Ecological Evaluation Technical Guidance - State of New Jersey

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1.0 Intended Use of Guidance DocumentThis guidance document is designed to help the person responsible for conductingremediation comply with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’srequirements established by the Technical Requirements for Site Remediation (TechnicalRules), N.J.A.C. 7:26E. This guidance will be used by many people involved in theremediation of a contaminated site including Licensed Site Remediation Professionals(LSRP), environmental consultants, and other environmental professionals. Because therewill be many users, the generic term “investigator” will be used to refer to anyremediating party or person who uses this guidance to remediate a contaminated site onbehalf of a remediating party.The procedures for a person to vary from the technical requirements in regulations areoutlined in the Technical Rules at N.J.A.C. 7:26E-1.7. Variances from a technicalrequirement or deviation from guidance must be documented and adequately supportedwith data or other information. In applying technical guidance, the NJDEP recognizesthat professional judgment may result in a range of interpretations on the application ofthe guidance to site conditions. This guidance was prepared in accordance with theTechnical Requirements for Site Remediation, N.J.A.C. 7:26E, the Site RemediationReform Act, N.J.S.A. 58:C-1 et seq. and the Administrative Requirements for theRemediation of Contaminated Sites, N.J.A.C. 7:26C.This guidance supersedes all previous NJDEP guidance issued on this topic.This guidance was prepared with stakeholder input. The committee responsible for thepreparation of this document was composed of the following people: Nancy Hamill,Chair (NJDEP), Greg Neumann (NJDEP), Allan S. Motter (NJDEP), Charles Harman(AMEC Earth & Environmental), Ralph Stahl (E.I. duPont and Company), and KariAnneCzajkowski (Langan Engineering & Environmental Services). The committee wishes toacknowledge the contributions of the following individuals: Daniel Cooke (AMEC Earth& Environmental), Christina Faust (SAIC), and Steven Byrnes (NJDEP).2.0 PurposeThe purpose of this document is to provide efficient and streamlined tiered guidance forthe evaluation of ecological risk in aquatic and terrestrial habitats associated withcontaminated sites. As per N.J.S.A 58:10 B-12 (Brownfields and Contaminated SiteRemediation Act), the guidance will enable users to determine remediation standardsprotective of the environment on a case-by-case basis in accordance with guidance andregulations of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Thisguidance supplements and provides details for the implementation of N.J.A.C. 7:26E andis in accordance with USEPA (1997a), Ecological Risk Assessment Guidance forSuperfund, Process for Designing and Conducting Ecological Risk Assessments, EPA540-R-97-006, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Washington, DC(ERAGS), available at http://www.epa.gov/oswer/riskassessment/ecorisk/ecorisk.htm.Ecological Evaluations (EE) and Ecological Risk Assessments (ERA) are conducted todetermine whether remedial actions are required in environmentally sensitive naturalresources (ESNR) associated with contaminated sites and to provide the means todetermine ecological risk-based remediation goals. ESNRs are defined asEcological Evaluation Technical Guidance Document 7Version 1.2 8/29/12
environmentally sensitive areas pursuant to the Discharge of Petroleum and OtherHazardous Substances, N.J.A.C. 7:1E-1.8, available athttp://www.nj.gov/dep/rpp/brp/dp/downloads/NJAC_7_1E.pdf, and Pinelands pursuantto N.J.S.A.13:18A-1 et seq. and N.J.A.C. 7:50, available athttp://www.state.nj.us/pinelands/images/pdf%20files/pinelandsprotectionact1.pdf.EEs are required for all contaminated sites pursuant to N.J.A.C.7:26E 1.16 ReceptorEvaluation and N.J.A.C. 7:26E-4.8(a) and 4.8(b) Remedial Investigation of EcologicalReceptors. If the EE indicates that additional ecological investigation is necessary, thenan ERA is required pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26E-4.8(c), Remedial Investigation ofEcological Receptors. EEs must be conducted by a person experienced in the use oftechniques and methodologies for conducting ERAs (C.58:10C-16 (c)). For new cases(initiated remediation after November 4, 2009) or existing cases (initiated remediationbefore November 4, 2009) that have opted into the LSRP program, or after May 2012, theinvestigator may either: (1) be an LSRP, (2) be directly overseen and supervised by anLSRP, or (3) have the EE reviewed and accepted by an LSRP.3.0 Document OverviewThis document provides technical guidance on how to conduct an Ecological Evaluation(EE) and an Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26E-1.16andN.J.A.C. 7:26E-4.8 in environmentally sensitive natural resources (ESNR) associatedwith contaminated sites. Guidance is also provided for the derivation of site-specificecological risk-based remediation goals, determination of Risk Management Decisions(RMD), preparation of the EE and ERA reports, management of special circumstances,and implementation of required data quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC)measures as per N.J.A.C. 7:26E-2.The guidance first describes how to conduct an EE, which is initiated during the SiteInvestigation (SI) pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26E-1.16. The EE is conducted to examine thesite for the co-occurrence of the following:(1) ESNRs on, adjacent to, or potentially impacted by the site;(2) the presence of Contaminants of Potential Ecological Concern (COPEC) at thesite or area of concern (AOC) and in the ESNRs (e.g., contaminants withconcentrations in excess of aquatic Surface