LSPA Climate Change MCP Toolkit Available

The LSPA has developed a Climate Change MCP Toolkit to assist waste site cleanup practitioners as they consider the potential effects of climate change on site assessment and response actions. This is anticipated to be required by the pending amendments to the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP).  

The climate change toolkit is available through links in this email as well as on the LSPA website. The tools are reflective of the framework defined in the (the SHMCAP, MA SHMCAP Portal). The SHMCAP accounts for projected changes in precipitation and temperature, sea level rise, and extreme weather events, and aims to reduce the risks associated with natural hazards and the effects of climate change.

The LSPA’s Climate Change Subcommittee of our Technical Practices Committee has worked diligently over the past two years to create the toolkit; the tools are designed to be of use in all phases of the MCP remediation process and can be customized to meet the needs of individual sites. The tools should not be considered policy and are not a replacement for application of professional judgment on the part of the LSP-of-record for an MCP Site. Parties using this toolkit should be aware that there may be other acceptable alternatives for considering and documenting impacts associated with climate change.

The Climate Change toolkit is organized as follows, with links to each of the documents:

Introduction
1 - Climate Change Evaluation Flowchart
2 - Vulnerability Assessment Checklist (Excel Download)
3 - Case Study 1

3 - Case Study 2

4 - MCP Climate Change Glossary of Terms
5 - Climate Change Technical Resources

The above tools and references, available in one file here, are applicable to MCP cleanup sites regardless of the site setting, location, or type of oil and/or hazardous materials (OHM) released to the environment. The tools can support the development of the Conceptual Site Model (CSM) and evaluation of response actions at any stage of the MCP process but will be most helpful when applied during development of the CSM and throughout the selection and design of comprehensive response actions. While short term response actions such as Release Abatement Measures (RAMs) and Immediate Response Actions (IRAs) are typically implemented within a timeframe much less than the timeframes for sustained climate change effects, the tools are nevertheless applicable in some circumstances to incorporate climate change considerations when the outcome of the RAM or IRA will become all or part of a Permanent Solution.

This toolkit was developed and is maintained by the LSPA. It is meant to work in concert with MassDEP’s forthcoming Q&A document on Climate Change at MCP sites.

The LSPA welcomes feedback on this resource. Please write to us at [email protected].

Climate Change Subcommittee Co-Chairs
Catharine Rockwell, P.E., Woodard & Curran
Marilyn M. Wade, P.E, LSP, Brown and Caldwell

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