On November 20, 2002, the following members of the Remediation Technologies Development Forum's (RTDF's) Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (NAPL) Cleanup Alliance met in a conference call:
Randy Breeden, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 (Alliance co-chair)
Mark Lyverse, ChevronTexaco Energy Research and Technology Company (Alliance co-chair)
Ali Tavelli, Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality
Kathy Yager, EPA Technology Innovation Office (TIO)
Also present were Dave Finley of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Carolyn Perroni of Environmental Management Support, Inc., and Christine Hartnett of Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG).
Kathy Yager opened the call by saying that the NAPL Cleanup Alliance wants to recruit additional state regulators to the group. Toward this end, Dave Finley, a representative from the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO), was invited to participate in this conference call to discuss the possibility of forming a link between the Alliance and ASTSWMO. Yager described the projects the Alliance is working on, noting that they fall into three categories: (1) developing a NAPL Management Decision Framework (NMDF), (2) creating NAPL training programs, and (3) performing technology demonstrations at contaminated sites. All of these projects are in the early stage, Yager said; thus, state regulators could still join the Alliance and directly impact the direction that Alliance projects take. Even if state regulators are not interested in participating at the "ground level," Yager said, their assistance in reviewing and commenting on the Alliance's products would be invaluable.
Finley said that some ASTSWMO members heard about the Alliance's NMDF secondhand and got the impression that this document is being created to force cleanup standards on the states. Finley said that Ali Tavelli has convinced him that this interpretation of the NMDF is false. Once ASTSWMO members learn more about the Alliance, he said, some state regulators may indeed decide to participate in the Alliance's activities. Call participants brainstormed about the ways ASTSWMO could become involved in the Alliance's activities. Ideas expressed included (1) asking for a Fifty State Review of the NMDF document, (2) asking ASTSWMO's Training and Information Exchange (TIE) Subcommittee to review the Alliance's training modules, and (3) inviting ASTSWMO members to participate in the development of Alliance products. Yager expressed interest in holding an Alliance meeting in the same location as an ASTSWMO meeting, starting the Alliance meeting right after the ASTSWMO meeting ends, asking state regulators to attend, and paying for the extra expense that would be incurred for them to extend their stay.
Finley said that ASTSWMO meets two times a year. Its next meeting is scheduled for April 2003. ASTSWMO's TIE Subcommittee has talked about inviting outside groups to the April 2003 meeting to discuss how their activities and products might be useful to ASTSWMO members. The Alliance might be a good candidate for a slot on the agenda, Finley said; if the Alliance receives an agenda slot, it could make a pitch for state regulatory participation. Finley said that the TIE Subcommittee is meeting on December 5, 2002, in Washington, D.C., to discuss the agenda for the April 2003 meeting. Some outside groups, like the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council, have already been invited to the Subcommittee meeting to describe what they do. Finley extended the same invitation to the Alliance. Yager took him up on the offer, agreeing to attend the TIE Subcommittee meeting on the Alliance's behalf. Harley Hopkins, another Alliance member, will be asked to accompany Yager.
The NAPL Cleanup Alliance will hold its next meeting at the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on January 23B24, 2003. Call participants discussed the meeting's agenda, and decided that slots should be reserved for the following topics: (1) the training modules, (2) activities at the Casper Refinery Site, (3) the NMDF's status, (4) an update on efforts to form a link with ASTSWMO, (5) experiences that Texas and other states have had at NAPL sites, (6) Texas' Risk Reduction NAPL document, and (7) an update on a water flood that was performed at a Conoco site. Randy Breeden suggested inviting some vendors to speak at the meeting as well. Tavelli suggested waiting until the next Alliance meeting; this will give the Casper Refinery Group members enough time to generate a list of the technologies that they want to learn more about.