Remedial Action By Potentially Responsible Party Sites (PRPs) (TAGM - 4056)

Issuing Authority: Michael J. O'Toole, Jr.
Title: Director, Division of Environmental Remediation
Date Issued: April 7, 1995

Background

PRPs, by Consent Order, are responsible and accountable for performing remedial actions (RA). At the completion of RA, the PRP, usually through its consultant, submits a certification to the Department that construction (i. e., the remedial action) was completed in conformance with the Department's approved contract documents. All contract documents which include engineering as defined by the New York State Education Law must be prepared by a Professional Engineer and the certification of completion of such work must also be submitted by a Professional Engineer. The Department's role is to perform a level of oversight consistent with TAGM #4011 such that the Department's project manager is professionally confident that the remedial activity has been performed on a technically sound basis and that sufficient "checks and balances" have been performed by the PRP's contractor and consultant in order to verify such. The primary function of oversight by DEC is to ensure that PRPs comply with all applicable laws, regulations and requirements, and meet all performance standards specified in the ROD, Consent Order, and Remedial Work Plans.

The requirements for Construction Quality Control/Construction Quality Assurance (CQC/CQA) must be outlined and defined initially in the Remedial Design/Remedial Action work plan. It is therefore of importance that the Department's Project Manager (PM) ensure this work plan component is addressed before approving the Remedial Design/Remedial Action Work Plan. Depending on the complexity of the remedial program, the CQC/CQA Program will be a separate "stand alone" document or the elements of a CQC/CQA Program be incorporated in the work plans and/or contract documents. Most projects will not require separate CQC/CQA plans.

Purpose

It is impossible to lay out a cookbook approach to remedial oversight at all types of sites. Rather a general understanding of the terms and conditions of a construction quality control/quality assurance program will aid in the development of a site-specific plan.

Definitions

Construction Quality Control (CQC): A planned system of inspections that is used to directly monitor and control the quality of a construction project. Construction quality control is normally performed by the Contractor and is necessary to achieve quality in the constructed system. CQC refers to measures taken by the Contractor to determine compliance with the requirements for materials and workmanship as stated in the plans and specifications.
Construction Quality Assurance (CQA): A planned system of activities that provides the owner and the permitting agency assurance that the facility was constructed as specified in the design. Construction quality assurance includes inspections, verifications, audits, tests and evaluations of materials and workmanship necessary to determine and document the quality of the constructed facility. CQA refers to measures taken by the CQA organization to assess if the Contractor is in compliance with the plans and specifications for a project.

Responsibility and Authority

Owner/Operator/PRP: Is responsible for ensuring compliance with the overall schedule as established in the Consent Order and Work Plans. Also is responsible for the design, construction, and operation of the facility. This responsibility includes complying with the requirements of the regulatory agency, the submission of CQA documentation, and assuring the regulatory agency that the facility was constructed as specified in the construction plans and specifications as approved by the agency. The Owner/Operator/PRP has the authority to select and dismiss organizations charged with design, construction and CQA.
Design Engineer: The Design Engineer's primary responsibility is to design a facility that fulfills the operational requirements of the owner/operator, complies with accepted design practices for the remedial facility, and meets or exceeds the minimum requirements of the regulatory agency. The Design Engineer may be an employee of the Owner/Operator or a design consultant hired by the Owner/Operator. Because design changes during construction are not uncommon, the Design Engineer is often involved in the CQC/CQA process.
Owner's Resident Engineer: The most important duty of the Resident Engineer is overall responsibility for confirming that the facility was constructed in accordance with plans and specifications approved by the regulatory agency. In the event of nonconformance with the project specifications and/or CQA Plan, the Resident Engineer should notify the Owner/Operator as to the details and, if appropriate, recommend work stoppage and possible remedial action. The Resident Engineer for all engineering work as previously described must be a New York State Professional Engineer who will certify that the completed work meets the approved plans and specifications.
General Contractor: The General Contractor has overall responsibility for construction of a facility and for CQC during construction. The General Contractor arranges for purchase of materials that meet specifications, enters into a contract with one or more fabricators (if fabricated materials are needed) to supply those materials, contracts with an installer (if separate from the general contractor's organization), and has overall control over the construction operations, including scheduling and CQC. The General Contractor has the primary responsibility for ensuring that a facility is constructed in accord with the plans and specifications that have been developed by the Design Engineer and approved by the permitting agency. The General Contractor is also responsible for informing the Owner/Operator and the CQA Engineer of the scheduling and occurrence of all construction activities.
CQC Personnel: Construction quality control personnel are individuals who work for the general contractor, installation contractor, or earthwork contractor and whose job it is to ensure that construction is taking place in accord with the plans and specifications approved by the permitting agency. In some cases, CQC personnel may also be part of the installation or construction crews. They may be from a separate company. In other cases supervisory personnel provide CQC. For large projects separate CQC personnel, even from a separate company, may be utilized.
CQA Officer: The CQA Officer has overall responsibility for construction quality assurance. The CQA Officer is responsible for reviewing the CQA Plan as well as general plans and specifications for the project so that the CQA Plan can be implemented with no contradictions or unresolved discrepancies. Other responsibilities of the CQA Officer include education of inspection personnel on CQA requirements and procedures and special steps that are needed on a particular project, scheduling and coordinating of CQA inspection activities, ensuring that proper procedures are followed, ensuring that testing laboratories are conforming to CQA requirements and procedures, ensuring that sample custody procedures are followed, confirming that test data are accurately reported and that test data are maintained for later reporting, and preparation of periodic reports. The CQA Officer is normally hired by the owner/operator and functions separately from contractors. It may be the design engineers.
CQA Personnel: Construction quality assurance personnel are responsible for making observations and performing field tests to ensure that a facility is constructed in accord with the plans and specifications approved by the permitting agency. CQA personnel normally are employed by the same firm as the CQA Officer. Construction CQA personnel report to the CQA Officer.

