WQARF; no further action
The bill makes a variety of changes regarding timeframes, procedures and standards for obtaining a no further action (NFA) determination from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for a Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund (WQARF) site.
· DEQ must provide the reasons for asking for additional information if the NFA request is incomplete; the applicant has 60 days to reply to that request and then the agency has 30 days to notify the applicant if the additional information is complete. The submission of incomplete information may result in the denial of a NFA request and DEQ may reopen an investigation and take or require a remedial action for the same reason. (The parties may agree in writing to additional time for responses.)
· DEQ shall be allowed access to a site as a requirement for making a NFA request, and the agency shall deny a request if access is not provided.
· DEQ shall make a final decision regarding a NFA or rescoring request within 300 days unless both parties agree to additional time. The director's decision shall include the factual, technical and legal grounds for the decision.
· The determination of a NFA request shall be based on remedial action criteria rules (broader options: (1) the site has been remediated under a program other than WQARF; (2) groundwater impacted by a release does not and will not exceed water quality standards, or, if there is no water quality standard, a risk level approved by the department to protect health, welfare and the environment; (3) a finding that there is no present or reasonably foreseeable use of water that would be impaired by the release as determined by a remedial investigation). (Current language allowed an NFA for soils to be based on the statutory soil remediation levels and for groundwater based on a finding that no hazardous substances have impacted or will impact groundwater.)
· DEQ may re-open an investigation and take or require remedial action for any of the following reasons:
1. Discovery of new information based on remedial action criteria rules that would result in the potential denial of a NAF request.
2. Information is inaccurate, misleading or incomplete.
3. It is necessary to respond to a release or a threat of release of a hazardous substance that may present an imminent and substantial danger to the public health or welfare or the environment.
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44th Legislature Analyst Initials _______
Second Regular Session March 17, 2000
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