Opportunity for Comment

Comment and Hearing Notice, Maine Remedial Action Guidelines (RAGs) for Sites Contaminated with Hazardous Substances, Attachment A: Technical Support Document for Maine 2018 Remedial Action Guidelines, Attachment B: Supplemental

Comment deadline: October 8, 2018

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (Maine DEP) is proposing to revise its guidance, "Maine Remedial Action Guidelines (RAGs) for Sites Contaminated with Hazardous Substances". This guidance is one approach that may be used to determine which contaminated sites pose a risk and therefore warrant clean-up. It may also be used to establish target clean-up levels and clear sites for reuse (close-out sites) once remediation is completed. The purpose of this guidance is to ensure:

  • Protection of public health and welfare at and near contaminated sites;
  • Consistency of remediation decisions in Maine; and
  • Certainty for the regulated community.

It was 2010 when the last major changes were made to the RAGs. Recently a team from DEP and DHHS worked to develop this proposed revised draft. Major changes include:

  • Using EPA's region 3 risk calculation tool (Regional Screening Levels, aka RSLs) to develop the tables, rather than maintaining a separate but similar calculator in our state;
  • Updating default exposure factors to EPA's current recommendations;
  • Re-evaluation of Maine exposure factors with updated data; and
  • Addition of sediment and fish tissue guidelines.

Copies of this proposal are available upon request by contacting the Agency contact person or on the DEP website. Written comments may be submitted by mail, e-mail or fax to the contact person before the end of the comment period. To ensure the comments are considered, they must include your name and the organization you represent, if any.

Agency contact:
Tracy W. Kelly
17 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
207-287-7647
207-287-7826 (fax)

Public hearing:
September 25, 2018 at 1:00 PM
DEP Response Training Room
7 Chimney Lane (AMHI Complex)
Augusta, ME

Proposed Revisions to Remedial Action Guidelines (RAGs) PDF, 2.7MB