(a) The SMOA may establish the nature and extent of EPA and state interaction during EPA-lead and state-lead response (Indian tribes meeting the requirements of § 300.515(b) may be treated as states for purposes of this section). EPA shall enter into SMOA discussions if requested by a state. The following may be addressed in a SMOA:
(1) The EPA/state or Indian tribe relationship for removal, pre-remedial, remedial, and enforcement response, including a description of the roles and the responsibilities of each.
(2) The general requirements for EPA oversight. Oversight requirements may be more specifically defined in cooperative agreements.
(3) The general nature of lead and support agency interaction regarding the review of key documents and/or decision points in removal, pre-remedial, remedial, and enforcement response. The requirements for EPA and state review of each other's key documents when each is serving as the support agency shall be equivalent to the extent practicable. Review times agreed to in the SMOA must also be documented in site-specific cooperative agreements or Superfund state contracts in order to be binding.
(4) Procedures for modification of the SMOA (e.g., if EPA and a state agree that the lead and support agency roles and responsibilities have changed, or if modifications are required to achieve desired goals).
(b) The SMOA and any modifications thereto shall be executed by the EPA Regional Administrator and the head of the state agency designated as lead agency for state implementation of CERCLA.
(c) Site-specific agreements entered into pursuant to section 104(d)(1) of CERCLA shall be developed in accordance with 40 CFR part 35, subpart O. The SMOA shall not supersede such agreements.
(d)
(1) EPA and the state shall consult annually to determine priorities and make lead and support agency designations for removal, pre-remedial, remedial, and enforcement response to be conducted during the next fiscal year and to discuss future priorities and long-term requirements for response. These consultations shall include the exchange of information on both Fund- and non-Fund-financed response activities. The SMOA may describe the timeframe and process for the EPA/state consultation.
(2) The following activities shall be discussed in the EPA/state consultations established in the SMOA, or otherwise initiated and documented in writing in the absence of a SMOA, on a site-specific basis with EPA and the state identifying the lead agency for each response action discussed:
(i) Pre-remedial response actions, including preliminary assessments and site inspections;
(ii) Hazard Ranking System scoring and NPL listing and deletion activities;
(iii) Remedial phase activities, including remedial investigation/feasibility study, identification of potential applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs) under federal and state environmental laws and, as appropriate, other advisories, criteria, or guidance to be considered (TBCs), proposed plan, ROD, remedial design, remedial action, and operation and maintenance;
(iv) Potentially responsible party (PRP) searches, notices to PRPs, response to information requests, PRP negotiations, oversight of PRPs, other enforcement actions pursuant to state law, and activities where the state provides support to EPA;
(v) Compilation and maintenance of the administrative record for selection of a response action as required by subpart I of this part;
(vi) Related site support activities;
(vii) State ability to share in the cost and timing of payments; and
(viii) General CERCLA implementation activities.
(3) If a state is designated as the lead agency for a non-Fund-financed action at an NPL site, the SMOA shall be supplemented by site-specific enforcement agreements between EPA and the state which specify schedules and EPA involvement.
(4) In the absence of a SMOA, EPA and the state shall comply with the requirements in § 300.515(h). If the SMOA does not address all of the requirements specified in § 300.515(h), EPA and the state shall comply with any unaddressed requirements in that section.