Maryland Information

1. How is Maryland's VCP organized?

Answer: The Administrator of the Environmental Restoration & Redevelopment Program reports to the Director of MDE's Waste Management Administration.  The latter reports to the Secretary of MDE.  The Chief, Voluntary Cleanup / Brownfields Division reports to the Administrator of the Environmental Restoration & Redevelopment Program.  MDE is considering creating an additional position: Brownfields Coordinator (similar to the corresponding position in Massachusetts).

2. Are sites contaminated solely with oil still handled under a separate, non-statutory program that parallels the statutory VCP established for controlled hazardous substances (CHS)?

Answer: Yes.  The Oil Control Program has a separate process.  MDE is moving toward a unified regulatory program.

3. Where do matters stand with the development and implementation of numerical statewide cleanup standards that are risk-based?

Answer: MDE released the Cleanup Standards for Soil and Groundwater in December, 2000.  The standards represent concentration levels at which no further remedial action would be required at a property based upon the risk posed to human health (within the constraints of existing knowledge).  The standards were initially developed as a guidance document to provide the public an opportunity to test the utility of the Standards and to identify areas where they could be improved.  Nine months later, Update No. 1 was issued.  Based on the eventual success of the guidance, MDE may propose the standards for promulgation in the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) at some point in the future.

There are acceptable alternatives to the guidance for achieving compliance with regulatory requirements, including the conduct of a site-specific risk assessment in accordance with US EPA Risk Assessment Guidance (EPA/540/1-89/002)/

The guidance differentiates between residential and non-residential uses, and considers current and future uses of groundwater.

The groundwater standards were based on MCLs or Secondary Drinking Water Regulation (SDWR) standards where available--subject to various other rules of derivation.  See: http://www.mde.state.md.us/WAS/hazcleanup/ .

The Cleanup Standards may be applied under the VCP only after an applicant has satisfactorily completed an ASTM Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessment and that conforms to the environmental assessment requirements identified in Sections 7.0 to 10.0 of the Cleanup Standards.

4. What carcinogen risk factor does Maryland use?

Answer: MDE does not differentiate among classes of carcinogens (all are treated the same).  The calculation of risk-based soil screening concentrations is based on a target cancer risk of  10^-6 for each chemical. Cumulative risk target is 10^-5.  Cleanup volunteers, alternatively, may opt to employ site-specific EPA risk assessments, which employ a cancer risk range of 10^-4 to 10^-6.

5. How does MDE make creative use of field screening technology for soil evaluations?

Answer: Field screening technology may be used in combination with a fixed laboratory sampling and analysis program to reduce the total number of samples sent to a Laboratory for analysis in order to demonstrate attainment of a cleanup standard or to completely characterize the presence of hazardous substances at a property.  A 35% fixed laboratory confirmation is required for 20 or more field screening samples; a 50% fixed laboratory confirmation is required for 10 - 19 samples tested using field screening.

Approved field screening technologies include: immunoassay field screening and X-Ray fluorescence field screening. MDE plans to do more field screening with a Mobile Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS) Laboratory to cut cost and save time.  MDE wants to create a "backlog" of assessments.

6. What have been the most effective features of Maryland's financial incentives programs?

Answer: The most effective financial assistance program is MDE's Brownfields Site Assessment Initiative using federal funding to conduct site assessments on publicly owned brownfields sites. To be eligible, sites must be vacant or underutilized, where remediation is feasible and where redevelopment will create jobs and improve the local tax base.  Since 1996 (through March 2001), assessments have been conducted at 58 sites.

7. What role does Maryland give to brownfields consultants?

Answer: Neither the LSP approach of Massachusetts (heard that 9% of VCPs done by LSPs flunked a DEP audit), nor the P.E. certification approach of New York.  "You need someone with the guts to make decisions and to make them quickly."  An LSP can't do that.

8. Does Maryland maintain any kind of inventory of brownfield sites?

Answer: MDE doesn't want to "tag" sites with the "brownfield" label.  We have "brownfield" sites that have been assessed.  There are also all non-"Master List" sites.  Have no problem with the Pennsylvania approach (the PA Site Finder program and incentives to local governments to identify sites for inclusion in Site Finder).  MDE will be putting up an internet GIS database tracking system "in the next couple of months."

9. What additional changes or reforms would you like to see?

Answer: We are eager to get more money for the program.  Every state needs a stable source of funding to deal with mothballed sites, and to provide program continuity.

10. Do you envision any problems in the implementation of the new federal Brownfields Revitalization law?

Answer: One "pitfall" of the legislation is the reference to the ASTM Phase I standard.  MDE doesn't like to give any sign-off based solely on a Phase I ESA.  (The reference in the legislation to the 1997 version of the Phase I standard should not be a problem.  EPA is reportedly planning to reference the 2000 iteration in its implementing regulations.)

The "windfall lien" provision of the legislation is probably not as big a problem as might appear.  MDE doesn't make it a practice of trying to recover brownfield expenditures for assessments.  EPA won't try to collect less than about $200,000.  The new program will probably also be run with some flexibility and discretion.