Defense Environmental Restoration

Program (DERP) 101

November 14, 2023

Agenda
• History
• DERP Overview
• DERP Eligibility
• DERP Funding and Progress
• Scope of the Program
• DERP Process
• Environmental Restoration Documentation
• Partnerships & Transparency

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History Congress passed
Federal Facilities
Environmental
Restoration
the Superfund Dialogue
Amendments and Committee report
Reauthorization provided
Act recommendations
DoD started -Extended aimed at
identifying, CERCLA to improving the
characterizing, Federal facilities process of making
and cleaning up -Established the cleanup decisions
environmental DERP including and priorities at
contamination funding accounts federal facilities
1970s 1986 1996

1980s 1987 2001

Congress passed The President DERP amended
the signed Executive to include the
Comprehensive Order 12580, Military
Environmental Superfund Munitions
Response, Implementation, Response
Compensation, which delegated Program
and Liability Act certain CERCLA (MMRP)
of 1980 authorities to the
(CERCLA) for Secretary of
the identification, Defense
investigation, and
cleanup of
hazardous
substances
resulting from
past practices

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DERP Overview
• DoD is committed to protecting human health and the environment by conducting cleanup
under federal law.1
• The DERP addresses cleanup at active installations, Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS)
properties,2 and Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) locations3 in the United States.
• DoD addresses hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants, and munitions under
the DERP.4
• Response actions pursuant to DERP must be in accordance with CERCLA.
• DoD conducts cleanup under CERCLA and its DERP authorities (e.g., as a lead agency).
• DoD may conduct environmental restoration pursuant to other applicable federal laws
addressing environmental restoration (i.e., Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA) Corrective Action).

1 DERP (10 USC sections 2700-2711) and CERCLA (42 USC sections 9600-9675).
2 FUDS are properties that were formerly owned by, leased to, or otherwise possessed by the United States and under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense prior to October 17, 1986.
3 BRAC locations were authorized for closure or realignment by Congress under one of the five BRAC rounds.
4 Munitions are addressed at closed (non-operational) ranges under the MMRP.

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DERP Eligibility
• DERP includes response actions undertaken by a DoD
Component to address releases caused by past DoD
activities within the United States that include:
• A release of a hazardous substance or pollutant or
contaminant.
• A release of petroleum, oil, or lubricants.
• A release of hazardous waste or a hazardous waste
constituent.
• Unexploded ordnance (UXO), discarded military munitions
(DMM), or munitions constituents (MC) at munitions
response sites (i.e., former ranges).

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DERP Eligibility (continued)
• DERP environmental restoration does NOT include:
• Closure of treatment, storage, and disposal units regulated by a RCRA permit or operating under interim
status.
• Routine operation, management, or maintenance at an operating DoD facility or site that is not part of
an environmental restoration activity, including routine operational range maintenance and sustainment
activities.
• Activities to terminate a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license under the Atomic Energy Act.
• Immediate, short-term response required to limit, address, or mitigate a spill or release
• Explosives or munitions emergency responses.
• Responses at contractor-owned and-operated facilities.
• Removal of aboveground storage tanks or underground storage tanks and associated piping
• Responses to address releases that are solely the result of an act of war.
• Responses at State National Guard properties except for perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and
perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) per the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
• Responses at locations outside of the United States.
• Responses at Defense Plant Corporation and similar properties (e.g., other defense-related
Reconstruction Finance Corporation entities such as the Defense Supplies and War Asset Corporations)
for which successor agencies and departments other than the DoD are responsible for environmental
restoration activities.

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DERP Eligibility (continued)
• DERP environmental restoration does NOT include:
• Responses to UXO, DMM, or MC on operational ranges, operating
storage or manufacturing facilities, or facilities that are used or were
permitted for the treatment or disposal of military munitions.
• Responses to asbestos and lead-based paint that have not been
released to the environment.
• Activities that duplicate a response that was completed under another
environmental restoration authority.
• Activities that are subject to a legal agreement or property transfer
document that assigns environmental restoration responsibility to a
party other than the DoD.
• Responses at facilities for which there are no records showing that the
property is currently or was formerly under the jurisdiction of the
Secretary of Defense at the time of actions leading to contamination.
• Activities funded by a specific appropriation.

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DERP Funding
• Funding for DERP activities comes from six accounts,
which are subject to congressional funding:
• Environmental Restoration (ER) accounts (five accounts)
• ER-Army
• ER-Navy
• ER-Air Force
• ER-FUDS
• ER-Defense-wide
• Includes non-BRAC funding for the Office of the Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Environment and Energy Resilience, the
Defense Logistics Agency, and the Defense Threat Reduction
Agency
• BRAC account
• Legacy BRAC and BRAC 2005 accounts combined in FY 2013 NDAA

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Scope of the Program
• DERP sites fall into three categories:
• Installation Restoration Program (IRP)
• Addresses the release of hazardous substances or pollutants or
contaminants, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
• Excludes immediate response to releases or spills and solid or
hazardous waste storage or disposal
• Building Demolition and Debris Removal (BD/DR)
• Building demolition and debris removal of unsafe
buildings/structures
• Most BD/DR activities are on FUDS properties
• MMRP
• Manages environmental responses to UXO, DMM, or MC
• Does not include operational ranges, operating storage or
manufacturing facilities, or permitted facilities for the treatment or
disposal of military munitions

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Quick Check-in
1. Why is 1986 an important date in the DERP Program?
(a) This is when the first environmental database was created
(b) Brian finally made it to high school
(c) SARA was passed by Congress

2. How many funding accounts pay for DERP activities?

(a) One
(b) Four
(c) Six
(d) Ten

Questions?
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DERP Process: General
• DoD must follow the CERCLA cleanup process to identify, investigate,
and respond to releases.
• Cleanups under CERCLA or RCRA Corrective Action will substantively satisfy the
requirements of both programs.

