This Alert further updates you on recent developments regarding the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's draft Remediation Closure Guide (RCG). Comments on the draft RCG are now due Wednesday, July 20, 2011. Those involved in environmental remediation projects in Indiana need to submit comments before this deadline so your views will be heard. The RCG has been in development for years and will usher in significant changes for years to come for all of Indiana's remediation programs. (IDEM's extension of this comment period can be viewed and downloaded at: http://www.in.gov/idem/4694.htm).

There have been two other important developments since our May 6, 2011 Alert. First, on May 19, Barnes & Thornburg LLP hosted a Remediation Closure Summit focused exclusively on the RCG. We had nearly 70 attendees in Indianapolis and approximately 30 other participants viewing the Closure Summit via live videoconference in our South Bend, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Columbus offices. The Closure Summit featured a panel of environmental professionals discussing some of the most significant changes introduced in the draft RCG. In particular, the panel highlighted changes in the following three key areas that could substantially increase your costs and time to achieve closure: plume stability, screening levels (previously referred to as "closure levels"), and vapor intrusion. Each of these areas will require close scrutiny and significant time to prepare comments. As we have in the past, Barnes & Thornburg LLP is gathering a group of key stakeholders to collectively work on and fund comments. Please stay tuned for additional information about how to join these efforts.

Second, on May 25, IDEM presented the RCG to the regulated community at its quarterly "Consultant's Day" meeting in Indianapolis. If you were not able to participate, you may view the recording of IDEM's presentations and the follow up question and answer session at: http://www.webinar.in.gov/p37821657/. Please note that during this meeting, senior IDEM management announced that the draft Remediation Program Guide (the companion to the RCG) is still under development and will be released in draft later this summer. The Program Guide will replace the existing Risk-Integrated System of Closure (RISC) User's Guide and will present, among other things, IDEM's new transition policy applicable to the RCG. Like the RCG, the Program Guide will also be available for public comment and we encourage you to also carefully study the Program Guide and provide IDEM comments.

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