§ 2705. Notice of environmental restoration activities

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(a)Expedited Notice.— The Secretary of Defense shall take such actions as necessary to ensure that the regional offices of the Environmental Protection Agency and appropriate State and local authorities for the State in which a facility under the Secretary’s jurisdiction is located receive prompt notice of each of the following:

(1)The discovery of releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances at the facility.

(2)The extent of the threat to public health and the environment which may be associated with any such release or threatened release.

(3)Proposals made by the Secretary to carry out response actions with respect to any such release or threatened release.

(4)The initiation of any response action with respect to such release or threatened release and the commencement of each distinct phase of such activities.

(b)Comment by EPA and State and Local Authorities.—

(1)Release notices.— The Secretary shall ensure that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and appropriate State and local officials have an adequate opportunity to comment on notices under paragraphs

(1)and

(2)of subsection (a).

(2)Proposals for response actions.— The Secretary shall require that an adequate opportunity for timely review and comment be afforded to the Administrator and to appropriate State and local officials after making a proposal referred to in subsection (a)(3) and before undertaking an activity or action referred to in subsection (a)(4). The preceding sentence does not apply if the action is an emergency removal taken because of imminent and substantial endangerment to human health or the environment and consultation would be impractical.

(c)Technical Review Committee.— Whenever possible and practical, the Secretary shall establish a technical review committee to review and comment on Department of Defense actions and proposed actions with respect to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances at installations. Members of any such committee shall include at least one representative of the Secretary, the Administrator, and appropriate State and local authorities and shall include a public representative of the community involved.

(d)Restoration Advisory Board.—

(1)In lieu of establishing a technical review committee under subsection (c), the Secretary may permit the establishment of a restoration advisory board in connection with any installation (or group of nearby installations) where the Secretary is planning or implementing environmental restoration activities.

(A)The Secretary shall prescribe regulations regarding the establishment, characteristics, composition, and funding of restoration advisory boards pursuant to this subsection.

(B)The issuance of regulations under subparagraph

(A)shall not be a precondition to the establishment of restoration advisory boards under this subsection.

(C)Chapter 10 of title 5 shall not apply to a restoration advisory board established under this subsection.

(3)The Secretary may authorize the commander of an installation (or, if there is no such commander, an appropriate official of the Department of Defense designated by the Secretary) to pay routine administrative expenses of a restoration advisory board established for that installation. Such payments shall be made from funds available under subsection (g).

(e)Technical Assistance.—

(1)The Secretary may, upon the request of the technical review committee for an installation, restoration advisory board for an installation, community concerned with respect to an installation, or individual member of such community, authorize the commander of the installation (or, if there is no such commander, an appropriate official of the Department of Defense designated by the Secretary) to obtain from covered sources technical assistance for the committee, advisory board, community, or individual (as the case may be) to interpret scientific and engineering issues with regard to the nature of environmental hazards at the installation and the restoration activities conducted, or proposed to be conducted, at the installation. The commander of an installation (or, if there is no such commander, an appropriate official of the Department of Defense designated by the Secretary) shall use funds made available under subsection

(g)for obtaining assistance under this paragraph.

(2)The commander of an installation (or, if there is no such commander, an appropriate official of the Department of Defense designated by the Secretary) may obtain technical assistance under paragraph

(1)for a technical review committee, restoration advisory board, community, or individual only if the technical assistance—

(A)is likely to contribute to the efficiency, effectiveness, or timeliness of environmental restoration activities at the installation; or

(B)is a service described in paragraph (3).

(3)A service described in this paragraph is a service to improve public participation in, or assist in the navigation of, environmental restoration activities at an installation by the community concerned or an individual member of such community, including with respect to the following:

(A)The interpretation of site-related documents, including documents concerning the nature of a release or threatened release at the installation, monitoring, testing plans, and reports associated with site assessment and characterization at the installation.

(B)The interpretation of health-related information.

(C)The interpretation of documents, plans, proposed actions, and final decisions relating to—

(i)an interim remedial action;

(ii)a remedial investigation or feasibility study;

(iii)a record of decision;

(iv)a remedial design;

(v)the selection and construction of remedial action;

(vi)operation and maintenance;

(vii)a five-year review at the installation; or

(viii)a removal action at the installation.

(D)Assistance with the preparation of public comments.

(E)The development of outreach materials to improve public participation.

(F)The provision of advice and guidance regarding additional technical assistance for which the community or individual, as the case may be, may be eligible.

(4)In this subsection, the term “covered source” means a private sector source, a Federal department or agency other than the Department of Defense (pursuant to a Federal interagency agreement), or a nonprofit entity (pursuant to a cooperative agreement entered into with such entity).

(f)Involvement in Defense Environmental Restoration Program.— If a technical review committee or restoration advisory board is established with respect to an installation (or group of installations), the Secretary shall consult with and seek the advice of the committee or board on the following issues:

(1)Identifying environmental restoration activities and projects at the installation or installations.

(2)Monitoring progress on these activities and projects.

(3)Collecting information regarding restoration priorities for the installation or installations.

(4)Addressing land use, level of restoration, acceptable risk, and waste management and technology development issues related to environmental restoration at the installation or installations.

(5)Developing environmental restoration strategies for the installation or installations.

(g)Funding.— The Secretary shall, to the extent provided in appropriations Acts, make funds available for administrative expenses and technical assistance under this section using funds in the following accounts:

(1)In the case of a military installation not approved for closure pursuant to a base closure law, the environmental restoration account concerned under section 2703(a) of this title.

(2)In the case of an installation approved for closure pursuant to such a law, the Department of Defense Base Closure Account established under section 2906(a) of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (part A of title XXIX of Public Law 101–510; 10 U.S.C. 2687 note).

(Added Pub. L. 99–499, title II, § 211(a)(1)(B), Oct. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 1724; amended Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title III, § 326(a)–(c), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2712, 2713; Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title III, § 324(a)–(d)(1), (e), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 252–254; Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title III, § 322(c), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2479; Pub. L. 108–136, div. A, title III, § 317(b), title X, § 1043(c)(5), Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1432, 1612; Pub. L. 112–239, div. B, title XXVII, § 2711(c)(4)(C), Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat. 2144; Pub. L. 117–286, § 4(a)(53), Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4311; Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title III, § 313, Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 215.)

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