EPA established the Technical Support Project (TSP) in 1987 to provide technical assistance to regional Remedial Project Managers (RPMs), Corrective Action Staff, and On-Scene Coordinators. The TSP consists of a network of regional forums and specialized technical support centers located EPA laboratories, and the Environmental Response Team. The objectives of the TSP are to share information and best practices with other EPA programs and other federal agencies.

Regional Forums

Regional technical personnel have established three technical forums within the TSP: the Engineering Forum, the Ground Water Forum, and most recently, the Federal Facilities Forum. Members of these forums work to improve communications and assist in technical transfer between the regions and the centers. The TSP also includes the contributions of state participants. The forums also act as technical resources, and disseminate information resulting from the TSP to their regional colleagues. They also meet semi-annually to discuss technical and policy issues, new technologies, and to network with other federal agencies. The forums also produce and disseminate issue papers on various topics of interest to the environmental community.

Technical Assistance Requests

There are many ways an RPM can access technical assistance through the TSP:

1. Consult the TSP expertise directory or call your region's forum representative to discuss your question. This directory is searchable and provides a snapshot of the various types of expertise possessed by the current members of the three TSP forums. It is based on input provided by the members themselves.

2. The Superfund and Technology Liaison in your region can help you initiate a technical assistance request or site visit from the appropriate Technical Support Center.

3. Technical support questions may also be communicated directly to any of the Technical Support Centers Contacts.

4. RPMs can present technical questions to the forums as a whole during their conference calls - either by presenting their questions directly or through their regional forum representative(s).

5. RPMs can call the EPA Technology Information and Field Services Division (TIFSD) Exit.

Accomplishments

The Technical Support Centers respond to approximately 400-500 requests for technical assistance each year. These projects have included various types of technical assistance, such as:

• Reviews of contractor workplans and reports: Remedial Investigations (RIs), Feasibility Studies (FSs), and Remedial Designs (RDs)
• Treatability studies (e.g., bioremediation, stabilization/solidification, soil washing, incineration)
• Selection and evaluation of remedial technologies
• Development and review of sampling plans, application of models, interpretation of data
• Application of innovative technologies
• Development of technical transfer papers

CLU-IN Website

The Hazardous Waste Clean-up Information (CLU-IN) website provides information about innovative treatment technologies to the hazardous waste remediation community. It describes programs, organizations, publications and other tools for federal and state personnel, consulting engineers, technology developers and vendors, remediation contractors, researchers, community groups, and individual citizens. The site was developed by EPA but is intended as a forum for all waste remediation stakeholders.

Click here to visit CLU-IN. Exit