DEQ RRD Releases Revisions to Proposed Cleanup Criteria Rules and Announces New Public Hearing Date and Comment Deadline

 

The Remediation and Redevelopment Division received numerous comments on the proposed Cleanup Criteria Rules prior to the closing of the public comment period on September 13, 2016, and immediately began reviewing and incorporating several comments.  These changes are of sufficient significance to warrant a second public hearing to communicate the proposed changes to the cleanup criteria. 

The DEQ has released the newly revised proposed Cleanup Criteria Rules today for public comment and a second public hearing has been scheduled for October 17, 2016, at Lansing Community College West, 5708 Cornerstone Drive, Lansing from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.  The public comment period deadline is 5 p.m. on October 18, 2016, as the last date to submit comments.  Comments may be submitted at the hearing and or in writing DEQ-RRDCriteria@michigan.gov.

The proposed Cleanup Criteria rules are the DEQ, Remediation and Redevelopment Division’s comprehensive revision of the Administrative Rules for Part 201, Environmental Contamination, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451, as amended (NREPA), dealing with Response Activities. 

The proposed Cleanup Criteria Rules are used to evaluate risks to the public health, safety, or welfare and the environment from hazardous substances at sites of environmental contamination.  The comprehensive update of the Cleanup Criteria, which includes 305 hazardous substances, is used to evaluate exposure pathways such as drinking water, direct contact, and vapor intrusion.  The revisions to the cleanup criteria are based on updated toxicological and scientific information about hazardous substances to ensure protection of public health.

The proposed rules document with the newly incorporated revisions highlighted in yellow is also available on the DEQ’s Generic Cleanup Criteria Web page along with additional supporting information and presentations.

Significant Cleanup Criteria revisions include the following:

• The DEQ toxicity data for substances that previously relied on draft toxicity values to look for values that had been finalized since the updates were done last year; in some cases the values changed, resulting in changes to the criteria, and in other cases, the source information changed with no changes to the criteria.

• The DEQ revised the footnote (DD) for the developmental toxicants:   formaldehyde was deleted from this classification based on current scientific information, and the data comparison concerns have been addressed.

• A new nonresidential exposure time of 12 hours per workday has been developed for inhalation-based cleanup criteria.  Previously, there was no work day exposure time identified.

• The assumptions for groundwater in contact with a building have been modified as related to vapors migrating into buildings.

• The equations for calculating the finite volatile soil inhalation criteria have been modified resulting in a revision to the criteria for 2- and 5- meter sources.

• Criteria that are State Drinking Water Standards and aesthetic values have been revised to match the number of significant digits consistent with the respective state or federal program.

Please email the DEQ-RRDCriteria@michigan.gov  if you have any questions.
 
 
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