Emerging Contaminants
ESOH Considerations in Acquisition
This Instruction establishes policy and assigns responsibilities for the identification, assessment, and risk management of ECs that have the potential to impact the DoD in accordance with the authority in DoD Directive (DoDD) 5134.01 and the guidance in DoDD 4715.1E, DoD Instruction 5000.02, and Defense Acquisition University Risk Management Guide.
The paper covers characterization and cleanup activities conducted under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP); the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA); the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); related state cleanup laws; and parts of other federal/state laws that may involve characterization and cleanup of sites. It does not cover non-cleanup related activities, such as drinking water monitoring carried out solely for regulatory purposes under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The paper is intended to be used by DoD, EPA, and state regulatory personnel to help inform decisions related to characterization and response actions for ECs. It is also anticipated that the paper may support future EC policies by these parties.
The purpose of this document is to provide information and resources on the issues pertaining to risk communications on Emerging Contaminants (ECs). The document also sets forth the fundamental principles the ECOS-DoD Sustainability Work Group believes should be followed by both state and federal stakeholders in conducting risk communication, whether at the internal, interagency, or public level. It is the view of the Task Group that these principles should be part of communications decisions at all stages of action following the identification of an EC. Furthermore, the principles represent a starting point for reconciliation should stakeholders disagree on how the risks of a particular EC should be communicated.
The ECOS-DoD Sustainability Work Group's Emerging Contaminants Task Group prepared a paper based on discussions held at the February 2006 Work Group meeting that identified the selection of toxicity values/criteria for Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and hazardous waste sites in the absence of an Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) value as a specific Risk Assessment issue to be addressed by the Task Group. Risk Assessment was prioritized as an item to be addressed by the Task Group at the November 2005 Forging Partnerships on Emerging Contaminants Forum.
This rule proposes to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to address requirements for minimizing the use of hexavalent chromium in items purchased by DoD. The rule prohibits the delivery of items containing hexavalent chromium under DoD contracts unless an exception applies or has been authorized by the Government. On April 8, 2009, the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) issued a memorandum establishing policy for the minimization of hexavalent chromium use throughout DoD. The rule allows for the codification of the policy outlined in the April 8, 2009, memorandum for the acquisition community to effectively implement the guidance in contract requirements. This rule adds a new DFARS subpart and a corresponding contract clause to address requirements for minimizing the use of hexavlent chromium in items purchased by DoD. The rule enables DoD to comply with the requirements established in Executive Orders 13514 and 13423 to reduce the use of toxic and hazardous substances. Further, the rule is timely and necessary to provide industry guidance and policy to adopt substitutes for hexavalent chromium. Non-hexavalent chromium processes should be less costly due to the use of less hazardous materials and related control and disposal cost.