ASTM International

Standard Guide for Stakeholder-Focused, Consensus-Based Disaster Restoration Process for Contaminated Assets
 N E2541

Annotation

To ensure a publicly acceptable and timely restoration of an asset contaminated as a result of a natural or man-made disaster, including a terrorist event, it is essential to have a pre-planned strategy developed and tailored at the community level and facilitated by the government which advocates the support and involvement of the affected community during such a crisis period. This pre-planned strategy for restoration will need to be seamlessly incorporated into the overall emergency management process within the community. This guide presents a framework (that is, strategy) for involving the public in a stakeholder-focused, consensus-based event restoration process, for those situations where such involvement is essential to move a stalled (due to stakeholder issues) restoration process forward. This framework is designed to be an event-specific, community-specific process to help prioritize and consider actions necessary to optimize the restoration of an asset contaminated as the result of a disaster.

This guide is intended to describe a highly flexible restoration planning process, and therefore does not specify or recommend a specific course of action for this activity.

This guide is intended to assist in the implementation of a restoration planning process allowing a holistic assessment and balancing of the impacts associated with human health, ecology, socio-cultural values, and economic implications. It is intended to be used in alignment with current Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidance and other guides and agency procedures and requirements to address specific stakeholder issues and concerns.

After completing the immediate response and stabilization phase of a disaster that required Federal assistance through establishment of a Joint Field Office (JFO) in accordance with the National Response Plan, mitigation and recovery activities will need to be planned and initiated to address the significant long-term impacts for any contaminated assets in the affected area. This guide provides a process that can be used by the JFO to gain stakeholder consensus on the restoration of these assets.