Construction Quality Control Plans (CQCP)

Quality control is a planned system of inspections and tests performed by the Remedial Action Constructor (i. e., General Contractor) to directly monitor and control the quality of construction activities being performed by his work force, and purchases of material for the project. If properly implemented, the CQC program can be an effective tool used by the Contractor to keep the project on schedule and within the budget by avoiding unnecessary rework and material rejection.

The General Contractor is responsible for all activities necessary to manage, control, and document work so as to ensure compliance with the project requirements, i. e., plans and specifications. The Construction Quality Control Plan is prepared by the General Contractor and it should be indicative of the scope and complexity of the work as well as the project requirements. It is the General Contractor's management tool and should include:

a description of the organization providing quality control, including lines of authority;
the name, qualifications, duties, responsibilities, and authority of the quality control manager;
a copy of a signed letter which describes the responsibilities and delegates the authorities of the Quality Control Manager;
methods of performing the quality control inspections, including when inspections should be made and what to look for;
control testing procedures for each specific test. This includes information which authenticates that personnel and laboratories performing the tests are qualified and the equipment and procedures to be used complies with applicable standards;
procedures for scheduling and managing submittals, including those of subcontractors, off-site fabricators, suppliers, and purchasing agents; and
reporting procedures including frequency of reports and report formats.

Construction Quality Assurance Plan (CQAP)

The Construction Quality Assurance Plan is a document that describes the site specific components of the quality assurance program. The purpose is to ensure, with a reasonable degree of certainty, that a completed project meets or exceeds all design criteria, plans, and specifications. Although the overall content of the Construction Quality Assurance Plan depends on the site specific nature of the site, at a minimum, several elements should be included in the Plan. These elements are briefly summarized as follows:

Responsibilities and authorities of all organizations and key personnel involved in the construction of the site remediation;
The qualifications of the quality assurance personnel to demonstrate they possess the training and experience necessary to fulfill their identified responsibilities.
The observations and tests that will be used to monitor construction, and the frequency of performance of these activities;
The sampling activities, sample size, sample locations, frequency of testing, acceptance and rejection criteria, and plans to ensure corrective measures are implemented to meet the intent of the plans and specifications; and
Description of the reporting requirements for quality assurance activities including such items as daily summary reports, a schedule of data submissions, inspection data sheets, problem identification and corrective measures reports, evaluation reports, acceptance reports, and final documentation. Also describe the provisions for the final storage of all records consistent with the requirements of the consent order.

Although quality assurance is, by definition, a system of overview activities, the Construction Quality Assurance Plan must also include a detailed description of the inspection activities that will be used to monitor and control construction quality. The Construction Quality Assurance Plan documents the PRPs commitment to quality assurance and is tailored to the specific project to be constructed. An example of a quality assurance program can be found in Technical Guidance Document: Construction Quality Assurance for Hazardous Waste Land Disposal Facilities, U. S. EPA, October 1986, OSWER Directive 9472.003.

DEC's Role

The Department Project Manager (PM) must review and approve the PRP's construction work plans and/or contract documents which must include quality control and quality assurance. The review should focus on determining that the quality control is consistent with the requirements of the plans and specifications, and that the quality assurance ensures the performance standards will be met. The review should examine the appropriateness and frequency of tests and inspections necessary for the PRP to complete the work in accordance with the approved Contract Document, Consent Order, and DEC Regulations.

The Department's Construction Observer is a representative of the Department but does not have authority to authorize deviation from the contract documents or assume any of the responsibilities of the constructor, subcontractor, or their superintendents. This includes issuance of instruction concerning the constructor's techniques or performance of duties. The Observer reports his/her observations to the PRP or designate after discussion with the PM. Observers must not direct the work of contractors or their subcontractors. The means and methods of construction are the responsibility of the Contractor. The duties of the Department's representative must be "spelled out" and detailed to all those connected with the project as required by TAGM #4011 (sample attached).

