—1—

SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

A Message from the Assistant Administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 

Restore Contaminated Properties to Environmental 

and Economic Vitality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Increase America’s Homeland Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Focus Regulatory Efforts on Risk Reduction and Statutory 

Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Promote Stewardship and Resource Conservation Consistent 

with the Agency’s Resource Conservation Challenge . . . . . . . 12

Encourage Voluntary Efforts to Clean Up Sites . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Strengthen OSWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

A Look to the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

TABLE OF CONTENTS
—2—

SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

A MESSAGE FROM THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR

According to our mission 

statement, OSWER provides 

policy, guidance, and direction 

for the Agency’s solid waste 

and emergency response 

programs. For example, we 

develop guidelines for the land 

disposal of hazardous waste 

and underground storage 

tanks. We provide technical 

assistance to all levels of 

government to establish 

safe practices in waste 

management. We lead the 

Brownfields program, which 

supports state, tribal, and local 

governments in redeveloping 

and reusing potentially 

contaminated sites. We also 

manage the Superfund program 

to respond to abandoned and 

active hazardous waste sites 

and accidental oil and chemical 

releases, as well as encourage 

innovative technologies to 

clean up contaminated soil and 

groundwater. OSWER does all 

this and so much more. 

As detailed in the following 

report, today’s OSWER does 

more than provide direction 

for solid and hazardous waste 

management. We encourage 

resource conservation. 

OSWER does more than clean 

up contaminated property. 

We encourage sustainable 

reuse. OSWER does more 

than respond to accidental 

oil and chemical releases. 

We are a major partner in 

ensuring the nation’s homeland 

security. All these activities 

are an outgrowth of OSWER’s 

core missions and provide 

significant benefits. 

This report is a testament to 

the hard work and creativity of 

the headquarters and regional 

EPA employees working on 

OSWER-related issues. It 

is also a testament to the 

importance of successful 

collaboration with coregulators, stakeholders, 

and communities. Through 

the actions described below, 

EPA employees and partners 

are producing significant 

environmental results that will 

continue to improve the world 

around us.
—3—

SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

INTRODUCTION

Late in 2005, EPA 

Administrator Stephen Johnson 

released The Administrator’s 

Action Plan, setting five 

Agency-wide priorities that 

responded to a challenge posed 

by President George W. Bush. 

The President had charged EPA 

“with accelerating the pace 

of environmental protection 

while maintaining our nation’s 

economic competitiveness.” 

The Administrator’s Action 

Plan laid out the blueprint for 

meeting that challenge.

The Administrator’s Action 

Plan

•	Cleaner Air and Affordable

Energy

•	Clean and Safe Water

•	Healthy Communities and

Ecosystems

•	The Global Environment

•	A Stronger EPA

In March 2006, the Office of 

Solid Waste and Emergency 

Response (OSWER) produced a 

corresponding Action Plan that 

defined how OSWER would 

support the Administrator’s 

plan by prioritizing action in 

six key areas of responsibility. 

Since then, OSWER’s Action 

Plan has guided the work of all 

OSWER offices. See http://epa.

gov/oswer/actionplan/index.

htm.

The purpose of the OSWER 

Action Plan was not to launch 

new initiatives. Rather, the 

purpose was to set clear 

priorities for OSWER’s daily 

work effort, reemphasize the 

importance of a defined set of 

activities, and impart renewed 

impetus and urgency to those 

activities. The Action Plan 

also integrated into OSWER’s 

programs some earlier 

successful pilot projects and 

initiatives. 

This report summarizes 

OSWER’s progress under 

its Action Plan. Specific 

accomplishments are described 

in chapters that correspond 

to the six prioritized items in 

the Action Plan. This report 

is not meant to capture 

all of OSWER’s activities 

over the past several years, 

but emphasizes those that 

supported the priorities set 

by OSWER management and 

the Administrator in their 

respective Action Plans.
—4—

CSTAG

Contaminated sediments present 

a unique cleanup challenge.

Because a number of Superfund 

sites contain contaminated 

sediments, the Contaminated 

Sediments Technical Advisory 

Group (CSTAG) was established in 

2002 to monitor the progress of—

and provide advice regarding—

large, complex, or controversial 

Superfund sites containing 

contaminated sediments.

CSTAG is encouraging national 

consistency in the management 

of sediment sites and improving 

the effectiveness of sediment 

cleanups by providing a forum 

for the exchange of technical 

and policy information. It is 

also providing a mechanism 

for monitoring and evaluating 

cleanup progress at the largest 

or most complex sites. At this 

time over a dozen sites have 

been identified for CSTAG 

review, and more are likely to be 

identified as additional information 

becomes available. See http://

epa.gov/superfund/health/

conmedia/sediment/cstag.htm.

Green Remediation

Another way to improve the 

effectiveness of cleanups is to 

embrace the concept of green 

remediation, which promotes 

the idea that all aspects of 

environmental protection should 

be considered throughout the 

remediation process. With this 

principle in mind, remedies 

used at contaminated sites 

are built and operated in ways 

that minimize any negative 

environmental impact.

RESTORE CONTAMINATED 

PROPERTIES TO ENVIRONMENTAL 

AND ECONOMIC VITALITY

For example, in the past 

the energy used to clean 

up contaminated sites was 

almost entirely carbon-based.

Increasingly, however, cleanup 

projects carried out by OSWER’s 

programs are using renewable 

solar and wind energy to power 

some equipment. In April 

2008, EPA released the Green 

Remediation Primer: Incorporating 

Sustainable Environmental 

Practices into Remediation of 

Contaminated Sites to make it 

easier for site decision makers 

to use environmentally friendly 

cleanup techniques. The primer 

explains how remediation fits 

into EPA’s mission to clean up 

contaminated sites, and provides 

practical examples—including 

case studies—for site decision 

makers. See http://www.cluin.org/greenremediation/. 

ACRES

Our Brownfields program recently 

implemented the Assessment, 

Cleanup, and Redevelopment 

Exchange System (ACRES), 

a Web-based environmental 

Chapter 1:

Improve the Consistency, Management, and

Effectiveness of Site Cleanup

A solar panel to be used to power 

irrigation is installed at a cleanup site 

in Crozet, Virginia

As a legacy of 

industrialization and past 

practices, hundreds of 

thousands of properties 

and millions of acres across 

the country have been 

damaged by environmental 

contamination. Fortunately, 

a movement has grown 

across the country to restore 

and reclaim these properties 

for community, economic, 

and ecologic uses. In many 

places, government, private, 

and non-profit organizations 

are working together 

to assess, restore, and 

return these unproductive 

properties to sustainable 

and beneficial uses that are 

protective of health and the 

environment. Neighborhood 

parks, residential and 

commercial developments, 

manufacturing facilities, 

and restored natural 

environments exist around 

the country because of 

revitalization partnerships. 

Cleaning up and reinvesting

in these properties also take 

development pressures off 

undeveloped, open land, 

so the momentum around 

cleanup and sustainable land 

reuse will continue to grow.

