(1) The purposes of
the Massachusetts Contingency Plan are, without limitation, to:
(a) provide for the protection of health,
safety, public welfare and the environment by establishing requirements and
procedures for the following:
1. the
prevention and control of activities which may cause, contribute to, or
exacerbate a release or threat of release of oil and/or hazardous
material;
2. notification of the
Department in the event of certain releases or threats of release of oil and/or
hazardous material;
3. assessment
of the nature and extent of contamination and any threat to health, safety,
public welfare or the environment caused by a release or threat of release of
oil and/or hazardous material;
4.
the evaluation of alternatives for remedial actions to abate, prevent, remedy
or otherwise respond to a release or threat of release of oil and/or hazardous
material;
5. the implementation of
appropriate remedial actions to abate, prevent, remedy or otherwise respond to
a release or threat of release of oil and/or hazardous material;
6. public involvement in decisions regarding
response actions at disposal sites; and
7. the recovery of Costs incurred by the
Commonwealth in responding to releases or threats of release of oil and/or
hazardous material.
(b)
encourage persons responsible for releases and threats of release of oil and/or
hazardous material to undertake necessary and appropriate response actions in a
timely way;
(c) focus government
resources on those sites at which the person(s) responsible can not or will not
undertake necessary response actions;
(d) focus government resources on those sites
at which Department oversight is necessary to ensure that response actions are
protective of health, safety, public welfare and the environment; and
(e) establish a program for the Department to
audit a sufficient number of response actions not overseen or conducted by the
Department to ensure that those response actions are performed in compliance
with M.G.L. c. 21E,
310
CMR 40.0000 and other applicable
laws.
(2) The MCP
identifies those oils and hazardous materials which are subject to the
requirements and procedures set forth in
310
CMR 40.0000.
(3) The MCP prescribes the respective roles
and responsibilities of the Department, other governmental agencies,
Responsible Parties, Potentially Responsible Parties, Licensed Site
Professionals, Other Persons, and the public in response actions.
(4) The MCP is intended to comport with and
complement the National Contingency Plan promulgated by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980.
(5) Except with respect to
310
CMR 40.1200, the MCP does not address the
Commonwealth's recovery of damages associated with injury to, destruction of,
or loss of use of natural resources or the costs of assessing those
damages.
