Original Date: 02/28/2000
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

In the latter part of 1997, U.S. Navy Southern Division and the Environmental Protection Agency came to the conclusion that the Subpart X/Corrective Action efforts at Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center needed improvement. All the agencies involved in Crane’s environmental program agreed that a partnership agreement should be implemented. A Subpart X/Corrective Action Core Team was established to discuss and resolve problems.

Environmental regulations and regulators can absorb countless hours of oversight annually for any facility that utilizes hazardous materials within their operations. Crane Army Ammunition Activity (CAAA) has had difficulty resolving Subpart X and Corrective Actions environmental issues during the past 11 years because of the lack of a common goal from all interested parties. The solution was to have all affected stake holders participate in an integrated product team initiative with regulators to ensure hazardous waste permitting issues and corrective action activities are undertaken in an efficient and timely manner.

In the latter part of 1997, U.S. Navy Southern Division and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided that the Subpart X/Corrective Action efforts at Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center needed improvement. Crane was making little progress in cleanup efforts, and the Subpart X permit application process was not nearing completion despite nine years of effort. The EPA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Subpart X identifies regulations for operation of open burning/open detonation facilities. All agencies involved in Crane’s environmental program agreed that a partnership agreement should be implemented. Both the Subpart X and the Corrective Action (clean-up) programs shared similar problems, such as affected agencies not communicating effectively, no formalized method to record decision-making priorities or timelines, and no metrics to define progress. The solution was to establish the Subpart X/Corrective Action Core Team. The team was kicked off in September 1998 in Indianapolis, Indiana with all affected parties meeting for a two-day facilitated partnership training session. The meeting led to the formation of a Core Team involving Region V EPA; Navy Southern Division; Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center; CAAA; and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. A management team was also developed involving higher level managers from the affected agencies to act as advisors or barrier busters. The Core Team uses monthly teleconferencing meetings to discuss issues and solutions, and meets face-to- face quarterly to foster continuity in the group. All decisions on schedules, priorities, and funding are made using a consensus-based decision process. To date, no issues have been elevated to the management team for resolution.

Following a nine-year delay, the Subpart X permit was issued 16 months after the formation of the Core Team. The Core Team has provided a means for focusing the efforts of the member organizations to improve Crane’s environmental programs. Each organization has a clear view of current efforts, future outlook for projects, availability to discuss issues with the pertinent players in attendance, and most important, a means to measure the progress of the cleanup program.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.