To help promote these 

activities, OSWER’s Action 

Plan emphasized specific 

areas of cleanup programs 

that would improve the 

effectiveness of cleanups 

and promote sustainable 

land reuse.
SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

—5—

accomplishments reporting tool 

for brownfields grantees, to 

help improve the management 

of brownfields grant programs.

The system was first used on a 

pilot basis in the fall of 2006, 

and all grantees are now eligible 

to use the system. The database 

is improving the timeliness of 

reported accomplishments, 

and reducing the previous data 

backlog. The use of ACRES is 

also helping to improve data and 

information quality by providing 

a more comprehensive data 

collection and reporting tool.

FFRRO Odometer

Another tool for improving the 

management of an OSWER 

cleanup program is the FFRRO 

Odometer. Tracking information 

related to federal facility 

Superfund sites has traditionally 

been a complex, time-consuming 

job. The planning and data entry 

processes were difficult, and 

reports pulled from the CERCLIS 

database were cumbersome to 

use. Managers were not able 

to easily track cleanup progress 

at federal facility sites.

Just over two years ago, OSWER 

began an effort to build a better 

tracking system, and today the 

Federal Facilities eFacts Odometer 

is being used at both the site, 

regional, and national levels as 

an effective site planning and 

tracking tool. Officially released 

in the spring of 2007, this tool 

allows cleanup site and program 

managers to visualize site-specific 

plans and targets in detail.

Emphasize the Elimination of Human Exposure

to Toxic Chemicals

Students from Isles, Inc. Brownfields Job Training Program, suited up for 

training

Environmental Indicators

In order to measure progress 

protecting human health through 

site cleanup programs under both 

Superfund and the Resource 

Conservation and Recovery 

Act (RCRA), OSWER uses two 

environmental indicators: human 

exposures and groundwater 

migration. Before final site cleanup 

is completed, both programs 

work to ensure that 1) people 

are not exposed to unacceptable 

levels of contamination at cleanup 

sites, and 2) the migration of 

contaminated groundwater has 

been stabilized, if contaminated 

groundwater is present at the site.

In the Superfund program, there 

are currently 1,587 sites on the 

National Priorities List (NPL) for 

cleanup. By October 1, 2008, 

human exposures were under 

control at over 83 percent of the 

NPL sites where we are tracking 

human exposures. Contaminated 

groundwater migration had been 

stabilized at about 71 percent of 

the sites where the groundwater 

was known to be contaminated.

Superfund has undertaken an 

extensive effort to improve the 

quality of the data reported under 

these measures. In addition, to 

ensure the public is aware of any 

potential exposures, additional 

narrative content was recently 

added to the profile of each 

Superfund site to help the public 

learn more about contaminants 

and exposure pathways at each 

site. These site profiles can be 

accessed from the Superfund 

Site Information page: http://

cfpub.epa.gov/supercpad/

cursites/srchsites.cfm.

The RCRA Corrective Action 

program has identified 1,968 

facilities that are considered 

priorities for cleanup. By October 

1, 2008, human exposures 

to hazardous pollutants were 

controlled at 96 percent of 

those high-priority sites, and 

the migration of contaminated 

groundwater had been controlled 

at about 83 percent of the highpriority sites. See http://www.

epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/

correctiveaction/baseline.htm.
—6—

SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

to communities where oncecontaminated property is now 

RAU, and to any parties interested 

in developing such property.

More than 725,000 acres 

are now ready for anticipated 

use in the United States.

Private Cleanup of Federal 

Facilities

One of the most encouraging 

innovations in the federal facility 

cleanup program is the recent 

involvement of private parties 

in the cleanup of contaminated 

sites. In 2007, EPA along with 

the State of California, the U.S.

Air Force, Sacramento County, 

and McClellan Business Park, 

negotiated an arrangement for the 

Air Force to pay the McClellan 

Business Park $11.2 million to 

clean up a 62-acre parcel on 

the McClellan Air Force Base 

Superfund Site. The ensuing 

development is expected to result 

in as many as 1,200 jobs and 

$600,000 per year in increased 

tax revenues for the region.

A similar private cleanup is 

underway at Fort Ord in California.

Green Development/

Sustainability 

Besides helping communities 

clean up contaminated properties, 

OSWER has begun to take actions 

that lead to sustainable reuse of 

these sites. These actions will lead 

to lower energy demand, reduced 

greenhouse gas emissions, less 

water use, and other health 

and environmental benefits that 

will contribute to long-term 

economic and environmental 

sustainability at cleaned up 

sites. For example, recentlyfunded Brownfields Sustainability 

Pilots will bring long-term air 

and water quality benefits by 

promoting green buildings, energy 

and water efficiency, and other 

environmentally protective factors 

in redevelopment projects. See 

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

sustain_plts/index.htm.

Sustainability also is a factor 

we consider when selecting 

from among brownfields 

grant applicants. Additionally, 

brownfield training, research, and 

technical assistance grants are 

supporting new and innovative 

ideas in sustainable development.

Three new OSWER innovation 

and land revitalization priorities 

have been established: green 

remediation, green buildings, 

and long-term stewardship.

Grant funding has been provided 

for eight regional projects that 

support these priorities, including 

the development of guidelines 

for mass transit-specific green 

buildings (Region 9), guidance for 

rewriting local building permits, 

building codes, and ordinances 

related to green buildings (Region 

4), and a pilot project to test 

environmental stewardship 

techniques and energy-saving 

innovations at gas stations. 

Reuse for Renewable 

Energy

One newly-emerging reuse for 

cleaned-up properties is at sites 

for renewable energy-based 

electricity generating plants, 

like wind farms. Substantial 

amounts of electricity may 

soon be generated at oncecontaminated Superfund and 

RCRA sites and sent to the grid 

for use in American homes and 

businesses. Because the energy is 

renewable, there will be no carbon 

footprint. To facilitate these 

uses, OSWER, in partnership with 

the National Renewable Energy 

Laboratory (NREL), recently 

launched a Web site with maps 

and incentive sheets to provide 

information about opportunities 

for renewable energy generation 

on contaminated lands and mining 

sites in all 50 states. The Web site 

Encourage the Reuse and Revitalization

of Cleaned-up Sites

Ready for Anticipated Use

An important outcome of OSWER 

cleanup programs is to make 

properties available for return 

to productive use. To measure 

progress toward that outcome, 

OSWER recently developed a 

new performance measure called 

“Ready for Anticipated Use 

(RAU).” This new measure counts 

the total number of sites and 

acres that all OSWER’s cleanup 

programs—Superfund, Federal 

Facilities, RCRA, Brownfields, and 

Underground Storage Tanks—

make ready for continued use 

or reuse. To be considered 

“ready for anticipated use,” 

remedy construction must be 

complete, all cleanup goals for 

media that may affect current 

and reasonably anticipated future 

land uses must be achieved, 

and all needed institutional or 

other land use controls must 

be in place, for either the entire 

site, or the acres of land, for 

which the RAU determination 

is made. See http://www.epa.

gov/oswer/landrevitalization/

docs/cprmguidance-10-

20-06covermemo.pdf.

