ASTM Guide for Green and Sustainable Site Assessment and Cleanup

ASTM International Committee E50 on Environmental Assessment, Risk Management and Corrective Action is developing a proposed standard guide in response to requests to minimize greenhouse gases and resource use during site cleanup. Proposed standard WK23495, Guide for Green and Sustainable Site Assessment and Cleanup, is an effort to help the regulated community to develop more sustainable ways to balance the social, environmental and economic aspects of a cleanup operation. Work on the new standard is being guided by a task group on green and sustainable corrective action within Subcommittee E50.04 on Corrective Action, a part of ASTM International Committee E50 on Environmental Assessment, Risk Management and Corrective Action.

The effort to develop a new standard began in 2009 when the U.S. EPA requested a guide incorporating best management practices that minimize energy and water usage, the consumption of materials that emit greenhouse gases, waste generation and impacts on water resources, land and ecosystems.

The Standard is expected to include sections covering planning and scoping requirements for green and sustainable corrective actions, as well as elements that characterize greener, more sustainable approaches to remediation; the proposed standard includes a scalable, three-tiered decision process similar to ASTM’s risk-based corrective action guides.

The three-tiered process consists of a matrix where users can choose from screening, qualitative and quantitative evaluations, or tiers, and environmental, societal and economic categories. The proposed standard will also describe processes for monitoring, tracking and documentation. Finally, the proposed standard will include appendices with examples of the decision-making process, information about off-the-shelf technologies for green cleanup and references, and information from state programs about green and sustainable processes.

Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address Environmental Review and Environmental Impact Assessment.

Caltha Environmental Review Website