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A
-
AOC:
An Area of Concern is an area at a facility or an
off-site area, which is not known to be a Solid Waste Management
Unit (SWMU, defined below), where hazardous waste and/or hazardous
constituents are present as a result of a release from the facility. Top
C
- CAMUs:
Corrective Action Management Units are
physical, geographical areas within a facility designated for
treatment, storage, or disposal of remediation wastes during cleanup
activity. CAMUs are exempt from LDR and
MTR. Top
- cleanup:
The term "cleanup" or the
phrase "cleaning up" refers to the range of activities
that could occur in the context of addressing environmental contamination
at RCRA facilities. For example, cleanup activities could
include removing waste or contaminated media (e.g., excavation,
pumping groundwater, etc.), in-place treatment of the waste or
contaminated media (e.g.,bioremediation), containment of the waste
or contaminated media (e.g., barrier walls, low-permeable covers,
liners, etc.), or various combinations of these approaches.
The term cleanup is often used interchangeably with the term remediate.
Top
- cleanup time frames:
The cleanup time frame, with respect to
groundwater, is an estimate of when groundwater quality will achieve
a certain level at a specified location and/or the schedule developed
to take an action or construct a remedy designed to achieve a
particular short-term protectiveness, intermediate performance,
or final cleanup goal. Top
- CMI:
Corrective Measure Implementation is typically the last phase
of the Corrective Action process at a facility when the owner
and operator implement the chosen remedy with design, construction,
maintenance, and monitoring. Top
- CMS:
Corrective Measure Study is one of
the final steps in the Corrective Action process. The owner
and operator identify and evaluate cleanup alternatives for releases
at the facility, and then their recommended measures are reviewed
by EPA or the State, who chose the best remedy. Top
- Comprehensive State Groundwater
Protection Program (CSGWPP): a
groundwater management strategy developed by a state. EPA
reviews CSGWPPs and "endorses" those that successfully
meet six strategic activities. EPA established recommended
adequacy criteria for each strategic activity in CSGWPP guidance.
Top
- contamination:
describes media containing contaminants
in any form (e.g., non-aqueous phase liquids, dissolved in water,
vapors, solids, etc.) that are subject to cleanup under RCRA and
present in concentrations in excess of appropriately protective
levels of concern. Top
- contingency plan:
(or contingency remedy or a contingency
measure) is a cleanup approach specified in a remedy decision
document that functions as a "backup" remedy in the
event that the "selected" remedy fails to performs as
anticipated. Top
D
- dense non-aqueous phase liquids
(DNAPLs): such
as chlorinated solvents, creosote based wood-treating oils, coal
tar wastes, and pesticides are immiscible (i.e., they are not
dissolved in water) fluids (most commonly organic) with a density
greater than water. Top
E
- environmental indicators
(EIs):
two RCRA corrective action environmental
indicators, Current Human Exposures Under Control and Migration
of Contaminated Groundwater Under Control, are measures of program
progress and are being used by the Agency to track whether it
meets the goals set under the Government Performance and Results
Act (GPRA). In general terms, these measures indicate current
"environmental conditions" - whether people are currently
being exposed to environmental contamination at unacceptable levels,
and whether any existing plumes of contaminated groundwater are
getting larger or adversely affecting surface water bodies.
(more information available on Region
3's environmental indicator website) two RCRA corrective action
environmental indicators, Current Human Exposures Under Control
and Migration of Contaminated Groundwater Under Control, are measures
of program progress and are being used by the Agency to track
whether it meets the goals set under the Government Performance
and Results Act (GPRA). In general terms, these measures
indicate current "environmental conditions" - whether
people are currently being exposed to environmental contamination
at unacceptable levels, and whether any existing plumes of contaminated
groundwater are getting larger or adversely affecting surface
water bodies. (more information available on Region
3's environmental indicator
website)
Top
G
- GPRA:
Government Performance and Results
Act is national legislation that requires federal agencies to
meet specific goals. Top
H
- HSWA:
The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments
of 1984 established the statutory authority for Corrective Action.
