About OSPR
Scientific Branch
BRAC and CERCLA Unit

The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) and
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA) Unit

The BRAC/CERCLA unit within the Office of Spill Prevention and Response’s (OSPR) Resource Assessment Program provides technical expertise on cleanup of sites under the BRAC Act and the CERCLA.  The BRAC Act of 1988 initiated the cleanup and closure of a number of military facilities in California.  The CERCLA, also known as Superfund law, mandates assessment of hazardous waste sites, including many in California.  Through the cleanup process for these sites, the nature and extent of chemical contamination are identified, potential risks to natural resources are assessed, and remediation is completed to protect human health and the environment. 

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) - OSPR participates in this cleanup process as a natural resource trustee.  The Secretary of the Resources Agency in California designated DFG to act on behalf of the public as a state trustee for natural resources pursuant to CERCLA.  The DFG-OSPR coordinates with other state (e.g., California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the State Water Resources Control Board) and federal trustees (e.g., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) to protect these natural resources.  

BRAC/CERCLA Unit staff conduct a variety of activities during the phases of the CERCLA cleanup process for private and military sites throughout California. 

During the preliminary assessment and site inspection phase of CERCLA:

• Identify types of habitat, flora, and fauna that occur or potentially occur on-site
• Recommend what type of biological surveys should be done and when
• Evaluate adequacy of site characterization

During the remedial investigation and ecological risk assessment phase of CERCLA:

• Identify appropriate ecological receptors, including bird and mammal species, plants, invertebrates, and aquatic organisms
• Assess whether concentrations of contaminants in soil, water or sediment may present risk to plants, invertebrates, and aquatic life
• Assess whether concentrations of contaminants in soil, water, and the food they eat may present risk to birds and mammals

During the feasibility study and remedial action phase of CERCLA:

• Identify applicable or relevant and appropriate laws and regulations (ARARs) for DFG [e.g., sections within California Fish and Game Code (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html) and the Title 14 California Code of Regulations (http://ccr.oal.ca.gov)]
• Recommend what cleanup levels would be protective of wildlife
• Identify what mitigation or avoidance measures should be considered
• Identify what type of long-term monitoring should be done

Resources for Ecological Risk Assessment

Links:

 

Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (www.astswmo.org)

Framework for Long-Term Monitoring of Hazardous Substances at Sediment Sites

(http://www.astswmo.org/files/publications/cercla/LTMSedimentFinalVersion012209.pdf)

Guide to the Assessment and Remediation of State-Managed Sediment Sites

(http://www.astswmo.org/files/publications/cercla/SedimentStateSitesPaper_final_1007.doc

http://www.astswmo.org/files/publications/cercla/Appendices-A-B-sediment.pdf)

CA Department of Fish and Game (www.dfg.ca.gov)

CA Wildlife Habitat Relationships (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/bdb/html/cwhr.html)

CA Natural Diversity Database and RareFind (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/bdb/html/cnddb.html)

Biogeographic Information and Observation System (http://bios.dfg.ca.gov)

Habitat Conservation and Planning Branch (www.dfg.ca.gov/hcpb/index.shtml; http://www.dfg.ca.gov/hcpb/usathcpb/hcpbdir.htm)

Regional Offices (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/regions/index.html)

CA Department of Toxic Substances Control (http://www.dtsc.ca.gov)

Risk Assessment (http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/AssessingRisk/index.cfm )

Office of Military Facilities (http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/OMF/)

CA Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (www.oehha.org (http://www.oehha.ca.gov/))

CAL/EcoTox Database with species and toxicity reports (http://www.oehha.org/cal_ecotox/Ectoxicology) Program (http://www.oehha.org/ecotox.html) Toxicity Testing Guidance Domuments (http://www.oehha.ca.gov/ecotox/documents/index.html)

CA State Water Resources Control Board (http://www.swrcb.ca.gov)

San Francisco Bay Water Board Federal Facilities Program (http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/rwqcb2/dodfacility.htm)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov)

Region 9 Superfund ( http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/sfund/superfundsites.html)

National Center for Environmental Assessment’s Ecological Risk Assessment page (http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/ecologic.cfm?ActType=RiskAssess)

Ecological Soil Screening Values (http://www.epa.gov/ecotox/ecossl/)

Wildlife Exposure Factors Handbook (http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/wefh.cfm?ActType=default)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (www.fws.gov)

California and Nevada Operations Office, Environmental Contaminants Program (http://www.fws.gov/cno/es/envicon.html)

U.S. Department of Energy (www.energy.gov)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Ecological Risk Assessment page (http://www.esd.ornl.gov/programs/ecorisk/ecorisk.html)

U.S. Department of Defense (www.defenselink.mil/)

Environmental Management Office (https://www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/Library/Cleanup/CleanupOfc/index.html)

Tri-Service Ecological Risk Assessment Workgroup (http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/erawg/)

U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine’s Wildlife Toxicity Reference Values (http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/erawg/tox/)

Terrestrial Wildlife Exposure and Bioaccumulation Information (http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/arams/pdfs/usachppm.pdf)

U.S. Geological Survey

World Wildlife Toxicology Catalog (http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/wwtc/)