• All cleanup actions are prioritized using a long-standing nationwide risk-

based approach.
• DoD works with federal, state and local governments and the public to
select its cleanup actions.
• Removal Action can occur at any point throughout the cleanup process
for a situation requiring a more immediate response.
• Typically a removal action does not provide a final cleanup response action and
the site returns to the CERCLA remedial process.

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DERP Process Phases & Milestones

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DERP Process: Investigation
• Preliminary Assessment (PA)
• Review historic operations, documents, and maps, and conduct interviews to gain
information on a potential release and identify sites that may require a CERCLA response
action.

• Site Inspection (SI)

• Sample, collect, and analyze data to determine the need for further action at sites
identified in the PA.

• Prioritization & Sequencing

• Use data gathered in the PA/SI to prioritize sites that require further action.
• Prioritize sites for Remedial Investigation (RI) using a risk-based process focusing on
highest risk category sites first – essentially “worst first.”
• Relative Risk Site Evaluation methodology evaluates the relative risk to human health and the
environment posed by contamination at IRP sites.
• Munitions Response Site Prioritization Protocol evaluates the potential risk to human health and
the environment posed by past munitions activities at Munitions Response Sites.

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DERP Process: Investigation
(continued)
• RI/Feasibility Study (FS)
• Collect detailed information through field investigations to characterize site conditions and determine the nature and
extent of the contamination, and evaluate risks to human health and the environment posed by the site conditions by
conducting a baseline ecological and human health risk assessment.
• If there is an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment, DoD will develop, screen, and evaluate remedial
alternatives; assess their performance; and select a permanent solution that is protective of human health and the
environment.
• Proposed Plan
• Summarize the RI/FS, provide a brief description of each remedial alternative, and highlight the key factors that led to
identifying the preferred alternative.
• Make the Proposed Plan available for public comment, provide an opportunity for a stakeholder meeting, and include the
proposed plan in the information repository and the administrative record.
• Record of Decision (ROD)/Decision Document (DD)
• Identifies the final selected cleanup remedy, including cleanup levels, and considers public comments and community
concerns. Regulators review the ROD/DD. For sites on the national priority list, regulatory concurrence on the ROD is
required.⁵
• Once signed, publish a notice of availability in a major local newspaper of general circulation and make it available for
public inspection and copying.

⁵ DoD typically obtains state concurrence on RODs for non-National Priority List (NPL) sites although it is not required.

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DERP Process: Cleanup
• Remedial Design (RD)
• Develop design plans and specifications of the selected
cleanup remedy.
• Remedial Action Construction
• Construct and implement the selected cleanup remedy.
• Remedial Action Operation (RA-O)
• Operate, maintain, and monitor the cleanup system and
site, until the RA-Os are achieved.

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DERP Process: Cleanup
• RIP
• Achieved when the remedy has been constructed, is functional, is
operating as planned in the RD, and would be expected to meet the
remedial action objectives detailed in the ROD/DD.
• RC
• DoD measures cleanup progress against the RC milestone, which
occurs when the cleanup activities are complete (although there
may be a continuing responsibility to monitor the site).
• Formal documentation for the RC milestone is essential to ensure
that completion of RA-Os is recognized.
• For information about cleanup progress view the DERP “fast
facts” here:
https://www.denix.osd.mil/derp/derp/archives/fast-facts-
progress/facts/.

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DERP Process: Long Term
Management (LTM)
• LTM
• Monitor site conditions, implement and manage land-
use controls, and perform 5-year reviews when the site
cleanup levels do not allow for unlimited use and
unrestricted exposure (UU/UE) of the property.
• Site Closeout
• When DoD has completed the required response actions
at an environmental restoration site, and it will not
expend additional environmental restoration funds at
the site (i.e., no further LTM is required).
• Not all DERP sites can achieve UU/UE and may remain in
LTM for perpetuity.

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Environmental Restoration
Documentation
• Cleanup records are maintained in the:
• Administrative Record and
• Information Repository

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Partnerships and Transparency
• Partnering with environmental regulators and maximizing
transparency, public participation, and collaboration are
vital to ensuring cleanup decisions are protective by:
• Involving federal and state regulators in DERP
• Defense and State Memorandum of Agreement Steering Committee,
Munitions Response Dialogue, and FUDS Forum Working Group
• Quarterly meetings with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• DERP Forum (2023) and National FUDS Forum (2023)
• Involving the public throughout the cleanup process
• Community Involvement Plan (formerly Community Relations Plan)
• Restoration Advisory Boards, Technical Review Committee, Technical
Assistance for Public Participation
• Public Meetings

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Quick Check-in
1. Which of the following groups is NOT a partner with DERP cleanup?
(a) Sierra Club
(b) FUDS Forum
(c) DSMOA SC
(d) MRD

2. Which of the three categories that DERP sites fall into will most likely have an extended
long term management component ?
(a) IRP
(b) BD/DR
(c) MMRP

Questions?
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For more information, visit:
https://www.denix.osd.mil/derp/