(1) The Response Action Performance Standard
(RAPS) is the level of diligence reasonably necessary to obtain the quantity
and quality of information adequate to assess a site and evaluate remedial
action alternatives, and to design and implement specific remedial actions at a
disposal site to achieve a level of No Significant Risk for any foreseeable
period of time, as defined at
310
CMR 40.1005, and where feasible, to reduce to
the extent possible the level of oil and/or hazardous materials in the
environment to background levels.
(2) RAPS shall be employed during the
performance of all response actions conducted pursuant to
310
CMR 40.0000, and shall include, without
limitation, the following:
(a) consideration
of relevant policies and guidelines issued by the Department, EOEEA and
EPA;
(b) use of accurate and
up-to-date methods, models, standards and practices, equipment and technologies
which are appropriate, available and generally accepted by the professional and
trade communities conducting response actions in accordance with M.G.L. c. 21E,
and 310 CMR 40.0000 under similar
circumstances; and
(c)
investigative practices which are scientifically defensible, and of a level of
precision and accuracy commensurate with the intended use of the results of
such investigations.
(3)
The application of RAPS shall be protective of health, safety, public welfare
and the environment and shall include, without limitation, in the context of
meeting the requirements of this Contingency Plan, consideration of the
following:
(a) technologies which reuse,
recycle, destroy, detoxify or treat oil and/or hazardous materials, where
feasible, to minimize the need for long-term management of contamination at or
from a disposal site;
(b)
containment measures as feasible Permanent Solutions only where reuse,
recycling, destruction, detoxification and treatment are not
feasible;
(c) remedial actions to
reduce the overall mass and volume of oil and/or hazardous material at a
disposal site to the extent feasible, regardless of whether it is feasible to
achieve one or more Temporary Solutions and/or Permanent Solutions or whether
it is feasible to achieve background for the entire disposal site and not
include the dilution of contaminated media with uncontaminated media;
(d) response actions to restore groundwater,
where feasible, to the applicable standards of quality within a reasonable
period of time to protect the existing and potential uses of such
resources;
(e) eliminating or
reducing, to the extent practicable and consistent with response action
requirements and objectives, total energy use, air pollutant emissions,
greenhouse gases, water use, materials consumption, and ecosystem and water
resources impacts, resulting from the performance of response actions through
energy efficiency, renewable energy use, materials management, waste reduction,
land management and ecosystem protection; and
(f) response actions that incorporate climate
change resilience to the extent practicable and consistent with response action
requirements.