This new measure will not 

only be a useful management 

tool, but it will also be valuable 

Cleanup at Grand Street Mercury 

Superfund site
—7—

SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

covers potential for five types of 

renewable energy: 1) community 

wind energy; 2) utility-scale wind 

energy; 3) concentrating solar 

power (CSP); 4) photovoltaic solar 

energy (PV)); and 5) biomass 

energy. See http://www.epa.

gov/renewableenergyland/.

The Petroleum Brownfields 

Revitalization Action Plan

About 200,000 brownfield sites 

are estimated to be contaminated 

with petroleum products. Many 

of these sites are old, abandoned 

gas stations. In addition to the 

grant funds that EPA provides to 

communities to assess and clean 

up petroleum brownfield sites, 

OSWER has begun a much more 

aggressive effort to support the 

reuse and revitalization of those 

sites in order to help communities 

strengthen their local economies.

To that end, in September 

2008 OSWER released to the 

public a Petroleum Brownfields 

Revitalization Action Plan that 

presents a comprehensive strategy 

for putting petroleum brownfields 

back into productive use. See 

http://www.epa.gov/swerust1/

rags/petrobfactionplan.pdf.

Ensure Long-Term Stewardship

Institutional Controls 

Tracking System

Institutional controls (ICs) like 

deed restrictions, zoning, and 

property easements are often 

a part of Superfund cleanups 

when some waste is left in place 

and there is a need to protect 

the public from exposure to 

remaining contaminants. When 

the more extensive revitalization 

and reuse of cleaned-up sites 

became a priority, institutional 

controls became even more 

important for ensuring public 

health and safety. Superfund 

has developed an Institutional 

Controls Tracking System to list 

controls already in place, or being 

put in place, at every Superfund 

site. The parties responsible 

for monitoring the controls are 

identified, and the actual control 

instruments are copied into 

the system. This information is 

essential for determining when 

site redevelopment could begin, 

and what kind of redevelopment 

is most appropriate. It is available 

on the site profiles contained on 

the Superfund Web site, provided 

the information is quality assured 

and reliably documented. All 

published ICs at Superfund sites 

also may be found at: http://

www.epa.gov/ictssw07/public/

export/regionalReport/ALL_

REGIONS_IC_REPORTS.HTM.

Cleanups in My 

Community

Another way to improve longterm stewardship at cleanup 

sites is to make sure people 

are aware of them. In the past, 

people interested in learning 

about any cleanups in their 

communities would have to know 

which OSWER programs were 

responsible for cleanups, access 

those programs’ Web sites oneby-one, and then aggregate the 

information from each Web site on 

their own. With the development 

of the Cleanups in My Community 

Web site, that information is now 

available in a much more userfriendly format. People can now 

simply search for their community 

on the Web site, and they will be 

presented with information about 

all cleanups being conducted by 

the different OSWER programs.

They also will be able to map or 

list all the local cleanup sites. This 

Web site has been available to 

the public for about a year, and 

new information is continually 

being added to the site. See 

http://iaspub.epa.gov/Cleanups/.

A wind turbine is installed at a 

cleanup site in EPA Region 7

EPA’s Cleanups in My Community 

Web site
—8—

INCREASE AMERICA’S HOMELAND 

SECURITY

Chapter 2:

While EPA has been 

responding to releases of 

hazardous substances to the 

environment from any source 

for over 30 years, EPA’s 

significant involvement in 

homeland security began 

with the terrorist attacks on 

the World Trade Center and

the Pentagon on September 

11, 2001, and since then 

has expanded dramatically. 

OSWER’s emergency 

response effort is led by 

the Office of Emergency 

Management. OSWER and its 

regional counterparts have 

over 30 years experience 

in hazardous materials 

emergency response, and 

this experience is the basis 

for much of EPA’s role in the 

government-wide National 

Response Framework. Given 

the global threat of terrorism 

in the world today, OSWER’s 

activities related to homeland 

security are a top priority, 

and several steps have been 

taken over the past few 

years to strengthen response 

capabilities.

Improve Preparedness

Incident Command System

Under the government-wide 

National Incident Management 

System (NIMS), all agencies are 

required to implement the Incident 

Command System (ICS), which 

includes common terminology, 

standardized training, predesignated leadership positions, 

and well-understood assigned 

responsibilities. EPA was one of 

the first agencies to adopt the 

ICS. On-Scene Coordinators and 

numerous other EPA personnel at 

headquarters and in the regions 

have been trained in appropriate 

levels in the ICS.

Emergency Operations 

Center

In 2004, EPA constructed a state 

of the art Emergency Operations 

Center (EOC) to serve as a hub 

for Agency communications 

during emergencies and support 

our field operations. The EOC 

proved its value during the 

response to Hurricane Katrina, 

and it is used on a daily basis by 

EPA watch officers who monitor 

emergency notifications.

The EOC was upgraded in 

2007 with the inclusion of 

more work stations, improved 

communications systems, and 

event rooms where staff can 

meet and coordinate activities 

during emergencies. EPA’s EOC is 

now as technically sophisticated 

as EOCs in other agencies, and 

it includes secure areas for 

holding classified information.

EPA employees during an emergency 

preparedness excercise
SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

—9—

Enhance EPA’s Response Capabilities

Environmental Response 

Team 

Over the past few years EPA 

has dramatically expanded the 

capabilities of the Agency’s 

Environmental Response 

Team (ERT), and has also 

extended its reach by opening 

an additional ERT office in Las 

Vegas, Nevada. ERT’s homeland 

security capabilities now include 

air surveillance, geophysical 

surveying, underwater diving, 

risk assessment, and analytical 

support related to potential 

threats; for example, releases 

of biological and/or chemical 

agents. ERT also provides 

training to first responders, 

such as local fire fighters and 

other emergency personnel, 

on all aspects of emergency 

response and readiness. See 

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/

accomp/news/ert.htm.

Response Support Corps

After the events of 9/11, EPA 

developed a voluntary Response 

Support Corps (RSC) to bring 

more personnel into action during 

emergencies and thus maximize 

the Agency’s response capabilities 

using currently available 

resources. Since then, over 2,000 

EPA employees from headquarters 

and the regions have volunteered 

to support emergency response 

activities as members of the RSC.

RSC personnel are trained in the 

Incident Command System, and 

they participate in exercises to 

enhance their preparedness.

Environmental Response 

Laboratory Network

In 2008, EPA launched the 

Environmental Response 

Laboratory Network (ERLN) 

which, when fully operational, 

will ensure that EPA has sufficient 

analytical capability and capacity 

to support Agency responses 

to a large-scale event, including 

a biological, chemical, or 

radiological attack. Phase I of the 

ERLN included EPA’s laboratories 

and some state environmental 

laboratories. Specifically, EPA 

is building chemical warfare 

environmental laboratory capacity 

at five EPA regional labs, two 

state labs, and three mobile 

facilities to be deployed into 

the field during a response. The 

Agency is also in the process of 

identifying federal, state, and 

commercial laboratories that use 

consistent procedures and that 

have strong quality assurance 

programs, so the analytical 

data needed from multiple 

laboratories during responses will 

be consistent and comparable.

