Long-Term Stewardship Challenges Posed by Vicinity Properties in the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program - 23245

The Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) was established by the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1974 to identify and remediate sites where radioactive contamination remained from the Manhattan Project and early AEC operations. After approximately 20 years of remedial actions performed by AEC and its successor, the US Department of Energy (DOE), in 1997 Congress transferred the responsibility for FUSRAP cleanups to the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and was directed to use the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) to remediate FUSRAP sites. DOE remained responsible for determining eligibility of sites for FUSRAP and ensuring that remediated sites remain protective of human health and the environment through long-term stewardship. As of August 2022, there are 34 FUSRAP sites under DOE Office of Legacy Management (LM) stewardship for long-term surveillance and maintenance, while there are an additional 21 sites that continue to be remediated by USACE. Many of these FUSRAP sites include vicinity properties where FUSRAP-eligible contaminants have been deposited, stored, disposed, placed, or otherwise come to be located. The concept of a vicinity property dates from uranium mine tailings cleanup that began in 1972 and in subsequent legislation of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (UMTRCA). UMTRCA defined 'processing sites' to include both uranium mill sites and any other property 'in the vicinity of such site' that AEC determined to be contaminated with residual radioactive materials. The earliest FUSRAP surveys cited UMTRCA cleanup guidelines, as such the term 'vicinity property' was adopted by FUSRAP. Of the 34 completed FUSRAP sites managed by LM, 5 of those sites have a combined total of 115 vicinity properties. The number of completed FUSRAP vicinity properties managed by LM will nearly triple over the next decade due to the transition of the remaining 21 sites and may number greater than 1000 vicinity properties associated with FUSRAP sites by 2038. By that time, these vicinity properties will be located in five states and cover a variety of land uses including, municipal rights-of-way, industrial, commercial, and residential. Vicinity properties pose unique challenges and opportunities for LM and for the stewardship of these sites into the future. Challenges include: 1. Efficiently managing the magnitude of records associated with these cleanups to ensure accurate and efficient responses to stakeholder inquiries. 2. Ensuring compliance of institutional controls in multiple states. 3. Coordination of long-term stewardship activities with potentially hundreds of property owners and other relevant stakeholders. These challenges, along with other outside factors such as changes in land use, changes in regulations, and changes in communities, all being considered when developing and implementing the budget and programmatic enhancements to FUSRAP. This session will examine the current best practices for vicinity properties, evaluate future challenges, as well as provide some of LM's resolutions through recommendations and case studies on FUSRAP sites, as its vicinity property portfolio continues to grow. (authors)