Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 3, March 1, 2024
(1) The
Department shall conduct a preliminary assessment or approve a preliminary
assessment conducted by another person in accordance with section (4) of this
rule if the Department determines that a release of a hazardous substance poses
a significant threat to public health, safety or welfare, or the environment.
The Department may conduct or approve a preliminary assessment without such
determination. The Department may determine that existing information
constitutes the equivalent of all or part of a preliminary
assessment.
(2) Prior to conducting
a preliminary assessment, the Director shall notify the owner and operator of
the facility, if known, of the Department's intent to conduct the assessment,
and allow the owner or operator to submit relevant information to the
Department or to request to conduct the preliminary assessment. The Department
may accept or deny any such request.
(3) The purpose of a preliminary assessment
is to develop sufficient information to determine whether additional
investigation, removal, remedial action, or long-term engineering or
institutional controls related to removal or remedial action are needed at a
facility to assure protection of present and future public health, safety and
welfare, and the environment.
(4) A
preliminary assessment shall include sufficient onsite observations, maps,
facility data, sampling, and other information to accomplish the purposes of a
preliminary assessment as described in section (3) of this rule including, as
appropriate:
(a) Description of historical
operations at the facility, including past and present generation, management,
and use of hazardous substances; compliance with relevant environmental
requirements; and investigations or cleanups of releases of hazardous
substances;
(b) Identification and
characterization of hazardous substances that are being or might have been
released and, if available, an estimate of the quantities released, the
concentrations in the environment, and extent of migration;
(c) Documentation of releases of hazardous
substances to the environment;
(d)
Identification of present and past owners and operators of the
facility;
(e) Description of the
facility, including its name, and a site map identifying property boundaries,
the location of known or suspected releases of hazardous substances, and
significant topographic, terrestrial, and aquatic habitat features;
(f) Description of potential pathways for
migration of known or suspected releases of hazardous substances, including
surface water, groundwater, air, soils, and direct contact;
(g) Description of human and ecological
receptors potentially affected by releases of hazardous substances;
(h) Description of any other physical factors
that might be relevant to assessing short and long-term exposure to releases of
hazardous substances; and
(i)
Evaluation of present and reasonably likely future threats to public health,
safety and welfare, and the environment. During the preliminary assessment, the
Department may consider the following information:
(A) Concentrations of hazardous substances in
environmental media;
(B) The
documented presence, in the locality of the facility, of any of the following:
(i) Human populations;
(ii) Any sensitive human
subpopulations;
(ii) Threatened and
endangered species or their critical habitat;
(iv) Ecological receptors including any
terrestrial or aquatic habitat;
(v)
Exposure pathways potentially connecting receptors with released hazardous
substances;
(vi) Current and
reasonably likely future land uses; and
(vii) Current and reasonably likely future
beneficial uses of water.
(5) After completion of a preliminary
assessment, the Director shall make one or more of the following determinations
regarding a facility:
(a) Additional
investigation, removal, remedial action, or long-term engineering or
institutional controls related to removal or remedial action are needed to
assure protection of present and future public health, safety and welfare, and
the environment;
(b) Current
regulatory action under another state or federal agency program is adequate to
protect public health, safety and welfare, and the environment;
(c) Other actions are necessary to assure
protection of present and future public health, safety and welfare and the
environment; or
(d) Based on
available information, no further action is needed to assure protection of
present and future public health, safety and welfare, and the
environment.
(6) When
the preliminary assessment is completed, the Director shall provide a copy to
the owner and operator, if known, and shall notify them of any determination
made pursuant to section (5) of this rule.
Stat. Auth.: ORS 465.315 & ORS 465.400
Stats. Implemented: ORS 465.200 - ORS 465.455, ORS 465.900,
ORS 466.706 - ORS 466.835 & ORS
466.895