National Decontamination 

Team

The National Decontamination 

Team (NDT) was established 

in 2005, and has a staff of 

approximately 15 personnel with 

expertise in multiple scientific 

and technical disciplines. The 

NDT provides decontamination 

expertise related to chemical, 

biological, and radiological 

contaminants that can be 

used as weapons of mass 

destruction. The NDT is prepared 

to support the decontamination 

of buildings, building contents, 

environmental media like soil, 

and public infrastructure like 

waste treatment and drinking 

water systems, chemical plants, 

power plants, food processing 

facilities, and mass transit 

systems. Specialized expertise 

in biochemistry, microbiology 

and medicine, health physics, 

toxicology, HVAC engineering, 

and industrial hygiene are available 

through the NDT to assist 

local, state, tribal, and federal 

agencies during emergencies.

Decontamination Methods 

Portfolio

In 2007, the National 

Decontamination Team developed 

and published an online portfolio 

of decontamination methods for 

select chemical, biological, and 

radiological agents like anthrax, 

sarin, ricin, sulfur mustard, 

cesium-137, and strontium-90.

The portfolio not only describes 

different decontamination 

techniques, but also the chemical 

and physical parameters of 

contaminants, field detection 

tools, air dispersion models, 

toxicology/risk parameters, and 

health and safety characteristics.

The portfolio is updated 

continually for new contaminants 

and with new information 

about old contaminants. It is 

an excellent resource for all 

responders at all levels and 

agencies of government.

Strengthen Laboratory

and Decontamination

Capabilities

EPA assessing a storage tank 

flooded by Hurricane Katrina
—10—

Tailoring Regulations for 

Academic Laboratories

In a rule published on December 

1, 2008, EPA streamlined the 

hazardous waste management 

rules for academic and research 

laboratories in order to make 

them more compatible with 

typical lab operations, and to 

improve the overall management 

of chemicals in laboratories.

Chemical use and management 

in academic laboratories is 

much different from that in 

large manufacturing processes.

Academic laboratories employ 

students and tend to generate 

small amounts of many different 

wastes, while industrial processes 

tend to generate large amounts 

of a few wastes. This revised 

rule recognizes these differences, 

and tailors the chemical waste 

management practices to meet 

the unique needs of academic 

laboratories, thus improving 

compliance and environmental 

performance. See 73 Fed.

Reg. 72912 (Dec. 1, 2008).

FOCUS REGULATORY EFFORTS ON 

RISK REDUCTION AND STATUTORY 

COMPLIANCE

Chapter 3:

OSWER’s responsibility to 

develop and to improve the 

clarity and implementability 

of environmental regulations 

will continue to be a top 

priority within this office. 

OSWER also has made 

a special effort to revise 

regulations so they no 

longer contain inadvertent 

disincentives to the recycling 

or reuse of industrial waste 

materials. 

In addition, in 2005 the 

Congress enacted the

Underground Storage Tank 

Compliance Act as part

of the Energy Policy Act. 

Since then, OSWER has 

put in place regulations 

and guidance needed to 

implement it.

Clarify and Improve Regulations

Streamlining Oil Spill 

Regulations

Under Section 311 of the 

Clean Water Act, EPA has 

been delegated the authority to 

regulate storage tanks holding 

oil and mixtures containing oil.

EPA’s rules impose a number 

of requirements related to 

Spill Prevention, Control, 

and Countermeasure (SPCC) 

Plans, and those requirements 

impose a substantial burden on 

the regulated community. In 

December 2006 and December 

2008, EPA amended the 

SPCC regulations to clarify 

the requirements, tailor them 

more appropriately, and 

provide alternatives to improve 

compliance. See 71 Fed. Reg.

77266 (Dec. 26, 2006); 73 Fed.

Reg. 74236 (Dec. 5, 2008).

Underground storage tank 

maintenance at a large gas station

Maintenance is performed on an 

underground storage tank
SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

—11—

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 

contained a number of provisions 

that strengthened federal, state, 

and tribal programs for preventing 

leaks from underground storage 

tanks (USTs). Among those 

provisions were requirements for:

•	Mandatory inspections of all

USTs every three years

•	 Development and

implementation of owner/

operator training

•	 Prohibition of product delivery

at non-complying facilities

•	 Secondary containment of

tanks or financial responsibility 

for tank manufacturers and 

installers

•	 State compliance reports on

government-owned USTs

•	 Posting and maintaining public

records for USTs

Completion of Guidelines

By the end of 2007, OSWER’s 

UST program had written and 

issued a series of grant guidelines 

to help states carry out these new 

requirements. Since then, OSWER 

has met with many stakeholders 

to identify and clarify issues 

and to answer any questions 

related to implementation of 

the grant guidelines. This nation 

is making substantial progress 

in meeting the mandates of 

the Energy Policy Act.

Implement the Underground Storage Tank Compliance Act of 2005

Progress on Inspections

Some of the recent progress under 

the Energy Policy Act is especially 

noteworthy—for example, the 

inspection of USTs. The new 

law required that all USTs not 

inspected since 1998 had to be 

inspected by August 8, 2007; it 

further required that all USTs in 

the country—located at almost 

a quarter of a million facilities—

have to be inspected once every 

three years. All states, tribes, and 

EPA have successfully completed 

the first requirement, and the 

majority of states are on track 

to meet the required inspections 

of the first three-year cycle, 

which ends in August 2010.

Support for Tribal 

Inspections

OSWER made a special effort to 

increase its support for tribes as 

they worked to comply with the 

Energy Policy Act. For example, in 

order to increase the geographic 

coverage and frequency of tank 

inspections in Indian country, 

OSWER has begun to authorize 

tribal inspectors to represent EPA.

In 2007, EPA issued the first 

federal credentials to inspectors of 

the Eastern Band of the Cherokee 

Nation and the Shoshone-Bannock 

Tribes. EPA continues to work 

with other tribes to authorize 

additional tribal inspectors in the 

future. (Other OSWER actions 

to strengthen partnerships 

with tribes are described in 

Chapter 6 of this report.) 

Tags used to monitor compliance 

with underground storage tank 

regulations
—12—

PROMOTE STEWARDSHIP AND 

RESOURCE CONSERVATION 

CONSISTENT WITH THE AGENCY’S 

RESOURCE CONSERVATION 

CHALLENGE

Chapter 4:

Promoting the recycling and 

reuse of natural resources 

has always been an 

important part of OSWER’s 

responsibilities. In 1976, 

the Resource Conservation

and Recovery Act (RCRA)

explicitly included provisions 

for resource conservation 

and recovery. But for the 

law’s first quarter century, 

OSWER spent most of its 

time and energy writing 

and implementing the 

regulations related to solid 

waste and hazardous waste 

management systems.

In 2002, OSWER launched 

the Resource Conservation

Challenge (RCC) to

heighten the visibility and 

importance of OSWER’s 

efforts to manage the 

recycling and reuse of 

waste materials, thus 

avoiding the environmental 

and public health risks of 

waste disposal altogether. 

OSWER has promoted the 

goals of the RCC in two

separate but complementary 

ways: 1) by writing or 

revising regulations to 

encourage recycling or 

reduce inadvertent barriers 

to recycling; and 2) by 

forming partnerships with 

communities, businesses, 

and other government 

agencies that work together 

to promote the recycling and 

reuse of specific kinds of 

materials that are currently 

being wasted. 

