
—
END—