Top
I
- institutional controls:
defined as non-engineered instruments
such as administrative and/or legal controls that minimize the
potential for human exposure to contamination by limiting land
or resource use. Top
- interim status facilities:
Treatment, storage, and disposal facilities
(TSDFs) that were already in operation when RCRA standards became
effective in 1980. Top
L
- LDR:
Land Disposal Restrictions
Top
M
- monitored natural attenuation:
refers to the reliance on natural attenuation
processes (within the context of a carefully controlled and monitored
site cleanup approach) to achieve site-specific remediation objectives
within a time frame that is reasonable compared to that offered
by other more active methods. The natural attenuation processes
that are at work in such a remediation approach include a variety
of physical, chemical and biological processes that, under favorable
conditions, act without human intervention to reduce the mass,
toxicity, mobility, volume or concentration of contaminants in
soil or groundwater
Top
- MTR:
Minimum Technical Requirements
Top
N
- NCAPS:
The National Corrective Action Prioritization
System is used to rank and compare sites in the Corrective Action
Program. Top
- non-aqueous phase liquids
(NAPLs): are
hydrocarbons that exist as a separate immiscible phase when in
contact with water or air. Differences in the physical and
chemical properties of water and NAPL result in the formation
of a physical interface between the two fluids which prevent the
two fluids from mixing. NAPLs are typically classified as
either light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs) which have densities
less than that of water, or dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs)
which have densities greater than that of water
Top
- NPL:
National Priorities List, EPA's priority
Superfund hazardous substance sites for cleanup. Top
P
- point of compliance:
for groundwater, represents where a
facility should monitor groundwater quality and/or achieve specified
levels of groundwater quality to achieve facility-specific cleanup
goals. Top
- presumptive remedies:
preferred technologies for common categories
of sites, based on historical patterns of remedy selection and
EPA's scientific and engineering evaluation of how well technologies
perform. You can access EPA's guidance on presumptive remedies
at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/cleanup/index.htm
Top
R
- RAP:
A Remedial Action Plan, tailored to
the needs of the remediation waste management site, is used in
place of a permit when the permit would not be the most efficient
way to conduct the cleanup activity.
Top
- RCRA:
Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act Top
- RCRA Cleanup Baseline:
EPA developed the RCRA Cleanup
Baseline in conjunction with the states as a result of a mandate
in the Government Performance & Results Act (GPRA) requiring EPA
to measure and track program progress. The purpose of the baseline
is to track our workload and progress in corrective action
Top
- RCRA Regulated Units:
are surface impoundments, waste piles,
land treatment units, and landfills that received hazardous waste
after July 26, 1982. Top
- releases:
any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring,
emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching,
dumping, or disposing into the environment of a hazardous or toxic
chemical, or extremely hazardous substance.
Top
- remediation waste:
The possibly large amounts of
waste (such as contaminated soils, water, debris, and sludge)
that contain a listed waste or exhibit a characteristic of hazardous
waste involved in cleaning up a facility.
Top
- RFA:
The RCRA Facility Assessment is typically
the first step in the Corrective Action permit process, where
the regulatory agency identifies potential and actual releases
from SWMUs and makes preliminary determinations about releases,
the need for corrective action, and interim measures.
Top
- RFI:
The RCRA Facility Investigation is
used to gather enough data to fully characterize the nature, extent,
and rate of migration of contaminants to determine the appropriate
response action. Top
S
- source control:
Source control refers to a range
of actions (e.g., removal, treatment in place, containment, etc.)
designed to protect human health and the environment by eliminating
or minimizing exposure or migration of significant contamination.
Top
- source materials:
defined as material that includes
or contains hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants that
act as a reservoir (either stationary or mobile) for migration
of contamination to groundwater, to surface water, to air, (or
other environmental media), or acts as a source for direct exposure.
Top
- SWMU:
A Solid Waste Management
Unit is any discernible unit at which solid wastes have been placed
at any time, irrespective of whether the unit was intended for
the management of solid or hazardous waste
Top
T
- technical impracticability
(TI):
refers to a situation where cleanup
levels associated with final cleanup goals is not practicable
from an "engineering perspective." The phrase
"engineering perspective" refers to how factors such
as feasibility, reliability, scale, and safety influence the ability
to achieve cleanup o objectives.
Top
- TUs:
Temporary Units are tanks or storage
areas that EPA designated to be used solely for the treatment
or storage of remediation wastes during cleanups.
Top
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