[CPEO-BIF] "Final at Last: Notes on EPA’s Vapor Intrusion Technical Guide"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Final at Last: Notes on EPA’s Vapor Intrusion Technical Guide
 
Lenny Siegel
August, 2015
 
On June 11, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finally released its Vapor Intrusion Technical Guide, known officially as the OSWER Technical Guide for Assessing and Mitigating the Vapor Intrusion Pathway from Subsurface Vapor Sources to Indoor Air. The 3.2 MB PDF document is available on line from U.S. EPA, along with the simultaneously released 3.0 MB PDF Technical Guide for Addressing Petroleum Vapor Intrusion At Leaking Underground Storage Tank Sites and several related technical documents and tools, at http://www.epa.gov/oswer/vaporintrusion/guidance.html#EO12866OSWERVI.
 
The Technical Guide reinforces best practices at EPA and other vapor intrusion projects, and it is expected to influence responses led by EPA and state regulators and well as private parties, such as developers conducting independent responses. It is not a statute or regulation. That is, it does not impose any new requirements. Rather, it explains how to protect building occupants from potential vapor intrusion at sites being addressed under Superfund (CERCLA, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act), RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) Corrective Action, and their state counterparts. I expect states with their own guidance documents to incorporate EPA’s Guide by reference.
 
The Guide is thorough, comprehensible, and flexible. At 267 pages, it is not a quick read. But I suggest that all vapor intrusion stakeholders peruse the document, learning enough about it to use it as a reference throughout any vapor intrusion response project. The linked notes are not comprehensive. Instead I have tried to highlight significant recommendations, as well as pointing out surprises and other sections that answer long-asked questions. This document is not a complete review of the Technical Guide. People who want the whole picture should read the whole document.
 
 
To download the 17-page, 1 MB PDF, go to http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/FinalatLast.pdf.

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Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650-961-8918 or 650-969-1545
Fax: 650-961-8918
LSiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org

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