Applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements ARARs

The USEPA established a National Remedy Review Board in 1995 to review all remedies. This board has saved an estimated 31 million, and future cost reductions of more than 725 million are expected (USEPA, 1998b). The remedial investigation (RI) will also include identification of "applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements" (ARARs). These are remediation standards, standards of control, or other criteria or limitations developed by federal or state law. Applicable requirements are those that have been previously used at a CERCLA site for the same waste. Relevant and appropriate requirements are those not formerly used for waste at a CERCLA site but which address the problem. Advisories and guidance to be considered can also be issued, but they are not as binding. 

The passage of SARA in 1986 resulted in the development of applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs), which are used as de facto values for cleanup end points. The ARARs are usually based on other environmental laws, such as the SDWA or the RCRA. 

The NCP contains several criteria that are Intended to guide decisions on the standards to be achieved in Individual remedial actions. Among these the most important are the threshold criteria, which include (1) a general requirement to protect human health and the environment and (2) cleanup standards which have applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARAR). Under the ARAR approach, EPA can use standards from other federal and state statutes (e.g., CWA, SDWA, RCRA) on a case-by-case basis when these requirements are applicable or relevant and appropriate. For example, RCRA land-disposal restorations (LDR) may be relevant and applicable" if a CERCLA remedial action involves RCRA hazardous waste and the waste or its hazardous residue is to be land disposed. In this case, the RCRA LDR standards that are based on the best demonstrated available technology (BDAT) may apply. 

Selection of response actions that result in the recovery, or maintenance, of healthy local populations/communities of ecological receptors that are (or should be) present at the site furthermore, in support of proper risk management, risk assessors are advised to select assessment endpoints and measures (as defined in ERAGS) that are ecologically relevant to the site and include species that are exposed and sensitive to response to site contaminants, such as explosives. In addition, if individual threatened or endangered (T E) species or critical habitats for such species are present at a site, the Endangered Species Act may be declared an applicable or relevant and appropriate requirement (ARAR) within the ERA of the site. 

Rather than establish individual cleanup standards, CERCLA assures that remedies are based on cleanup standards established by other laws (e.g. CAA, CWA, and RCRA). In conjunction with site-specific risk factors, CERCLA requires that remedies attain any legally applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs). ARARs are standards, criteria, or limitations under federal and state environmental laws. For example, if electrokinetic remediation involves the on-site treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous wastes, the remediation activity must meet RCRA standards for such treatment, storage, and disposal. ARARs relative to electrokinetic remediation include (a) the CERCLA, (b) the RCRA, (c) the CAA, (d) the CWA, (e) the SDWA, and (f) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations (ERA SITE Program, 2003). These six general requirements are discussed in the sections that follow. 

Regulatory and U.S. Department of Energy Order Compliance—This section briefly describes those promulgated regulations, DOE orders, and consent order agreements between DOE, EPA, and Ecology that are considered applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARAR) to the Hanford Site remediation and cleanup activities. 

---