Furthermore, OSWER is a 

critical partner in addressing 

climate change and reducing 

U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG)

emissions. Opportunities 

exist to reduce or avoid GHG

emissions by reducing the 

amount of materials used to 

make products or perform 

services and re-engineering 

production processes to 

minimize raw material 

inputs, extend product life 

spans, and maximize the 

ease of subsequent product 

disassembly for further 

productive use. OSWER and 

state co-regulators implement 

environmental programs 

authorized by a number of 

statutes with a range of human 

health and environmental 

objectives. Leveraging 

these programs to achieve 

measurable climate change 

benefits in no way replaces or 

supersedes OSWER program 

goals. Rather, OSWER hopes 

to promote the recognition 

that these programs yield 

myriad environmental benefits, 

including significant climate 

change benefits.

Metals from a demolition site are salvaged for recycling
SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

—13—

Revise RCRA Regulations that Encourage Waste

Recycling

The Definition of Solid 

Waste

In a rulemaking effort of unusual 

legal complexity, EPA revised 

the RCRA Definition of Solid 

Waste in order to encourage more 

recycling of industrial hazardous 

materials. Hazardous waste 

regulations sometimes can act 

as a disincentive to recycling 

and resource conservation and 

may impose unnecessary costs 

on legitimate and safe recycling.

Yet many of those wastes can 

be safely reclaimed and recycled, 

with substantial economic 

and environmental benefits.

The final rule revising the RCRA 

Definition of Solid Waste was 

published on October 30, 2008.

See 73 Fed. Reg. 64668 (Oct.

30, 2008). In revising this rule, 

EPA added three new regulatory 

exclusions for certain industrial 

hazardous materials that, when 

recycled consistent with special 

management standards, are 

no longer defined as a solid 

waste if they are reclaimed, 

thus making it easier and less 

expensive to recycle them. These 

exclusions make it easier and less 

expensive to recycle hazardous 

secondary materials. 

This revision may affect as many 

as 5,600 industrial facilities, 

and may result in regulatory 

compliance cost savings to the 

regulated community of $95 

million per year by tailoring 

regulations applicable to about 1.5 

million tons of secondary material 

that are or will be recycled. These 

cost savings include a potential 

for 23,000 tons per year of newly 

induced recycling, potentially 

involving 2,440 facilities and a 

savings of $17 million per year.

Comparable Fuels

EPA expanded the Comparable 

Fuels Exclusion under RCRA 

to increase energy recovery 

from secondary materials while 

maintaining environmental 

safeguards. Signed on December 

12, 2008, this rule will help cut 

facility operating costs and reduce 

the need for burning fuel oil, 

often imported. The conditions 

imposed by the rule ensure that 

these materials, when burned 

for energy recovery, generate 

emissions comparable to the 

emissions generated by burning 

fuel oil. In addition, expanding 

the comparable fuels exclusion 

under RCRA is expected to 

result in total net social benefits 

of approximately $13 million 

per year, which is composed 

mostly of avoided management 

and fuel costs. It is estimated 

that an additional 34,000 tons 

per year of secondary material 

would be burned for energy 

recovery in industrial boilers.

Cathode Ray Tubes

To promote the recycling of 

cathode ray tubes (CRTs) found 

in electronics, EPA revised RCRA 

regulations to exempt recycled 

CRTs from the definition of 

solid waste, provided certain 

conditions that ensure safe 

recycling are followed. This 

change removed significant 

barriers to CRT recycling, and 

means that recycled CRTs are 

not considered to be hazardous 

waste when safe management 

practices are followed and, 

therefore, are not subject to 

hazardous waste regulations.

EPA’s Region 8 building in Denver, Colorado, has earned the Leadership in 

Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)® Gold rating and contains recycled 

industrial materials throughout the structure
—14—

SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

34 million pounds of electronics, 

while in 2007 Plug-In to eCycling 

partners recycled or reused over 

47 million pounds of electronics.

The energy conserved through 

the efforts of our Plug-In to 

eCycling partners in 2007 was 

equivalent to the annual GHG 

emissions of nearly 24,000 cars.

Since the program’s inception, 

over 142 million pounds of 

electronics have been recycled 

by the partners’ collaborative 

and voluntary efforts. See 

http://www.epa.gov/osw/

partnerships/plugin/index.htm.

Plug-In partners have also been 

instrumental in supporting 

other EPA electronic recycling 

initiatives. In January 2008, 

OSWER launched a cell phone 

recycling campaign at the 

Consumer Electronics Show in 

Las Vegas. Throughout 2008, 

print and radio public service 

announcements promoting cell 

phone recycling have been 

distributed to the public. PlugIn partners like AT&T, Best 

Buy, LG Electronics, Motorola, 

Nokia, Office Depot, Samsung, 

Sony Ericsson, Sprint, Staples, 

and T-Mobile have helped to 

increase consumer awareness of 

the ease and opportunities for 

cell phone recycling. See http://

www.epa.gov/osw/partnerships/

plugin/cellphone/index.htm.

Promote Material Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling

C2P2

The Coal Combustion Products 

Partnership (C2P2), made up of 

more than 170 government, 

university, and private sector 

partners, works to find uses for 

coal ash and other byproducts of 

coal combustion. More than 120 

million tons of these byproducts 

are generated in the United 

States each year, and since the 

beginning of the C2P2 program the 

recycling rate for these materials 

has increased from 32 to 40 

percent. More than 51 million 

tons were reused in 2007. C2P2

has set a goal of beneficially 

reusing 50 percent by 2011.

Recycling coal combustion 

byproducts not only saves 

money and natural resources, 

it also conserves energy and 

significantly reduces greenhouse 

gas emissions. In 2007, recycling 

13.7 million tons of fly ash and 

using it in place of Portland 

cement, saved nearly 73 trillion 

BTUs of energy, equivalent to the 

annual energy consumption of 

more than 676,000 households.

Greenhouse gas emissions were 

reduced by 12.4 million metric 

tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, 

about the same amount emitted 

annually by 2.3 million cars.

See http://www.epa.gov/osw/

partnerships/c2p2/index.htm.

WasteWise

WasteWise is one of OSWER’s 

oldest partnership programs, 

and over the years it has proven 

to be remarkably successful.

By the end of 2008, over 

2,200 businesses, schools, 

hospitals, local communities, 

and government agencies had 

joined WasteWise and begun 

resource conservation practices 

like recycling and composting.

In 2007, partners reduced or 

recycled 12.4 million tons of 

waste, saving over 242 trillion 

BTUs of energy and reducing 

greenhouse gas emissions by 

22 million metric tons of carbon 

dioxide equivalent (about the 

same as the annual greenhouse 

gas emissions from four million 

passenger vehicles). See http://

www.epa.gov/osw/partnerships/

wastewise/index.htm.

