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CHAPTER 2
HAZARDOUS WASTE INVESTIGATION ASSOCIATED WITH LAND ACQUISITION
Our National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures currently require
Environmental impact Statements (EIS) to be prepared 1n compliance with 40
CFR. Part 1502 of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations
implementing NEPA. Specifically Section l502.15 Affected Environment requires
EISs to "succinctly describe the environment of the areas to be affected by
the alternatives."
To insure that all land acquisition activities are covered, we recommend that
ASTM Standard E 1527-94 procedures be utilized to screen potential
acquisitions. The following is a suggested approach based upon a hierarchy of
increasingly detailed evaluation steps.
Step l - Prospective property is screened through Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) national data base for hazardous waste sites. This system,
known as CERCLIS (Comprehensive Env1ronmental Response, Compensation and
Liabi1ity Information System), is maintained by each of EPA's ten Regional
Offices.
Step 2 - Property is screened through the State's Hazardous Waste Site
Inventory. This inventory was mandated by the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) subtitle C, Section 3012 - Hazardous Waste
Site Inventory.
Step 3 - Past owner/uses of the property are researched and documented
through the county land records. Previous uses of the property are
evaluated for potential hazardous waste sites in accordance with ASTM
standards.
Step 4 - Property is evaluated by an on-site ground survey for the
purpose of locating potential hazardous waste sites. Core borings are
obtained from the property and subjected to chemical analysis for the
final determination as to presence or absence of hazardous wastes.
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