DRAFT Interim Policy

MassDEP has prepared  a DRAFT Interim Policy on the Re-Use of Soil for Large Reclamation Projects and the Department seeks your review and comment on this proposal by June 17, 2015.  We anticipate finalizing the Interim Policy by June 30, 2015 in accordance with Section 277 of Chapter 165 of the Acts of 2014.

The DRAFT Policy describes an interim approach for obtaining site-specific Department approval for the reclamation of quarries, sand pits and gravel pits using more than 100,000 cubic yards of soil.  The approach institutionalized in this policy has been successfully implemented on a case-by-case basis to allow operations to begin accepting large volumes of soil as fill. The policy provides clarity on the types of locations that would require approval and the nature of the documentation/information necessary for DEP to sign-off on the reclamation project.  The policy would remain in effect while the Department continues to work with stakeholders to develop a comprehensive approach to implement Section 277

Download the DRAFT Interim Policy:

• DRAFT Interim Soil Policy COMM-15-01 May 27 2015.pdf  (211 KB, PDF)
• DRAFT Interim Soil Policy COMM-15-01 May 27 2015.doc (62 KB, MS Word)

We look forward to any comments and suggestions you may have – both for improving the interim policy AND as we move ahead to develop a comprehensive approach for quarry reclamation projects.  Comments on the draft policy should be sent to Paul.Locke@state.ma.us by June 17, 2015, or you can append them to this post using the “Leave a Comment” link below.

If you have any questions during your review of this material, please feel free to email (Paul.Locke@state.ma.us) or call (617-556-1160).

Thank-you for your continued participation in this important project!

– Paul Locke

P.S.  The draft policy will likely be an agenda topic for a Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday, June 25, 2015 (rescheduled from 6/17/15 for those of you following along.)  All are welcome to attend and participate in the meeting either live or on-line. Agenda will be posted at http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/news/advisory-committees/waste-site-cleanup-program-advisory-committee.html as the meeting date approaches.

DEP Presentation to MHOA

Every year, MassDEP and the Massachusetts Health Officers Association (MHOA) hold a series of workshops across the state to collaborate and update MHOA members on topics relevant to their job in the local communities.

In March/April 2015, MassDEP made a presentation on its ongoing work on Reclamation Soil.

The presentation slides and associated audio are available to view on YouTube (http://youtu.be/trW2kPy0jl0).

Reclamation Soil Update

Just a quick FYI that MassDEP provided an update concerning the DRAFT Interim Reclamation Soil Policy at the Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday, March 5, 2015. The video of the ~30 minute discussion is available on YouTube at: http://youtu.be/UKK7_4o3qzU If you are interested in the full Advisory Committee meeting, all seven segments of the meeting are now available in a YouTube playlist at:  http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJn2AKOcYr7kfaQEf3n4Dn3qzuCucmb3W.

Gedankenexperiment

Silence is Tacit Agreement to the Hypothesis:  there are NO specific examples of Massachusetts construction/development projects that would import more than 100,000 cubic yards of soil and which do NOT involve flattening farmland, interring bodies, or filling quarries, sand pits or gravel pits.

MassDEP has need of concrete examples of ongoing, pending or proposed projects for a Gedankenexperiment.  Use the comment link below or email your examples to Paul.Locke@state.ma.us… or don’t respond, and concur with the hypothesis!

Material from 12/12/14 Meeting

While the live streaming worked (fairly) well during Friday’s meeting, we were not able to save the recording on the UStream site.  So instead, the video will be segmented into six smaller clips and posted on a Google Drive.  You should be able to watch and/or download the video directly. The clips will be loaded as we are able to process them.

(We’ll see how well this option works as we explore the available choices for public access to distant meetings. Please use the comments below to let us know how well this does or does not work.)

Reclamation Soil Meeting
Friday, December 12, 2014

• Discussion of Draft Interim Policy
  (segment 01, 36 minutes, 275 MB,
  2014-12-12 Reclamation Soil 04 – Part 01- small.mov)
• Framework for Permits
  (segment 02, 29 minutes, 209 MB,
  2014-12-12 Reclamation Soil 04 – Part 02- small.mov)
• Framework for Permits, continued
  (segment 03, 30 minutes, 179 MB,
  2014-12-12 Reclamation Soil 04 – Part 03- small.mov)
• (Yet More) Framework for Permits
  (segment 04, 12 minutes, 84 MB,
  2014-12-12 Reclamation Soil 04 – Part 04- small.mov)
• Sampling Discussion
  (segment 05, 18 minutes, 102 MB
  2014-12-12 Reclamation Soil 04 – Part 05- small.mov)
• Municipal Approval  Discussion
  (segment 06, 15 minutes, 77.4 MB
  2014-12-12 Reclamation Soil 04 – Part 06- small.mov)

White Board drawings (click to enlarge):

  

Agenda for Friday’s Meeting

MassDEP Reclamation Soil Stakeholder Meeting #4:

 MassDEP Boston Office

One Winter Street, Boston, MA 02108
December 12, 2014
1:30 ~ 4:00 pm

Agenda

1.  Interim Policy on Implementation of Section 277 of the FY 2015 State Budget

– Description of content
– Q&A

2. Draft conceptual framework for development of regulation

– Description of draft framework for permits
– Sampling and analysis at sites generating soil for receiving locations
– Options for local approvals

3. Next steps

(Can’t make it to Boston? Once again, we plan to broadcast the meeting live on Ustream athttp://www.ustream.tv/channel/massdep-bwsc-meetings and will monitor the stream for online comments or questions. Video and audio will be archived online as well.)

Keep the Date!

MassDEP has (tentatively) scheduled a follow-up Reclamation Soil meeting for Friday, December 12, 2014 from 1:30 pm until approximately 4:00 pm. The meeting will take place in the 2nd floor conference rooms at the MassDEP One Winter Street, Boston, headquarters.

We realize that the day/time combination is not ideal. Unfortunately the availability of conference rooms and the tight program development schedule allows for few options. DEP anticipates discussing a preliminary approach the to quarry reclamation program based upon the previous meetings with stakeholders.

Once again, we plan to broadcast the meeting live on Ustream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/massdep-bwsc-meetings and will monitor the stream for online comments or questions.

Please submit any comments or suggestions you may have through our Reclamation Soil blog at http://www.ReclamationSoil.org.

I look forward to meeting with you on the 12th!

– Paul Locke

P.S. Note the word “tentative”. There is a possibility that the meeting will be postponed, depending upon the progress made over the next 2 weeks.

ISM

Question for Consideration & Feedback:

“How would/should/could Incremental Sampling Methodology (ISM) be used to cost-effectively characterize Reclamation Soil?”

Reference Material:  ITRC’s Incremental Sampling Methodology

No Nov. 12th Meeting

For those of you who may have penciled-in a meeting for this coming Wednesday, November 12, please erase it and enjoy a meeting-free morning.

There is NO stakeholder meeting on Reclamation Soil this week.

Nov 7 Meeting Follow-up

Thank-you to all who attended the November 7, 2014 meeting on local approval and state permitting for Reclamation Soil projects.

The web-streaming of the meeting went surprisingly well (with only a couple breaks due to connectivity issues), and the video is available online at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/massdep-bwsc-meetings.

Photographs of the white boards (click to enlarge):

The audio (by itself) is also available at Archive.org:  https://archive.org/details/20141107ReclamationSoil036090Minute

Follow-up comments, suggestions, interesting links, etc., are welcome through the comment box below or email to Paul.Locke@state.ma.us.