Water Quality Standards (SWQS) orecological screening criteria (ESC)); and(3) the presence of a contaminant migration pathway (historic or current) from thesite to the ESNR or evidence of contaminated material having been placeddirectly into an ESNR. As part of the SI, an EE must be performed within theregulatory time frame of one year from the initiation of remediation (N.J.A.C.7:26C-3.2). The mandatory time frame associated with this requirement is twoyears from the initiation of remediation (N.J.A.C. 7:26C-3.3). The outcome ofthe EE will be a recommendation either to conduct an ERA or to not conduct anyfurther ecological evaluation.Guidance is then provided on how to conduct the ERA, a component of the RemedialInvestigation (RI) pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:26E-4.8. The ERA is a quantitative assessmentof the actual or potential impacts of COPECs from a contaminated site on ecologicalEcological Evaluation Technical Guidance Document 8Version 1.2 8/29/12
Page 1 and 2: Ecological EvaluationTechnical Guid
Page 3 and 4: 6.2.1.3 Biological Sampling of Fish
Page 5 and 6: Acronyms and AbbreviationsADDAETAFA
Page 7: Executive SummaryThis document prov
Page 11 and 12: Figure 3-1: Flow diagram to describ
Page 13 and 14: assessment may also include evaluat
Page 15 and 16: “Hazard quotient” or “HQ” m
Page 17 and 18: “Site investigation” means the
Page 19 and 20: parameters as specified in ERAGS (i
Page 21 and 22: document otherwise). The investigat
Page 23 and 24: 5.3.2.1 Potential Contaminant Migra
Page 25 and 26: 71 0Sampling pointsSampling transec
Page 27 and 28: 5.3.4 Background ConsiderationsIt i
Page 29 and 30: III. GroundwaterAnalytical data fro
Page 31 and 32: 5.5 Ecological Evaluation ReportThe
Page 33 and 34: Step 1 - Preliminary Screening Leve
Page 35 and 36: specific measurements of receptor h
Page 37 and 38: Figure 6-2: Ecological Conceptual S
Page 39 and 40: ingested, air inhaled, or material
Page 41 and 42: Fugacity, which is described as the
Page 43 and 44: environment. As noted in ERAGS, the
Page 45 and 46: Sample SelectionAfter completing th
Page 47 and 48: While there are many laboratories t
Page 49 and 50: ioavailability, and by doing so, of
Page 51 and 52: For the purposes of surface water,
Page 53 and 54: higher trophic level receptors. Lip
Page 55 and 56: Details regarding surface water tox
Page 57 and 58: e present at intervals greater than
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elatively sedentary organisms that
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COPECs. The following references ar
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tests (USEPA, 2002e). After collect
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multiple reference area soils repre
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In ERAs, tissue residue analyses ar
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Objectives of the ERA: including a
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evaluation might necessitate the co
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N.J.A.C. 7:26E-4.8(c)1. The ERA may
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sediment (i.e., that fraction that
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Twelve dioxin-like PCB congeners ha
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indicates burial of potential dioxi
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of evidence for evaluating risk unt
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7.2.1 Apparent Effects Threshold Ap
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when site conditions are most simil
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destroying 10 acres of the mature f
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ASTM (American Society for Testing
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Establishing Sediment Quality Crite
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N.J.A.C. (New Jersey Administrative
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USEPA. 1989c. Risk Assessment Guida
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http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/regu
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USEPA 2006a. Data Quality Assessmen
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Appendix A - Habitat Survey FormsEc
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Ecological Evaluation Technical Gui
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Appendix B - Sampling Procedures fo
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Appendix C - Surface Water Toxicity
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Short-term chronic studies, endpoin
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Appendix D - Sediment Toxicity Test
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Toxicity Test DesignSediment toxici
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Appendix E - Sediment Pore Water an
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The seven-day daphnid survival and
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esults are then evaluated using USE
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Surber or Square-foot BottomThis sa
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Appendix H - Soil Toxicity TestingS
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another sample may still have a sub
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conservative approach from an ecolo
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Data PresentationTabular presentati
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Ecological Evaluation Technical Guidance - State of New Jersey

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