Remedial Action in the United States

Remedial Design/Remedial Action (RD/RA) in Environmental Law

In a cleanup of a hazardous waste site that has been listed as a priority for federal action, specific steps must be taken to determine the methods to be used. The National Contingency Plan describes them, along with the roles various people are to play. The remedial design/remedial action phase of the work occurs at the end of the lengthy procedure; it is the actual engineering, construction, and implementation of the cleanup.

Before the RD/RA is begun, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issues a record of decision, which selects the remedy for either the whole site or for a discrete part of the cleanup. The decision is by no means a surprise; it follows a lengthy study of the site and the wastes that are there as well as detailed analysis of possible remedial methods. That work is done during the remedial investigation/feasibility study. All of the information compiled is available to the public, the potentially responsible parties, and the state in which the site is located. A proposal of the remedy is published and comments considered before the record of decision becomes final.

The selected remedy must be engineered and constructed before the cleanup can begin, so the RD/RA process sets the cleanup in motion. A work plan is developed with dates for completion of all of the work. Equipment is designed and engineering controls such as trenches and drains are created, along with systems for treatment. A health and safety plan is developed for workers who will be on the site. Then the construction is completed, and the remedial action is started. The RD/RA stage of a cleanup generally lasts about two years.

Work will continue at the site until the cleanup goals have been met. Construction activities, such as digging trenches, building treatment facilities or systems, excavating soil and drums, putting in liners and covers, and placing barriers to migration will be completed early. Some types of cleanup activities bioremediation, pumping and treating groundwater, intercepting surface waters for treatment, removing seepage from collection devices will continue over many years. During that time, the remediation systems must be maintained and operated. See also Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act; National Contingency Plan; National Priority List; remediation; Superfund; Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act.
Based on “Environment and the Law. A Dictionary”.