DoD Updates MMRP Prioritization Protocol

DoD is reportedly updating the Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) Prioritization Protocol that was published in the Federal Register back in October 2005. The updates appear to be focused on the Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE) module of the protocol. The changes include expanding the HHE module to include evaluations of groundwater (GW), surface water (SW), sediment, and surface soil data elements for each MMRP site. The SW and sediment data elements are further evaluated for potential human receptors and ecological receptors separately. The October 2005 version of the protocol did not differentiate between the various pathways (i.e. GW, SW, and sediment) or the receptors (i.e. human or ecological).

At this point it is unclear how the changes to the protocol will impact the DoD Services. Most of the Services have either started or are in the planning phases of the Site Inspection (SI) phase following the "CERCLA-like" process. The SI phase is where initial sampling is conducted for munitions constituents. For sites where the SI phase has yet to occur, it may be easier to implement the new changes. However, at sites where the SI phase has been completed, it will be more difficult to apply the changes since the sampling efforts may or may not be comprehensive enough to evaluate the individual pathways separately.

The protocol is applied to each site within the MMRP so that it can be scored and ranked for funding. Under the Prioritization Protocol process, the DoD Services are also required to set up a quality assurance (QA) panel to review the individual site scores. At this time, there are still unanswered questions regarding how the QA panel will work in practice. Fundamental questions such as 1) will the panel be a DoD panel or will each DoD Service have it's own panel; and 2) how will the panel interact with the site stakeholders since they are intricate part of the scoring process, have yet to be answered. There are also questions about how the protocol or the program in general handles water ranges and sites but that topic will be discussed in a future UXOInfo.com UXO News Wire Service article.

To view the latest changes to the MMRP Prioritization Protocol, select the download menu option below. The HHE evaluation process is presented in tables 21  28.