General Program Announcements

Public Input Opportunity: PECFA Usual & Customary Standardized Invoice

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

The Remediation and Redevelopment (RR) Program seeks your input on the Usual & Customary (U&C) Task Reference Guide #23 (RR-092) and on the Standardized Invoice #23 (RR-092a). Both documents can be viewed at the Wisconsin DNR’s web page for proposed program guidance.

Comments on these documents will be accepted through December 22, 2017.

Updates to Tasks 5, 7, 18, 26, 27 and 31 are included in the document and outlined in the public comment cover sheet.

The U&C Cost Schedule is a regular publication of the RR program and is updated twice a year. Updates generally consist of non-substantive language changes and clarification.

Comments on this document should be sent to Jenna Soyer at jenna.soyer@wisconsin.gov.

Employment Opportunity with the RR Program

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

The Wisconsin DNR seeks to fill a position with the Remediation and Redevelopment (RR) Program stationed in the downtown Madison office.

The deadline to apply is December 10, 2017. 

Environmental Program Specialist – The successful candidate will provide professional programmatic, financial and administrative support throughout the state to all RR staff. Additionally, the person will provide direct administrative support to the Program Director and Management Team. This person will specifically help develop, administer, maintain and disseminate information related to RR programs, the program’s budget, work plans, performance metrics, open records, administrative rules and records. As the Program Specialist, this person will be responsible for tracking all program payables and receivables, procurement card transactions, purchase orders, and invoice vouchers.

Please see the job announcement for additional information.

Brownfields Success: West Milwaukee

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

With the “snick” of a ceremonial scissor, the new Burnham Business Center officially opens for business in West Milwaukee. This former Auto Paradise site has a long history as a carriage and cartage company, going back to the early 1900s. Most recently, the site was used to disassemble cars, stripping them of all usable pieces before recycling the remaining parts.

Burnham Business Center

A portion of the new, 83,000 square foot Burnham Business Center along W. Burnham Street in West Milwaukee. The facility recently opened after guidance from the DNR’s Remediation and Redevelopment program.

The DNR’s Remediation and Redevelopment Program in the Southeast Region started guiding the cleanup investigation back in February of 2016. With an approved remediation plan in place, the SER team is now evaluating plans for long-term groundwater monitoring. The site is currently in the DNR’s VPLE program, a process by which an individual, business or unit of government, can voluntarily conduct an environmental investigation and cleanup of a property and then receive limits on their liability for historical contamination on that property.

The new 83,000 sq. ft. light industrial facility has eight tractor-trailer bays which facilitates the cross-transfer of a variety of products. As part of the site development, work crews also conducted a stream bank improvement project, where the banks of this unnamed stream were hardened and properly re-sloped.

 The ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the new facility was held October 24.

DNR Brownfields Report of Annual Accomplishments Now Available

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

The Remediation and Redevelopment Program’s annual report to the US EPA of brownfields accomplishments, which details a year-long effort of outputs and outcomes funded by a federal grant, is now available online. The Section 128(a) Grant Final Accomplishments Report, for the reporting period of September 1, 2016 to August 31, 2017, highlights work completed in the previous funding year.

The “128(a) Final Report” includes a summary of the various metrics tracked during the year (Green Team meetings, outreach activities, etc.), highlights a number of successful cleanups and redevelopments from across the state, and features a number of important program improvements undertaken during the year.

Previous 128(a) reports can be found on the Brownfields Program web page.

 

Requests for DNR “Acknowledgment Letter” Due November 2

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

If you plan to submit an application for an FY2018 EPA brownfield grant, you only have a couple weeks left to request your letter of acknowledgment from the Remediation and Redevelopment Program for your federal grant application.

The EPA requires grant applicants other than tribal environmental authorities to obtain a letter from the DNR acknowledging that the state is aware the applicant is applying for a federal grant to conduct brownfield assessment, revolving loan fund or cleanup activities.

While the federal deadline to submit an application for Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, or Cleanup grants isn’t until November 16, 2017, the DNR requests at least two weeks’ notice – November 2 – to develop and deliver your letter in a timely manner. These federal grants are available for the assessment and cleanup of brownfield properties.

You can request your state letter of acknowledgment from the DNR by contacting Elisabeth Kuisis (608-267-0543).

To find out how to get a DNR letter of acknowledgment and other useful information, visit the DNR Federal brownfield grants web page. For more information about the federal grants, see the September 20 article in the RR Report.

Issues & Trends: An Alternative for Determining Soil RCLs for PAHs

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

On October 4, 2017, please join the RR Program for a teleconference discussion of the RCL spreadsheet and a substitute method of calculating alternative non-industrial direct-contact residual contaminant levels (RCLs) for select carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (cPAHs).

