Risk-Based Corrective Action in Florida: How Is it Working?

In 2003, the Florida Legislature passed a law called Global RBCA, which expanded the use of risk-based corrective action to all contaminated sites with legal responsibility for clean-up. This allows for customized clean-up plans based on site-specific data and aims to protect human health and the environment. The law continues to evolve, and there may be future updates to the process. Before risk-based corrective action in Florida, contaminated sites were remediated to conservative levels without considering the actual exposure. This made the cleanup process inefficient and expensive. After the Global RBCA rule became effective in 2005, it allowed for a more flexible and site-specific cleanup process, which aimed to save costs and lead to quicker and more efficient cleanups. The goal was to ensure the protection of human health and the environment while considering the intended use of the property after cleanup. In 2012, FDEP combined rules for cleaning up contaminated sites to make them more consistent. It took longer than expected, but the new rules were finalized in 2013. In 2014, FDEP made more changes to the rules to clarify how contaminated sites should be cleaned up, following a petition from the Associated Industries of Florida. These changes were finalized in 2014 after multiple meetings and workshops. The FDEP has rules for assessing the risks of contamination at a site, including how to factor in different sources of exposure and how to deal with multiple chemicals. They also have rules about when and how to use institutional controls, which are measures to control contamination at a site. The FDEP has made changes to their guidance document to make it clearer and easier to follow. The Contaminated Media Forum (CMF) was established by the FDEP in 2013 to talk about changes to rules for dealing with contaminated soil in Florida. They are discussing things like how clean the soil needs to be, how to control pollution, and updates to the cleanup rules. The CMF has been having meetings and work groups to come up with recommendations for the FDEP. They are still working on their ideas and will have more meetings in the future. FDEP issued new rules for closing contaminated sites with conditions, and made an agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation about cleaning up petroleum contamination on state roads. They also made some important decisions about cleaning up specific sites. Several proposals for assessing and addressing potential risks at contaminated sites have been filed with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). Changes to the F.A.C. Ch. 62-780 rule and updates to the Contaminated Site Cleanup Criteria Rule may be coming soon. There may also be updates to the Cleanup Target Levels (CTLs) for soils and groundwater in F.A.C. Ch. 62-777, with a focus on addressing acute toxicity and potential changes to exposure assumptions. These changes are aimed at better protecting human health and the environment. Some rules for setting safe pollution levels in Florida need to be updated. The current methods may not consider all possible risks and may not use the best information available. Changes could include using statistical methods to calculate safe levels, picking the best sources for toxicity information, and using formulas that account for all the ways people can be exposed to pollution. It’s also important to make sure the rules reflect how people, especially kids, might be exposed to pollution. The Florida Legislature may make changes to laws about cleaning up pollution by 2015. They might change how they measure the risk of pollution, consider background pollution in cities, and allow some polluted sites to close even if the water is still dirty. People should keep an eye on the government’s actions to see how these changes might affect them. John M. Inglehart and Jorge R. Caspary from the FDEP made determinations about the background conditions of certain properties. Their findings are available on the FDEP’s website. Ralph A. DeMeo and Michael P. Petrovich are lawyers at a law firm in Tallahassee and Christopher M. Teaf is a director at FSU. The column was written by the Environmental and Land Use Law Section.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/risk-based-corrective-action-in-florida-how-is-it-working/