Compliance with Environmental Regulations

DOE Order 5400.1, "General Environmental Protection Program," describes the environmental standards and regulations applicable at DOE facilities. These environmental standards and regulations fall into three categories: 1) DOE directives; 2) federal legislation and executive orders; and 3) state and local statutes, regulations, and requirements. The following subsections summarize the status of Hanford's compliance with these applicable regulations and list environmental occurrences for 1996.

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

This Act established a program to ensure that sites contaminated by hazardous substances are cleaned up by responsible parties or the government. The Act primarily covers waste cleanup of inactive sites.

Preliminary assessments conducted for the Hanford Site revealed approximately 2,200 known individual waste sites where hazardous substances may have been disposed of in a manner that requires further evaluation to determine impact to the environment.

The DOE is actively pursuing the remedial investigation/feasibility study process at some operable units on the Hanford Site. The operable units currently being studied were selected as a result of Tri-Party Agreement negotiations.

In 1996, the Hanford Site was in compliance with requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Cleanup is under way at various sites in the 100, 200, and other areas. Full-scale remediation of waste sites began in the 100 Areas in 1996. The Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility, a central disposal site for contaminated soil generated during cleanup, opened in the 600 Area in 1996.

Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act

This Act requires that the public be provided with information about hazardous chemicals in the community and establishes emergency planning and notification procedures to protect the public from a release. The Act calls for creation of state emergency response commissions to guide planning for chemical emergencies. State commissions have also created local emergency planning committees to ensure community participation and planning.

To provide the public with the basis for emergency planning, the Act contains requirements for periodic reporting on hazardous chemicals stored and/or used near the community. The 1996 Hanford Site's emergency and hazardous chemical inventory was issued to the State Emergency Response Commission, local county emergency management committees, and local fire departments in March 1997. The inventory report contained information on hazardous materials in storage across the site. A toxic chemical release inventory report was issued in August 1996, which provided details regarding releases, offsite transfers, and source reduction activities involving ethylene glycol, the sole toxic chemical used in excess of regulatory thresholds during 1995. No such reporting thresholds were exceeded in 1996. During 1996, the Hanford Site was in compliance with the reporting and notification requirements contained in this Act.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

This Act establishes regulatory standards for the generation, transportation, storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous wastes. The Washington State Department of Ecology has been authorized by the EPA to implement its dangerous waste program in lieu of the EPA for Washington State, except for some provisions of the hazardous and solid waste amendments of 1984. The Washington State Department of Ecology implements the state's regulations, which are often more stringent. The Act primarily covers ongoing waste management at active facilities.

At the Hanford Site, over 60 treatment, storage, and disposal units have been identified that must be permitted or closed in accordance with the Act and Washington State regulations. These units are required to operate under the Washington State Department of Ecology's interim-status compliance requirements. Approximately one-half of the units will be closed.

Subtitle I of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act deals with regulation of underground storage tank systems. These regulations were added to the Act by the hazardous and solid waste amendments of 1984. The EPA has developed regulations implementing technical standards for tank performance and management, including standards governing the cleanup and closure of leaking tanks. These regulations do not apply to the single- and double-shell tanks, which are regulated as treatment, storage, and disposal facilities.

Clean Air Act

The purpose of this Act is to protect public health and welfare by safeguarding air quality, bringing polluted air into compliance, and protecting clean air from degradation. In Washington State, the provisions of the Act are implemented by EPA, Washington State Department of Ecology, Washington State Department of Health, and local air authorities.

Washington State regulations require applicable controls and annual reporting of all radioactive air emissions. The Hanford Site operates under a license for such emissions. The conditions specified in the license will be incorporated into the Hanford Site air operating permit, scheduled to be issued in 1997.

Revised Clean Air Act requirements for radioactive air emissions were issued in December 1989. Emissions from the Hanford Site are within the state and EPA offsite emissions standard of 10 millirem per year. Nearly all Hanford Site sources currently meet the procedural requirements for flow measurement, emissions measurement, quality assurance, and sampling documentation.

The local air authority (the Benton County Clean Air Authority) regulations pertain to detrimental effects, fugitive dust, open burning, odor, opacity, and asbestos handling. The Authority has also been delegated responsibility to enforce the EPA asbestos regulations under the revised Clean Air Act. The site remains in compliance with the regulations.

Clean Water Act

This Act applies to point discharges to waters of the United States. At the Hanford Site, the regulations are applied through National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits that govern effluent discharges to the Columbia River. The permits specify discharge points (called outfalls), effluent limitations, and monitoring requirements. Several permit exceedences occurred at the 300 Area Treated Effluent Disposal Facility in 1996 despite the use of the best available technology. Preparations for a modification to the facility's discharge permit are under way.

Safe Drinking Water Act

The National Primary Drinking Water Regulations of the Safe Drinking Water Act apply to the drinking water supplies at the Hanford Site. These regulations are enforced by the Washington State Department of Health. In 1996, all Hanford Site water systems were in compliance with requirements and agreements.

Toxic Substances Control Act

The application of Toxic Substances Control Act requirements to the Hanford Site essentially involves regulation of the chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls. The site is currently in compliance with regulations for nonradioactive polychlorinated biphenyls. All radioactive polychlorinated biphenyl wastes are being stored pending development of treatment and disposal technologies and capabilities.

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act

The EPA is responsible for ensuring that a chemical, when used according to label instructions, will not present unreasonable risks to human health or the environment. This Act and specific chapters of the Revised Code of Washington apply to storage and use of pesticides. In 1996, the Hanford Site was in compliance with these requirements.

Endangered Species Act

Many rare species of native plants and animals are known to occur on the Hanford Site. Two of these (bald eagle and peregrine falcon) are listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as endangered or threatened. Others are listed by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife as endangered, threatened, or sensitive species. Hanford Site activities complied with the Endangered Species Act in 1996.

National Historic Preservation Act, Archaeological Resources Protection Act, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and American Indian Religious Freedom Act

Cultural resources on the Hanford Site are subject to the provisions of these Acts (Figure 8). In 1996, the Hanford Site was in compliance with these Acts.

Figure 8. Cultural resources reviews are conducted to ensure compliance with federal acts.

National Environmental Policy Act

This Act establishes environmental policy to prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and to enrich our understanding of ecological systems and natural resources. This Act requires that major federal projects with significant impacts be carefully reviewed and reported to the public in environmental impact statements. Other documents such as environmental assessments are also prepared in accordance with requirements of the Act.

Several environmental impact statements related to programs or activities on the Hanford Site are in process or in the planning stage.

Environmental Occurrences

Onsite and offsite environmental occurrences (spills, leaks, etc.) of radioactive and nonradioactive effluent materials during 1996 were reported to DOE and other federal and state agencies as required by law. All emergency, unusual, and off-normal occurrence reports, including event descriptions and corrective actions, are available for review in the DOE Hanford Reading Room located on the campus of Washington State University at Tri-Cities, Richland, Washington. There were no emergency occurrence or environmentally significant unusual occurrence reports filed in 1996. There were 15 off-normal environmental release-related occurrence reports filed during 1996.