Waste management specialist Paul Grittner and hydrogeologist David Swimm, both with the RR Program, will discuss the modified soil RCL spreadsheet which can be used to attain compliance when the applicable cPAH direct contact RCLs in NR 720 is not practicable. The spreadsheet changes how non-industrial direct contact RCLs for seven cPAHs are assessed. The spreadsheet evaluates cPAH compounds on a cumulative basis only, rather than on an individual compound basis and a cumulative basis.

This approach is allowed under NR 722, but the DNR’s pre-approval is required prior to implementation. Paul and David’s presentation will focus on the process recommended for assessing PAH data using the modified soil RCL spreadsheet, as well as the DNR pre-approval process.

The teleconference will take place at noon on Oct. 4. No pre-registration is required. Call 1-855-947-8255 and use passcode 6612 745#. This presentation will be recorded and available the following day on the RR Program’s Training Library.

FY 2018 EPA Brownfields Grant Application Guidelines Released

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

The FY 2018 application guidelines for EPA’s Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup grants have been released by the Office of Land and Emergency Management. Proposals are due to EPA by November 16, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.

These federal grants are available for the assessment and cleanup of brownfield properties.

For assistance with applying for a FY 2018 Brownfields Grant, contact your regional EPA representative or the Region 5 Technical Assistance to Brownfield (TAB) provider, KSU. TAB can provide free review of your draft EPA Assessment and Cleanup proposals. Please give TAB a one-week heads-up that you will be sending a draft to review. It generally takes TAB a few days to get the proposals back to you. Please contact Blase Leven (785-532-0780) to reserve your spot.

To find out how to get a DNR letter of support and other useful information, visit the DNR Federal brownfield grants web page.

Pittsville, Edgerton receive DNR brownfield awards

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

MADISON – Two Wisconsin communities stand to benefit from Department of Natural Resources brownfields awards to assist with the investigation of historic contamination.

Pittsville and Edgerton received Wisconsin Assessment Monies (WAM) from the DNR for contractor services worth a combined $45,000. Administered by the DNR Remediation and Redevelopment Program, WAM awards provide communities with professional environmental site assessments of contaminated properties.

“The work will help the communities better understand the contaminated areas in question, leading to potential job growth, retention and economic development,” said Christine Haag, DNR brownfields section chief.

Continue reading “Pittsville, Edgerton receive DNR brownfield awards” →

Updates to RR Program Guidance on Submitting Documents; Advice on Using Fillable PDF Forms

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

As the Remediation and Redevelopment Program strives to make site file records available electronically through its online resource, BRRTS on the Web (BOTW), we’ve updated our guidance for consultants to submit those records in the most timely and effective ways possible.

The Guidance for Submitting Documents to the Remediation and Redevelopment Program (RR-690) includes a number of updates. Consultants are encouraged to review the updated guidance. By following the recommendations in the guidance, consultants will help RR staff identify and review submittals in a timely manner.

If you have questions on how to submit documents to the RR Program, please contact a regional RR Program Environmental Program Associate (EPA).

The RR Program also reminds consultants that when saving or editing Program forms to use Adobe Acrobat software. This is especially important if the form will need to be edited before submitting to the DNR. You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free at https://get.adobe.com/reader/.

Open House “Q & A” on New Vapor Intrusion Guidance

Posted on by elisabethkuisis

The Remediation and Redevelopment Program will host a two-hour “Q & A” regarding the agency’s new guidance on vapor intrusion. The open house event will take place on Tuesday, August 29, in Madison, and via teleconference at the same time.

The guidance – RR-800 – is currently available for written public comment through the DNR’s “proposed program guidance” web page; comment on the document will be accepted through September 8, 2017.

Subjects discussed during the “Q & A” session will not take the place of written comments on the document. Rather, the opportunity is meant to help further clarify the material for those who may have questions about the content, with hope of alleviating potential erroneous comments.

Details of the vapor intrusion “Q & A” open house are:

  • Date: Tuesday, August 29
  • Time: 9:00 – 11:00 CST
  • Location: DNR Central Office, Room G-09, 101 S. Webster St., Madison, WI 53707
  • Conference Call Number: 1-855-947-8255, Passcode: 6612745#

Vapor intrusion team leader Alyssa Sellwood and Policy and Technical Resources Section Chief Judy Fassbender will be available to answer questions and clarify issues for participants.

If you plan to attend in person, please notify Alyssa Sellwood by the close of the business day on Monday, August 28, so that building security can be prepared for your arrival.