Honolulu, Hawaii The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has decided to grant a hazardous waste permit to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Department of Public Safety for storing and treating UXO.

CNMI began the process for a Remedial Action Plan, a unique kind of RCRA permit, in 2006, to address the hazards created by the millions of pounds of munitions and explosives abandoned in Saipan following World War II. The EPA issued a draft Remedial Action Plan in December 2007, followed by a public comment period that closed in January.

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Petersburg, Virginia The National Park Service has adopted a new policy regarding Civil War ordnance. The new policy states that the bomb squad will be notified when Civil War ordnance items are found on historic properties. Prior to the policy, ordnance found sometimes made its way into the hands of museums or collectors.

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Huntsville, Alabama The USACE released an Interim Guidance Document (IGD) related to Explosive Site Plans (ESP) for Army Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) projects. The interim guidance establishes the requirement for the submittal of a separate, stand-alone ESP for Army MMRP sites and provides an updated standard format for an ESP.

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DoD released an updated version of the Contractor's Safety Manual For Ammunition and Explosives (AE), DoD 4145.26-M. The Manual provides safety standards for private industry contractors conducting AE operations and facilities performing AE work or AE services under DoD contracts, subcontracts, purchase orders, or other procurement methods.

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Washington, D.C. The Postal Service is proposing new standards to prohibit the mailing of replica or inert munitions and other simulated explosive devices. The proposed ban is meant to ensure the safety of postal employees as well as to minimize disruptions. In 2006 alone, the Postal Service recorded 849 suspicious incidents involving mail that exhibited characteristics of possible explosives. Postal facilities were evacuated on 100 separate occasions due to these occurrences. Postal Inspectors or local emergency first responders reacted to each of these occurrences to assess the items which resulted in budget impacts as well as creating unnecessary stress for employees.

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Denver, Colorado Colorado law makers are debating a Bill introduced in the State Senate regarding the real property associated with the Former Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range located in Arapahoe County.

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Fort Ord, California  the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a Notice of Emergency Closure of Selected Public Lands to the Establishment of new "Geocaches". The driver behind the emergency closure notice is to limit the public's exposure to UXO at the installation and to reduce off-trail use that can have considerable adverse effects on the environment.

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DoD's infamous Range Readiness Preservation Initiative (RRPI) that DoD has been pushing for several years with limited success appears to be still lingering around. Although no longer widely referred to as RRPI, the intent is still alive. DoD proposed two RRPI-like initiatives in the FY08 Defense Authorization Act (DAA) currently in Congress. The first, Under Section 314 "Range Management", seeks to clarify when UXO is considered a solid waste and when it can be considered a hazardous waste. This was previously referred to as the RCRA / CERCLA initiative because it helps to clarify the criteria or circumstances under which cleanup authority applies at ranges and UXO sites.

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A Bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to require a national primary drinking water standard for perchlorate was introduced in Congress. HR 1747 known as the "Safe Drinking Water for Healthy Communities Act of 2007" would require a draft standard be published in the Federal Register within 12 months after the date of enactment and a final standard in place 18 months after that.

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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).

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