Plug-In to eCycling

The Plug-In to eCycling 

program works with electronics 

manufacturers, retailers, 

recyclers, and communities to 

promote shared responsibility 

for safe recycling of electronics, 

including televisions, computers, 

and cell phones. Initiated in 

2003, the program has grown 

dramatically. In 2006, Plug-In 

partners voluntarily recycled over 

Artist’s rendering of the new green 

building development by WasteWise 

partner Destiny USA

An electronics recycling (eCycling) drive
—15—

SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

Responsible Recycler (R2) 

Practices

As the first step in the adoption 

of a commonly-accepted set of 

responsible recycling practices for 

used electronics, OSWER worked 

with state governments, industry 

organizations, and public interest 

groups to develop the Responsible 

Recycler (R2) Practices. These 

recently released guidelines help 

electronics recyclers ensure that 

their materials are safely and 

legally handled both domestically 

and in foreign countries.

Specifically, the R2 Practices 

are intended to be used by 

accredited certification programs 

to assess electronics recyclers’ 

environmental, worker health and 

safety, and security practices.

These voluntary standards 

include general principles 

and specific practices for 

recyclers. See http://www.epa.

gov/osw/conserve/materials/

ecycling/r2practices.htm.

Recycle on the Go

Most Americans are aware of 

recycling opportunities at home 

and in the workplace, but until a 

few years ago recycling in public 

locations like parks, convention 

centers, sports stadiums, and 

shopping centers was rarely 

practiced. The Recycle on the 

Go Program, begun in 2006, 

aims to change that. OSWER 

began the program by working 

with the National Park Service 

to recycle beverage containers 

during the Cherry Blossom Festival 

in Washington, DC, and many 

OSWER employees volunteered 

to collect the containers. Since 

then, the program has expanded 

to the point where high-visibility 

recycling is available at the 

National Football League’s Pro 

Bowl, at a number of major 

league baseball stadiums, at 

college football stadiums like Penn 

State’s Beaver Stadium, at city 

parks like Seattle’s Marymoor 

Park, and at convention centers 

like Pittsburgh’s David Lawrence 

Convention Center and San 

Francisco’s Mosconi Convention 

Center. On this past Earth Day, 

the EPA Administrator appeared 

at Fenway Park in Boston to 

present the Boston Red Sox with 

an Environmental Merit Award for 

—among other things—providing 

their fans with the opportunity 

to recycle beverage containers.

See http://www.epa.gov/osw/

conserve/rrr/rogo/index.htm.

Mercury Switch Recovery 

Program

In order to keep the mercury 

used in automobile light 

switches from being released 

to the environment when cars 

are scrapped, EPA joined with 

states, auto dismantlers, and 

steel manufacturers to launch the 

National Vehicle Mercury Switch 

Recovery Program (NVMSRP). In 

2007, the NVMSRP reached one 

of its strategic goals: 49 states 

and the District of Columbia 

initiated mercury switch recovery 

programs, while the 50th state 

has its own state program. By 

the end of 2008, more than 

7,000 car dismantlers and 

shredders were participating 

in the program, and more than 

1.8 million switches containing 

over two tons of mercury have 

been recovered. See http://

www.epa.gov/hg/switch.htm. 

National Partnership for 

Environmental Priorities

The National Partnership for 

Environmental Priorities (NPEP) 

was established to reduce or 

eliminate specific chemicals 

in processes, products, and 

wastes. A set of 31 of the most 

persistent, bioaccumulative, and 

toxic chemicals were targeted for 

reduced use, as were other toxic 

chemicals of national concern.

To date, 212 partners, including 

private companies, other federal 

agencies, schools, communities, 

and state and local governments, 

have joined NPEP. In the past 

four years (2004–2008), the 

partners have eliminated more 

than 9.2 million pounds of priority 

chemicals and more than 8.3 

million pounds of other chemicals 

of national concern. NPEP partners 

have committed to eliminating 

an additional 9.7 million pounds 

by 2011. See http://www.epa.

gov/osw/partnerships/npep/.

National Lead-Free Wheel 

Weight Initiative

In August 2008, EPA announced 

the National Lead-Free Wheel 

Weight Initiative. A significant 

percentage of the 50 million 

pounds of lead wheel weights 

used in cars and light trucks each 

year escape into the environment, 

either when the weights fall off 

tires and are washed into rivers 

and lakes, or when hobbyists 

melt down used wheel weights 

at home. But with effective, 

non-toxic alternatives available, 

a broad national partnership 

including manufacturers of tires, 

tire weights, and automobiles, 

distributors, retailers, tire service 

shops, and federal and state 

government agencies have 

committed to phasing out the 

use of lead wheel weights in 

cars and light trucks by the 

end of 2011. See http://www.

epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/

wastemin/nlfwwi.htm.

A mercury switch is removed from 

a car
—16—

A Brownfields site in Johnstown, 

Pennsylvania post-redevelopment

ENCOURAGE VOLUNTARY EFFORTS 

TO CLEAN UP SITES

Chapter 5:

Spurred by concerns over 

the cost of oil, global 

warming, water quality, 

and other linked economic 

and environmental issues, 

American families, 

communities, and businesses 

are increasingly looking 

for ways to improve their 

environmental behavior. 

This “greening” of American 

society, which is being 

reported by the national 

media on an almost daily 

basis, is leading to an 

unprecedented level of 

voluntary action that is 

intended to clean up old 

environmental problems or 

prevent new ones.

OSWER is seeing the 

benefits of the nation’s 

increasing involvement in 

voluntary environmental 

action across all its cleanup 

programs. So for the past 

few years OSWER has 

made a concerted effort 

to encourage and support 

voluntary efforts to clean up 

contaminated sites.

Support State Programs

Voluntary Cleanup 

Program MOAs

Since the mid-1990s, EPA and 

some states have entered into 

non-binding Memoranda of 

Agreement (MOAs) that promote 

coordination and define general 

federal and state roles and 

responsibilities regarding the 

voluntary cleanup of contaminated 

sites. Over time these MOAs 

have proven to be valuable in 

accelerating voluntary cleanups 

and land revitalization led by 

state governments, because 

they clarify EPA’s enforcement 

intentions at brownfield sites, 

and provide the public with 

confidence that EPA and the 

state agency are coordinating 

their cleanup activities.

Since 2004, seven states have 

either revised existing MOAs or 

signed new ones, bringing the 

total number of states with MOAs 

to 23. Some of the states have 

consolidated all their cleanup 

activities across all programs 

into a single MOA. In order to 

encourage states to sign MOAs 

and make it easier for them to do 

so, last July OSWER put in place 

an improved, streamlined process 

for developing, negotiating, 

and approving MOAs.

Support for State and 

Tribal Response Programs

Since 2003, the Brownfields 

program has provided almost 

$300 million to state and tribal 

cleanup programs in all 50 

states, 65 tribal nations, and 

four U.S. territories. The states 

and tribes have been especially 

active during the past two years.

Based on data from 2006 and 

2007, OSWER estimates that 

almost 19,000 sites totaling over 

250,000 acres have been cleaned 

up, with required institutional 

controls in place, through state 

and tribal response programs.

Besides the cleanup funding 

provided to states and tribes, 

OSWER has supported them 

with information and technical 

tools. For example, OSWER 

supported the Association 

of State and Territorial Solid 

Waste Management Officials 

(ASTSWMO) through a 

cooperative agreement that 

facilitated the exchange of 

information about cleanup 

techniques among states, 

supported the development 

of tools like the “Toolbox for 

Cleanup and Redevelopment 

of Contaminated Sites in Small 

Cities and Rural Communities” 

(March 2007), and provided a 

forum for an ongoing exchange 

of views and information 

among EPA and the states.

