Review Procedures for Water Resources Project Planning (2002)
Chapter: Appendix D Review Processes in Other Federal Agencies
|
Agency |
Program |
Purpose |
Type of Review Program |
Comments |
|
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
Superfund (CERCLA) (1980) 42 USC §9601 et seq. |
Response to releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or environment through removal or long-term actions |
Review of site feasibility studies and reassessments for cleanup of hazardous wastes at sites on the National Priorities List (e.g., PCBs in the sediments of the upper Hudson River); review of contaminant transport and fate models, geochemical studies, and human and ecological risk assessments. |
Ad hoc; based upon guidance found in EPA’s Peer Review Handbook |
|
U.S. Department of Agriculture |
Farm Bill (FAIR) (1996) P.L. 104–127; §391 |
Reauthorization of agricultural programs including commodities, credit, conservation, rural development, trade, and nutrition |
Task Force on Agricultural Air Quality established by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to review research conducted by any federal agency that would establish controls over farming or ranch operations on behalf of cleaner air. |
Task Force established in response to studies allegedly based upon “erroneous data,” which claimed that ag. operations failed to meet Clean Air Act standards for particulates |
|
U.S. Department of Transportation; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
TEA-21 23 USC §109 |
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century funds federal-aid transportation projects |
TEA-21 is designed to reduce delays, reduce duplication of effort, reduce costs associated with review, and streamline the approval process of transportation projects. TEA-21 provides for transfer of funds to other agencies to cover review costs; an example is review by outside experts, arranged by FWS (under the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 and the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act), of DoT practices such as project scoping and mitigation. |
Example of one federal agency sponsoring peer review of its activities by another federal agency |
