Fact Sheet # 98-15 September 1998

Federal Facility Agreement Schedule Updates
A fact sheet providing an update on the Federal Facility Agreement schedules.

The purpose of this fact sheet is to describe the full schedule and updates that have been made to the schedules which are part of the Federal Facility Agreement (FFA). The FFA is an agreement between the Air Force, the National Guard Bureau, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), guiding the cleanup of the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR). The FFA contains the operative schedules for all sites on the base that are being investigated under the Installation Restoration Program, the base cleanup program for past environmental contamination.

The first schedule, contained in Appendix III, Timetable 2 of the FFA, established enforceable dates for ongoing source control actions at the MMR. Specifically, this schedule set deadlines for decisions for areas requiring soil and sediment cleanup. The second schedule contains the enforceable dates pertaining to plume response actions, the cleanup of contaminated groundwater, at and originating from the MRR. This schedule was added to the FFA as Appendix III, Timetable 3 on May 30, 1997. Both schedules were last updated in August 1997.

According to the FFA, extensions of enforceable deadlines may be granted by EPA when circumstances are determined to constitute good cause.

The following list represents recent examples of changes to the FFA schedule:

• LF-4¾ A Site Investigation (SI) Report is due on June 30, 1999.
• CS-10/FS-24¾ The draft Record of Decision (ROD) will be due November 30, 1998 instead of July 31, 1998. (Settlement Agreement for CS-16/17 disputes established new dates for submittal of draft ROD.)
• CS-16/17¾ The draft ROD originally was scheduled for May 31, 1998. The revised date is November 9, 1998. (Settlement Agreement for CS-16/17 disputes established new dates for submittal of draft ROD.)
• FS-28¾ The draft Remedial Investigation (RI) is scheduled for completion October 29, 1998; the draft Feasibility Study (FS) for January 20, 1999; the Proposed Plan for March 16, 1999; and the draft ROD August 17, 1999, all as part of the Southwest Operable Unit (SWOU).

The attached FFA Milestone Changes Summary Tables indicate where changes to previous dates have been made. The tables reference the source area or the plume affected, the document to which the deadline applies, the former date, the revised date, and the justification for making the change. EPA has agreed to the changes. EPA and AFCEE regularly consult with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on major schedule changes.

None of the extensions granted to date resulted in any changes to end dates for plume response activities. The timetable for ultimate plume decisions remains on schedule. Therefore, EPA and AFCEE believe that the revised schedules represent aggressive yet realistic timetables for the implementation of the MMR cleanup.

The revised schedules providing enforceable deadlines for all source areas and groundwater plumes will be finalized within the next seven days and will be delivered to local libraries, placed on the website (http://www.mmr.org), and mailed to the site mailing list. These schedules will replace the former Appendix III, Tables 2 and 3 attached to the Federal Facility Agreement.

Acronyms

Table 1: FFA Milestone Changes Summary Tables

Source Control Actions

Area of Concern

Draft Document

Old Date

New Date

Reason for Change

Groundwater Plume Response Actions

Area of Concern

Draft Document

Old Date

New Date

Reason for Change

1. Appendix III, Timetable 2 to FFA milestones (15 August 1997 versus 30 August 98)
2. Appendix III, Timetable 3, dated 30 May 1997 versus current status 30 August 987 including all EPA approved modifications (extensions/deletions).