Louden Village Tribe first Chief and 

EPA employees on the Yukon River
SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

—17—

Support “Good

Samaritans”

Non-liable parties—like non-profit 

organizations—sometimes are 

willing to clean up contaminated 

sites in order to speed up 

protection of the natural resources 

at risk. In order to encourage 

those “good Samaritans,” 

EPA recently has issued policy 

documents and technical 

assistance tools that, among other 

things, clarify the status of nonliable parties and help protect 

them from liability. See http://

www.epa.gov/ow/goodsamaritan/.

So far, working closely with the 

EPA Office of Water and Office 

of Enforcement and Compliance 

Assurance, OSWER has completed 

one settlement agreement 

with a “good Samaritan,” and 

has delineated policies that 

may encourage others.

Promote Cleanup Partnerships

Mine-Scarred Lands

Beginning in 2004, OSWER 

joined in a partnership with four 

other federal agencies and the 

Appalachian Regional Commission 

to help six communities clean 

up surrounding lands, waters, 

and watersheds that had been 

contaminated by minerals 

mining or processing. These six 

demonstration projects were 

carried out in Nye County, 

Nevada; Hazleton, Pennsylvania; 

San Juan County, Colorado; 

Kanawha County, West Virginia; 

Summit County, Colorado; 

and Lee County, Virginia.

The government partners 

assisted the communities by 

collecting information, defining 

responsibilities, coordinating 

multi-stakeholder revitalization 

assessments, and identifying 

different sources of funding.

These projects provide models 

that other communities can 

use in cleaning up mine-scarred 

lands. See http://www.epa.

gov/aml/revital/msl/index.htm.

Portfields

Beginning in 2003, EPA joined 

with several other federal agency 

partners to help communities 

redevelop contaminated lands 

around port facilities. Three 

port communities served as 

pilots to help demonstrate how 

intergovernmental collaboration 

can assist communities in 

both economic development 

and environmental protection.

The three community pilots 

were carried out in Bellingham, 

Washington; Tampa, Florida; and 

New Bedford, Massachusetts.

The federal partners provided, 

among other things, technical 

assistance for dredging projects, 

expertise in ship scrapping 

and ballast water treatment, 

assistance in streamlining permits, 

hydrographic surveying, and 

funding. These pilot projects, 

which were completed in 2007, 

provide models for how other 

port communities can clean up 

their harbors and strengthen 

local economies. See http://

www.epa.gov/brownfields/

policy/portfields_2005.pdf.

The former Eureka Mill in San Juan County, Colorado

Revitalization work is performed at a 

port in Tampa, Florida
—18—

The first five priorities listed 

in the OSWER Action Plan 

emphasized activities that 

affect the world external to 

OSWER—e.g., the public, 

the environment, national 

security, and the economy. 

This last area of emphasis 

set priorities for action 

internally, action that would 

affect OSWER’s employees, 

our internal management 

systems, the data and 

information we provide, and 

our partners who help us 

fulfill our responsibilities.

OSWER’s ability to 

provide public health and 

environmental services to 

the American people has 

always been dependent on 

the talent and dedication 

of its career employees, 

and on the management 

and information systems 

they use in their daily work. 

The OSWER Action Plan 

placed a high priority on 

attracting highly-talented 

employees, retaining them, 

and improving the training, 

management tools, and 

information systems needed 

to make them even better.

Besides the skill of its own 

employees, OSWER is also 

dependent in virtually all 

of its external activities 

on partnerships with other 

federal agencies, states, 

tribes, local governments, 

and other stakeholders. The 

Action Plan emphasized the 

importance of strengthening 

those partnerships as a way 

of strengthening OSWER 

itself.

Chapter 6: STRENGTHEN OSWER

Attract, Retain, and Train a High-Quality Work Force

OSWER Training Leads

In order to create a more unified 

approach to training, OSWER has 

established a group of training 

leads comprised of managers 

and employees representing all 

OSWER programs. This group 

meets on a quarterly basis to 

share information on initiatives 

that affect OSWER training.

Two particularly high profile 

initiatives include: 1) closing the 

competency gaps identified in 

OSWER’s strategic workforce 

action plan by targeting training 

on those gaps; and 2) developing 

OSWER’s new on-line training 

and development calendar.

Training and Development 

Calendar

For the first time, all OSWER 

training and development 

programs are now housed in one 

place and easily accessible by all 

OSWER employees through an 

intranet Web site. It is now easier 

for employees not only to find out 

about the training opportunities 

available, but also to quickly 

and easily register for them.

Diversity Training

For many years OSWER has 

offered a number of diversity 

learning experiences to increase 

employee understanding of 

diversity issues and improve their 

ability to work effectively in a 

diverse organization. In 2007, 

OSWER strengthened those 

efforts by a hosting a training 

session entitled “M.E.E.T. on 

Common Ground.” This session, 

which emphasized the need to 

“Make Time to Discuss, Explore 

Differences, Encourage Respect, 

and Take Responsibility,” was also 

offered in July 2008. In addition, 

in September 2007 an OSWER 

training session on disability 

sensitivity examined stereotypes 

of common disabilities that helped 

broaden employee understanding 

of these disabilities and their 

effects on disabled co-workers.

Mentoring

Because professional mentoring is 

a useful way for an organization 

to transfer knowledge and skills 

among its employees and prepare 

a new generation of leaders, 

OSWER is working to build a 

cadre of mentors at the senior 

management level. In 2007, an 

OSWER-wide group of managers 

was formed to help strengthen 

the mentoring culture within 

OSWER by assessing mentoring 

needs and better defining what 

both mentors and mentees 

expect from mentoring.

The OSWER Honor Awards
SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

—19—

Improve Data and

Information Systems

Web 2.0

Over the past year EPA’s use 

of the Web to disseminate 

information both inside and 

outside the Agency has expanded 

considerably, and OSWER is 

contributing regularly to several 

different Agency-wide Internet 

tools. For example, OSWER has 

contributed a series of training 

podcasts to the Clu-In Web 

site, and also developed three 

podcasts about electronics 

recycling. OSWER is also 

contributing on a regular basis 

to EPA’s GreenScenes v-casts 

and Greenversations blog, and 

developing a recycling tips 

widget. In addition, OSWER 

has added Web links to press 

releases to encourage the sharing 

of information on blogs.

Geospatial Data Project

Some of the most useful 

information now being 

communicated to the public 

over the Internet is related 

to geography. Through the 

Geospatial Data Project, 

environmental information has 

been made available to the 

public in formats that can be 

incorporated easily into virtual 

mapping software such as 

Google Earth and Microsoft 

Virtual Earth. OSWER has 

contributed data related to the 

Superfund and RCRA cleanup 

sites, and data about the possible 

use of contaminated lands 

for renewable energy facility 

siting was made available to 

Google Earth in August 2008.

