RICHARD C. FORTUNA

PROFILE

For the past thirty two years, Mr. Fortuna has been one of the principal architects of the nation's preventive hazardous waste management policies. Mr. Fortuna is best known for his work in developing key provisions of the 1984 RCRA Amendments, including the land disposal restriction and corrective action provisions, while serving on the House Commerce Committee under Congressman James Florio. In addition, he directly participated in the enactment of the original Superfund Act in 1980, while a member of Congressman John J. Dingell’s personal legislative staff, and contributed to the 1986 Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA). Based on these and other legislative successes, a recent Brookings study identified “reducing exposure to hazardous waste” as one of the Federal government’s 50 greatest accomplishments of the 20th century.

After leaving Capitol Hill in 1984, Mr. Fortuna served as Executive Director of the Hazardous Waste Treatment Council for eleven years -- a group which played a pivotal role in implementing all key RCRA, CERCLA, CWA, and TSCA waste management policies and provisions. In 1994, Mr. Fortuna founded Strategic Environmental Analysis, L.C., a management consulting firm whose primary focus is helping technology-based companies in the waste management and wastewater fields succeed through quality market assessments, compliance strategies, policy development, technology evaluations, and  litigation support including RCRA Expert Witness testimony, Superfund Expert Witness testimony. Clients also include members of the legal and financial communities, engineering firms, insurance companies, “Fortune 500” companies, State and Federal agencies including the EPA, DOE, DOJ, the State Department and environmental groups. Mr. Fortuna has published numerous books and articles on waste policy and holds a Master’s Degree in Toxicology and Environmental Health Policy from the University of Michigan, School of Public Health. He also served on the Department of Energy’s Technology Development and Deployment Advisory Board for five years. Significant accomplishments include:

Hazardous and Solid Wastes

Developed many of the key provisions of the 1984 RCRA Amendments including, the land disposal restriction and corrective action provisions. The 1984 RCRA Amendments have been credited with stimulating the nation’s rapid transition from land-based to technology-based methods of hazardous waste management. In less than 10 years the U.S. advanced from almost exclusive reliance on land disposal to one that is rich in treatment and recycling capacity;

Implemented the preventive policies of 1984 RCRA legislative reforms, including the "hammer" to ensure that present hazardous waste management does not cause future harm, and the leaking underground storage tank (LUST) Provisions. The "hammer" was the centerpiece of the 1984 RCRA reforms and is a self-implementing sanction in the event of Agency inaction on key statutory deadlines to stimulate the use of technology-based solutions. The LUST Provisions have stimulating the cleanup of groundwater and soil at thousands of leaking chemical product tank sites throughout the nation;

Participated in the enactment of the original Superfund Act in 1980, while a member of Congressman John J. Dingell’s personal staff, and assisted in the development of the "permanent remedy” directive of the 1986 Superfund re-authorization (SARA);

Counseled over 100 firms on market strategies, technology investment and scale-up, response strategies regarding various aspects of Federal and State waste regulations; developing direct knowledge of regulated industry’s response to regulatory provisions, deadlines and remedial policies;

Conducted over 30 market studies and due diligence investigations in the hazardous, solid, and radioactive waste sectors for commercial waste management firms, insurance companies and financial institutions regarding: the advisability of market entry, the need for restructuring of current services to respond to future needs and demands, and the likelihood of future success of a given technology or market strategy;

Initiated numerous legal challenges to EPA regulations, including proper interpretation and enforcement of RCRA’s Solid Waste Definition and “Sham Recycling” Criteria/Policy; and intended impacts;

Provided expert testimony on the history, and intended impacts of RCRA and CERCLA policies on the practices of hazardous waste generators and facilities that treat, store, and dispose of hazardous waste.

Prepared numerous Expert Reports, and have been deposed and testified at trial. Admitted as a RCRA/CERCLA expert and/or industry practices expert in Federal and State courts and in an EPA Administrative Law proceeding;

Provided numerous opinions regarding state statutes and regulatory schemes pertaining to the management of hazardous and industrial wastes.

Submitted comments on over 100-proposed Federal and State regulations and policies under RCRA, CERCLA, TSCA, the CWA and other statutes affecting the management of hazardous, solid, radioactive wastes, PCBs, and, remediation situations;

Testified at over 25 Congressional hearings, and organized 8 others while serving on the House Commerce Committee Staff;

Organized 12 national and regional conferences on hazardous waste issues since 1985; and,

Improved the image and performance of the commercial hazardous waste industry to one that is now respected for providing services that are consistent with long-term protection of public health and the environment.

Radioactive Wastes

Conducted numerous evaluations of the future market for technology-based management of low-level and mixed radioactive waste, and have performed a comprehensive assessment of the market position of all key commercial vendors in the low-level/mixed waste markets.

Conducted regulatory and market studies involving management of high-level mixed wastes;

Served on DOE-HQ’s Assessment Team of the Hanford Tank Waste Privatization, which performed the final assessment of the Department’s overall readiness to proceed with this landmark effort--- the single largest procurement in the history of DOE. This assessment was commissioned by the Office of the Secretary.

Served as a member of the DOE Environmental Management Advisory Board (EMAB), Technology Development and Deployment Subcommittee for 5 years.

EXPERIENCE

President
Strategic Environmental Analysis, L.C.
Potomac, MD

Duties and Accomplishments: Study design, identifying key elements of response or action strategy, assembling team appropriate to given investigation, project management, budget preparation; investigate and research key project elements to ensure successful outcome, client development, government liaison, and public spokesperson. See preceding Profile for major accomplishments.

