| (a) Purpose. The Texas Risk Reduction Program (TRRP) rules
(30 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 350) and the preamble to those
rules (24 TexReg 7436) reference certain interactions between the Texas Natural
Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) and the natural resource trustees
(Trustees) in regard to an ecological risk assessment and an ecological services
analysis. The purpose of this memorandum of understanding (MOU) is to facilitate
these interactions between the TNRCC and the Trustees in both these processes.
In addition, the parties recognize the following as pertinent to the development
of this MOU.
(1) The TNRCC is the agency of the State of Texas given the
primary responsibility for implementing the constitution and laws of the state
relating to the conservation of natural resources and the protection of the
environment.
(2) As public trustees for natural resources, the Trustees
have statutory authority to pursue claims for injury to, destruction of, or
loss of natural resources as a result of a release of a hazardous substance
or a discharge of oil, seek restoration or replacement of such natural resources,
and pursue recovery of reasonable assessment costs.
(3) Due to some dependent and even overlapping responsibilities,
it is beneficial for the TNRCC and the Trustees to coordinate on the performance
of certain tasks concerning the ecological risk assessment and ecological
services analysis.
(4) Integration of natural resource damages considerations
into risk reduction decisions may efficiently and cost effectively resolve
certain natural resource damages liability and alleviate the need for further
investigations or legal proceedings.
(b) Parties. The parties to this MOU are as follows:
(1) TNRCC, both as administrator of TRRP and a natural resource
trustee;
(2) Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, solely as a natural
resource trustee;
(3) Texas General Land Office, solely as a natural resource
trustee;
(4) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the
United States Department of Commerce, solely as a natural resource trustee;
and
(5) United States Department of the Interior, solely as a natural
resource trustee.
(c) Authorities.
(1) The Trustees enter into this MOU in accordance with the
legal authorities provided to each Trustee by the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 United States Code
(USC) §§9601 et seq.; the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 USC §§1251
et seq.; the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), 33 USC §§2701 et seq.;
the National Contingency Plan, 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 300;
the Natural Resource Damage Assessment Regulations, 43 CFR Part 11; and 15
CFR Part 990; and any other applicable laws or authorities.
(2) The State of Texas Trustees also enter into this MOU in
accordance with the legal authorities provided by the Texas Natural Resources
Code, Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act of 1991, §40.107; the Texas
Natural Resource Damage Assessment Regulations, 31 TAC Chapter 20; and any
other applicable laws or authorities.
(3) The TNRCC additionally enters into this MOU in accordance
with the legal authority provided to it by the Texas Water Code, §5.104
and Texas Health and Safety Code, §361.016.
(d) Acronyms.
(1) COCs--chemicals of concern;
(2) CFR--Code of Federal Regulations;
(3) CERCLA--Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act;
(4) CWA--Clean Water Act;
(5) LOAEL--lowest observed adverse effect level;
(6) MOA--memorandum of agreement;
(7) MOU--memorandum of understanding;
(8) NOAEL--no observed adverse effect level;
(9) OPA--Oil Pollution Act of 1990;
(10) PCLs--protective concentration levels;
(11) TAC--Texas Administrative Code;
(12) TNRCC--Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission;
(13) TRRP--Texas Risk Reduction Program;
(14) TNRCC PM--Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission
Remedial/Corrective Actions Project Manager; and
(15) TTT--Trustee technical team.
(e) Definitions. Any words not specifically defined herein
which are defined in 30 TAC §350.4, shall have the same meaning as defined
in that section.
(1) Person--An individual, corporation, organization, government,
or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, partnership, association,
or any other legal entity utilizing the TRRP rules or any other equivalent
TNRCC rules.
(2) Paragraph 7--30 TAC §350.77(c)(7) corresponds to a
point in the Tier 2 screening-level ecological risk assessment where the initial
risk estimate is refined based on the use of less conservative exposure assumptions.
Paragraph 7 is a requirement that the person must perform as part of the Tier
2 screening-level ecological risk assessment if the assessment progresses
past 30 TAC §350.77(c)(6). Paragraph 7 reads as follows: (The person
shall:) "...justify the use of less conservative assumptions to adjust the
exposure and repeat the hazard quotient exercise in paragraph (6) of this
subsection, once again eliminating COCs that pose no unacceptable risk and
adding comparisons to the LOAELs for those COCs indicating a potential risk
(i.e., NOAEL hazard quotient >1); however, when multiple members of a class
of COCs are present which exert additive effects, it is also appropriate to
utilize an ecological hazard index methodology (if all COCs are eliminated
at this point, the ecological risk assessment process ends and the items listed
in paragraphs (8) - (9) of this subsection are not required);" Any reference
in this MOU to Paragraph 7 shall not only include the current 30 TAC §350.77(c)(7)
but also the point at which the equivalent actions occur under other TNRCC
risk reduction rules in the event that TRRP is amended or replaced and the
specific reference is revised.
(3) Trustees--The federal agencies as designated by the President
of the United States and the state agencies as designated by the Governor
of the State of Texas pursuant to the OPA and CERCLA to act on behalf of the
public as trustees of natural resources (e.g., water, air, land, wildlife).
(4) Parties--The signatories to this MOU as specified in subsection
(b) of this MOU.
(f) Trustee contacts. The TNRCC Natural Resource Trustee Program
(TNRCC Trustee) shall designate a primary TNRCC Trustee contact in writing
to the other Trustees no later than ten calendar days after the effective
date of this MOU. The TNRCC shall designate a secondary TNRCC Trustee contact
in the initial notifications of both an ecological risk assessment and an
ecological services analysis. Each of the other Trustees shall designate a
primary and a secondary contact in writing to the other Trustees no later
than ten calendar days after the effective date of this MOU. Initial notifications
and all subsequent electronic mail correspondence shall be sent to both the
primary and secondary contacts for each Trustee. The TNRCC Trustee shall send
copies of pertinent documents to the primary contacts by regular mail (unless
an alternate contact or method is identified in advance). A Trustee may change
its primary or secondary contact by providing the other Trustees not less
than ten calendar days written notice of such change.
(g) Ecological risk assessment process. The preamble to TRRP
rules (24 TexReg 7455) states that the Trustees may choose to participate
in the ecological risk assessment process to ensure that natural resources
under their jurisdiction are adequately protected. The preamble also states
that the TNRCC will notify the Trustees of affected property with chemicals
of concern (COCs) which remain after a particular stage of development within
the Tier 2 screening-level ecological risk assessment. The purpose of an ecological
risk assessment is to characterize the ecological setting of the affected
property, identify complete or reasonably anticipated to be completed exposure
pathways and representative ecological receptors, scientifically eliminate
COCs that pose no unacceptable risk, and develop protective concentration
levels (PCLs) for selected ecological receptors where warranted. The parties
agree that an ecological risk assessment should be conducted in a manner that
is designed to result in the protection of ecological receptors that may be
subject to management by federal and state agencies. Furthermore, the Trustees
acknowledge that the potential for continuing injury to ecological resources
should be negligible at sites where the remedial decisions were based on appropriate
application of the proposed ecological risk assessment process.
Cont'd... |