OSWER’s Performance 

Assessment Tool

Last year OSWER began 

development of a Performance 

Assessment Tool (PAT) that 

will contribute to a better 

understanding of program 

performance by organizing 

information before it becomes an 

official part of EPA reporting. The 

PAT will replace a time-intensive 

system of printouts and manual 

data entry into spreadsheets. By 

automating internal information 

systems, OSWER will reduce 

the time needed for preparation 

of performance reports, reduce 

the chances of errors being 

generated during manual data 

entry, and make the data more 

readily available to more people 

in real time so, if necessary, midcourse corrections can be made.

The first phase of the PAT will 

be completed this year, and the 

entire system is expected to be 

in place by the end of next year.

Segment Architecture

EPA has underway a longterm effort to analyze ongoing 

business practices in order to 

identify and facilitate changes 

in operations that improve 

program performance and 

enhance results for its customers.

As a part of this analysis of 

segment architecture, OSWER 

leads two major segments: 

Land Quality and Emergency 

Response. Recently OSWER 

has emphasized modernizing 

and reducing the costs of 

its information technologies.

OSWER is modernizing the 

system to take advantage of 

new technologies that improve 

information integration and 

system interoperability, both of 

which will improve access to 

the information and data quality.

OSWER is reducing costs by 

leveraging Agency-wide tools 

and services and reducing the 

number of systems that must 

be maintained. These steps 

will help manage resources 

and improve performance 

across all OSWER programs.

Members of OSWER’s Human Resources staff receive a Team Excellence 

Award from Assistant Administrator Susan Bodine
—20—

SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

Strengthen Partnerships

Tribal Partnerships with 

the UST Program

Because OSWER has the primary 

responsibility for implementing the 

UST program in Indian country, 

partnerships with Native American 

tribes are critically important for 

success. Over the past few years, 

several steps have been taken to 

strengthen those partnerships, 

as called for in the Action Plan.

In August 2006, OSWER 

produced a UST-related tribal 

strategy that resulted from the 

combined efforts of the UST 

program and the tribes. The 

strategy identified key issues 

related to UST cleanups in Indian 

country, and defined actions that 

would strengthen the relationship 

between EPA and the tribes, 

improve information sharing, help 

build tribal technical capacity, and 

improve UST cleanups. OSWER 

continues to work with tribes 

to implement the strategy.

In May 2007, the first national 

meeting of tribal leaders and EPA 

was held to help identify tribal 

issues, build collaboration, and 

identify possible improvements 

in the UST program in Indian 

country. A second national tribal 

meeting was held in Rapid City, 

South Dakota, in October 2008.

This kind of meeting is intended to 

be held regularly so it builds closer 

ties to tribes, while strengthening 

mutual understanding.

Partnerships to Build Tribal 

Capacity

During this past year OSWER 

completed a new framework 

that will expand the ability of 

Native American tribes to protect 

the environment on tribal lands.

This framework includes a new 

OSWER tribal Web page that 

is proving to be a useful tool 

for sharing information with all 

tribes, and the site is averaging 

about 250 hits a month.

In addition, OSWER recently 

published a tribal strategy that 

lays out a detailed roadmap 

for managing tribal programs 

in partnership with tribes. This 

strategy ties OSWER’s tribal 

commitments to EPA’s overall 

strategic goals, so performance 

is now linked closely with how 

well the OSWER/tribal partnership 

performs. The tribal strategy 

received significant input and 

comment by tribes nationally.

To complete the new tribal 

framework, OSWER has also 

strengthened its internal ability 

to manage tribal programs across 

all EPA offices. In 2007, OSWER 

produced the EPA Tribal Snapshot, 

which for the first time compiled 

a comprehensive overview of the 

scope, actions, and direction of 

all of EPA’s tribal programs. The 

snapshot will help EPA’s senior 

managers on the Indian Program 

Policy Council to make more 

informed management decisions, 

and it will stimulate further 

analysis, strategic planning, 

and action related to tribal 

programs. Furthermore, OSWER 

established an Interagency Solid 

Waste Steering Committee to 

better coordinate cross-agency 

efforts related to solid waste 

management in Indian country.

Environmental Justice 

Partnerships

Following the devastating effects 

on low-income and minority 

communities caused by Hurricanes 

Katrina and Rita, the National 

Environmental Justice Advisory 

Council (NEJAC) presented 

EPA with a report containing 

recommendations on how EPA 

should prepare for and respond 

to emergencies in such specialneeds communities in the future.

In response to NEJAC’s Gulf 

Hurricanes Recommendations 

Report, OSWER strengthened 

the environmental justice 

aspects of our emergency 

response system, and included 

those features in the Agency’s 

2009 Environmental Justice 

Action Plan. NEJAC praised 

OSWER’s efforts to incorporate 

their recommendations into the 

emergency response system, and 

the partnership will be stronger in 

future emergencies because of it.

Partnerships with the 

States

Some of OSWER’s most 

important partners in terms of site 

cleanups are the members of the 

Association of State and Territorial 

Solid Waste Management 

Officials (ASTSWMO). OSWER 

recently strengthened its 

partnership with ASTSWMO by 

reinstituting the Senior Cleanup 

Council (SCC), which is made 

up of about 20 people, in most 

instances OSWER’s deputy 

office directors and ASTSWMO’s 

subcommittee chairs. The major 

goal of the SCC is to improve 

cross-program communication, 

understanding, and coordination 

in order to promote better 

long-term stewardship of 

contaminated sites.

In addition to the SCC, OSWER 

is also working more closely 

with ASTSWO through mutual 

inclusion of each other’s 

staff in important policysetting meetings. For instance, 

ASTSWMO invites OSWER 

representatives to its annual 

Board of Directors meetings, and 

OSWER now includes state and 

tribal representatives in meetings 

with regional division directors.

The OSWER Honor Awards
—21—

SETTING PRIORITIES: ACHIEVING RESULTS 

A Report On Progress Under The OSWER Action Plan

As this report summarizes, over the past several years OSWER 

has made substantial progress in the six priority areas defined 

in the OSWER Action Plan. Everyone who works in OSWER 

contributed to this progress, and everyone should be proud of 

these accomplishments.

The future undoubtedly will bring new challenges and new 

priorities for action. OSWER already is seeing events across the 

globe that are likely to affect OSWER’s programs in ways both 

subtle and dramatic. For instance, the recent contractions in the 

global and domestic economies, together with the corresponding 

sharp declines in virtually all commodity prices, are affecting 

material recycling and reuse rates, which may cause the 

development of new incentives to support this country’s ongoing 

recycling efforts. And the recent terrorist attack in Mumbai, India, 

has shown that preparedness and response programs will have to 

evolve to meet evolving terrorist tactics and technologies. 

Yet the six priorities defined in OSWER’s Action Plan are likely 

to remain priorities for the foreseeable future. Site restoration, 

homeland security, improved regulations, resource stewardship, 

voluntary programs, and a talented, well-trained workforce: 

these are the strategic underpinnings of all OSWER’s programs. 

Continued progress in each of these areas will be critically

important to OSWER’s future success. 

A LOOK TO THE FUTURE
United States Office of Solid Waste EPA-500-R-09-001

Environmental Protection and Emergency January 2009

Agency Response (5105T) www.epa.gov