Executive Director
Hazardous Waste Treatment Council
Washington, D.C.

Duties and Accomplishments: Develop options, positions, and strategic plans to ensure that hazardous wastes are properly managed; and to ensure faithful implementation of the nation's two hazardous waste statutes, RCRA and Superfund, through direct involvement in all phases of the programs, including regulation, legislation, education, and litigation. Public spokesperson for the hazardous waste treatment industry, including Congressional relations and preparation and delivery of testimony. Prepare budgets, develop membership, and manage personnel. Established the Council as the responsible voice of the commercial hazardous waste treatment industry by building a membership that recognizes the waste treatment industry as the business of environmental protection; shaped national hazardous waste policy to ensure emphasis on prevention and technology. Produced several educational pieces for the general public on hazardous waste problems and technologies, including a video narrated by Edwin Neuman on the strengths and limitations of hazardous waste incineration.

Staff Toxicologist
House Energy and Commerce Committee
Transportation Hazardous Materials Subcommittee
Rep. James J. Florio, Chairman

Duties and Accomplishments: Principal architect of the 1984 RCRA reforms (The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA) making land disposal the least favored method of management for hazardous wastes and requiring maximum toxicity reduction through use of best available technology prior to land disposal. (See preceding Profile).

Legislative Assistant
Office of Representative John D. Dingell

Duties and Accomplishments: Participated in drafting and negotiating key provisions of the original 1980 Superfund law, including the liability standard, the size of the fund, and the clean-up standards.

EDUCATION

Master's of Public Health
Toxicology and Public Health Policy, University of Michigan

A self-designed dual program that now serves as a formal course of study.

Bachelor of Science
Zoology and Microbiology, University of Michigan

REFERENCES

Personal and Professional References Available Upon Request

SELECTED NON-PROPRIETARY PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS

"Future Trends in Treatment Technology," Environmental Strategy America, 1994/95, William Reilly, ed., Camden Publishing Ltd., London, September 1994.

"Hazardous Waste Treatment Comes of Age," Standard Handbook of Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal, Harry M. Freeman, ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1989.

Richard C. Fortuna and David J. Lennett, "Hazardous Waste Regulation - The New Era: An Analysis and Guide to RCRA and the 1984 Amendments," Foreword by Senator John Chafee, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1987.

"Same Wastes, New Solutions: The Market for Treatment Alternatives," Beyond Dumping, Bruce Piasecki, ed., Quorum Books, Westport, CT, 1984, p. 199.

TESTIMONY, ARTICLES, AND REPORTS

"Beyond the MACT Rule Wars,” EI Digest, June 2001.

"The Emerging Market for Steel Waste Recycle Technologies,” EI Digest, November, 1996.

"Steel Industry Wastes and RCRA's Solid Waste Definition," Presentation Before EPA's Common Sense Initiative, Iron and Steel Committee, Chicago, Illinois, August 24, 1995.

"Incineration 1995: A Reality Check," Presentation Before 14th Annual International Incineration Conference, Seattle, Washington, May 8, 1995.

"A Technology Developer's Perspective on the Cleanup of Military Toxics," Presentation Before the National Forum on Military Toxics, Sponsored by Global Green USA, Army/Navy Club, Washington, DC, April 7, 1995.
 "Richard C. Fortuna on Hazardous Waste Issues," Environment Today, Arlington, Virginia, January, 1995.

"Risk-based Standards and Pollution-Credit Trading: Has Their Time Come for Hazardous Waste Management?" EI Digest, Environmental Information Ltd., Minneapolis, Minnesota, December, 1994.

"Superfund Reauthorization: The Role of Technology and Permanent Remedies," Testimony before the Subcommittee on Superfund, Recycling and Solid Waste Management, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, September 30, 1993.

"Technology Development and Transfer in the Superfund Program," Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, April 29, 1993.

"Strategies for Accelerated Remedial Action," Colorado Center for Environmental Management, Snowmass, Colorado, October 19, 1992.

"Sham and Uncontrolled Recycling: A Strategy to Stop Environmental Degradation and Promote Source Reduction," Environmental Defense Fund, Hazardous Waste Treatment Council, March 16, 1992.

"Comments on 'Strategies for Managing Present and Future Wastes,'" Risk Analysis, Society for Risk Analysis, Plenum Press, New York, Vol. 11, No. 1, March 1991, p. 83.

"The Status of Superfund Implementation," Testimony before the Committee on Public Works and Transportation Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, U.S. House of Representatives, November 12, 1991.

“Tracking Superfund: Where the Program Stands,” Environmental Defense Fund, Friends of the Earth, National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Hazardous Waste Treatment Council, February 1990.

"RCRA: The Birth of the Hammer," The Environmental Forum, Environmental Law Institute, Washington, Vol. 7, No. 5, September/October 1990, pp. 18.

Testimony on H.R. 2525, The Waste Export Control Act, before the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Transportation and Hazardous Materials, U.S. House of Representatives, July 1989.

“Right Train, Wrong Track: Failed Leadership in the Superfund Cleanup Program,” Environmental Defense Fund, Friends of the Earth, National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Hazardous Waste Treatment Council, February 1988.

For Further Information, Please Contact:

SEA, L.C.
8828 Harness Trail
Potomac, MD 20854
301-299-6013 301-299-9824 (fax)
email: SEA.LLC@RichardFortuna.com
website: www.richardfortuna.com