Responsibilities of the Construction Observer include:

Review and comment on deliverables;

Attendance at the preconstruction conference, progress briefings, job meetings and any other meetings as required;

Making on-site observations of the work in progress to determine if the work is proceeding in accordance with the plans and specifications. Also, to monitor the PRP's construction quality;

Immediately notifying the authorized representative of the General Contractor or PRP of any observed activities presenting imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health or welfare or environment, and following up with an appraisal of the situation to the PM;

Reporting to the PM any actions that the Contractor and/or the PRP take that may affect the work in progress or intent of the plans and specifications;

Reviewing change orders, work directives, and contract modifications made by the PRP for consistency with the approved work plans and reporting the results of these reviews to the PM;

Reviewing progress reports of the constructor and furnishing the PM with routine reports on the schedule and progress of work;

Recording daily inspection reports of observations at the site, including interactions with all parties, results of tests, site visits, and questions, concerns or discussions about conformance with the approved design plans and specifications;

Reviewing all environmental monitoring data submitted to evaluate if the action levels have been exceeded and, if so, verifying that corrective actions were promptly taken in a manner acceptable to the PM;

Reviewing certifications, operations and maintenance manuals, and other data required to be assembled and furnished by the Contractor and making recommendation to the PM;

Attending the prefinal/final inspection and reviewing the punch list of items requiring correction. Verifying that all punch list items have been completed or corrected.

Additional Guidance Documents

EPA Technical Guidance Document (Oct '86): Construction Quality Assurance for Hazardous Waste Land Disposal Facilities

Guidance on EPA Oversight of Remedial Designs and Remedial Actions Performed by Potentially Responsible Parties, April 1990

EPA Technical Guidance Document (Sept '93): Quality Assurance and Quality Control for Waste Containment Facilities

Quality in the Constructed Project: A Guideline for Owners, Designers and Constructors - Volume I, Preliminary Edition For Trial Use And Comment, May 1988

Sample

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Memorandum

To:_____________ , Regional Hazardous Waste Remediation Engineer, Region __

From: _______________________ , Chief, ___________ Field Services Section

Subject: Project Responsibilities for ____________________ Site, Site No._______

Date:

In accordance with TAGM #4011 "Contractor/Consultant Oversight Guidance," this outlines the responsibilities for managing the above project.

Project Supervisor

___________________ - Correspondence is written to the PRP over his signature. PRP designated representative is ___________________ of _______________________, Inc.

Project Manager

___________________ - Receives reports (verbal and written) from Project Observer and PRP. Communicates and coordinates DEC and DOH concerns and reviews with PRP Project Manager, ___________________ . ___________________ and he are responsible for assuring project is proceeding satisfactory per State interests, conforming with consent order and approved plans (e.g., work plan, plans and specifications), and appropriate people are kept informed of issues. Responsible for resolving problems with input from appropriate reviewers and assistance from Project Supervisor as appropriate. He will keep reviewers informed of progress and coordinate Citizen Participation activities. He will attend site progress meetings.

DEC Field Representative

___________________ - is to be present at the site for most of the construction time. He observes the remedial construction activities for compliance with approved Contract Documents, Consent Order, Work Plan and State ARAR's. Attends job meetings, completes inspection reports, and send to Project Manager. While at the site, he also coordinates work of the Project Observer and approves Project Observer's billable hours for payment. Discusses field problems and variances with DEC Project Manager who is responsible for resolution. When the project needs only one observer at the site, he will visit the site to observe the work and will report his findings to Project Manager. His written inspection reports will be sent to the Central Office and Region Office.

Project Observer

___________________ of ______________________ - Assists NYSDEC Field Representative, observes construction for compliance with approved Contract Documents, Consent Order, Work Plan and State ARAR's and reports to the DEC Field Representative (DECFR). Attends job meetings, completes inspection reports, and sends to Project Manager thru DECFR. Discusses field problems and variances with the DECFR and DEC Project Manager who is responsible for resolution. Observer is to be on site full time for subsurface construction (e.g., drum and soil excavation, backfill, sampling). Occasional observations are necessary for the other work as requested by Project Manager (mobilization, demobilization, topsoil, seeding, fence erection).

He is to immediately report to DECFR and the Project manager any substantive changes required due to site conditions, etc., if there is a possibility that they may affect the integrity or effectiveness of the remedial action. Responsible for observing soil, water and air sampling required by the specifications, or consent order. When samples are taken for analytical purposes, he will see that they are taken in the required quantities and locations with the applicable QA/QC procedures adhered to. Also, if splits are taken, he will send them to lab for analysis as directed by DECFR and/or DEC Project Manager.

Concept:

DEC is responsible for oversight of the construction activities required of the PRP to comply with the consent order entered into between the Department and the PRP. The DEC representative and Project Observer are observers not inspectors. While ensuring compliance with the consent order, they are not to direct the contractor or the PRP in the performance of the work.

They are, however, expected to identify to the Department's Project Manager any deviations from the approved plans and specifications, as well as, any deficiencies in the work or workmanship which could diminish the effectiveness of the remedial action. The Project Manager will take appropriate action to get PRP to correct any deviations or deficiencies.

The PRP is responsible for preparation of the Final Post-remediation Report that is approvable to the Department, and for having a New York licensed P.E. certify that construction was completed in accordance with approved contract documents (includes plans, specifications, addenda, change orders).