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Groundwater Protection Program Introduction

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San Mateo County's Environmental Health Division (SMCo) has been overseeing fuel leak sites since 1988 under the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Local Oversight Program. Since the initial issuance of the March 1990 San Mateo County LUFT Program (CLEP) Soil and Groundwater Remediation Guidelines, many policy, procedural, staffing, and organizational changes have occurred. The 1999 San Mateo County Groundwater Protection Program (GPP) Guidelines, are intended to provide environmental professionals and responsible parties (RPs) with the information that is used by GPP staff to evaluate the completeness and effectiveness of activities mandated by California Code of Regulations Title 23 (23CCR), Chapter 16, Article 11, Corrective Actions Regulations. The GPP Guidelines cover the requirements of these Corrective Actions: preliminary site assessments, interim remedial measures, remedial investigations, feasibility studies, and remediation. In conjunction with San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) recommendations, SMCo is setting guidelines which must be followed when soil or groundwater is suspected of being impacted and is also setting regulatory requirements for use when groundwater contamination has been confirmed within SMCo jurisdiction. The purpose of presenting these guidelines is to satisfy RWQCB Basin Plan amendments and to expedite case closure processes by setting schedules and standards for technical reports to be submitted for review and approval. GPP's primary function is to provide oversight of corrective actions funded by the RP or the SWRCB Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund to remediate impacted soil and groundwater as a result of unauthorized release of petroleum fuel from underground fuel storage tank systems. Upon request of an RP, and with concurrence of RWQCB staff and Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) staff (as applicable), GPP will also provide oversight of corrective actions that are necessary to remediate unauthorized releases of hazardous materials/waste originating from sources other than a petroleum fuel underground storage tank. In order to streamline the cleanup process, GPP staff will act as lead agency to coordinate regulatory requirements with RWQCB and SWRCB. These guidelines should be used in conjunction with, but not to supersede, 23CCR, Article 11, Corrective Actions Regulations (Appendix A). This document is divided into three (3) sections. Section I specifies technical and reporting requirements during each phase of Corrective Action. Section II presents policies and procedures that GPP, RWQCB, SWRCB, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) have developed. Section III contains relevant appendices.