By hiring a technical advisor that can help interpret complex environmental information, your community can be empowered to become involved in the cleanup process. Becoming involved in the cleanup process can include commenting on documents shared by DTSC during open public comment periods.

There are various ways to encourage public participation, such as by attending public meetings, posting to social media, sharing your project with local community groups, and distributing fliers.

Specifically for TAG, community science can include collection of samples described as “community confirmation sampling”. Community Confirmation Sampling is designed to ensure that site-related contamination has not migrated beyond the boundary of the Cleanup Site; to confirm that the site has been properly characterized and its boundaries adequately delineated; and/or that it has been cleaned up to applicable cleanup levels to protect human health and the environment. With the property owner’s permission, Community Confirmation Samples can be collected by the Technical Advisor or can be collected as split samples by the Responsible Party’s consultant or DTSC staff working on the project, as directed by the community. Community science can also include laboratory tours or demonstrations of sampling equipment, for example.

Yes, a community can request that the Technical Advisor conduct Community Confirmation Sampling. Sampling will require permission of the property owner(s).

The collection of an environmental sample prompted by the community. It is designed to ensure that Site-related contamination has not migrated beyond the Cleanup Site boundary, to confirm that the Site has been properly characterized and its boundaries adequately delineated, and/or that it has been cleaned up to applicable cleanup levels.

Community Confirmation Sampling can include samples collected on-site (within the known boundaries of the cleanup site) or off-site (outside of the known boundaries of the cleanup site). Sampling must align with historical uses and contaminants associated with the site. Alternate types of sampling, such as air or dust monitoring, can also be conducted under Community Confirmation Sampling.

On-site sampling would require property owner/Responsible Party approval to access the property. If access is not granted by the property owner, the Technical Advisor could recommend additional on-site sampling locations – of any relevant medium and for any relevant chemical or concern – which would be reviewed by DTSC, and, if concurred with, shared with the Responsible Party. Regardless of the activity or location, well planned and documented sampling or monitoring protocols are necessary to ensure data usability. If sampling will be conducted by the Technical Advisor, the Technical Advisor will need to meet additional education, training and certification requirements as described in the TAG Guidelines.

Some off-site activities could include, but are not limited to:

• Sampling of garden soils and/or residential yards that may have been impacted by
  the Cleanup Site
•  Vapor intrusion assessment following DTSC guidance for indoor air sampling
• Surface/stormwater runoff monitoring
• Monitoring to confirm that any controls established for the project are adequately
  functioning (i.e. ensuring contaminated soil stockpiles are adequately covered,
  maintaining fences, etc.)
•  Perimeter air monitoring – dust, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and/or odors
• Monitoring of potentially contaminated soil moved off-site from truck traffic from the
  site or “Track out” monitoring

Off-site Community Confirmation Sampling requires voluntary consent (permission) from the property owners, whether private parties (private land) or governmental entities (public land). As with on-site data collection efforts, procedures must follow quality assurance protocols to ensure the data is representative and reliable.

Technical advisors can be found at:

• University’s science, engineering, or planning departments
• Professional and technical organizations and groups
• Environmental groups
• Trade journals
• Environmental conferences
• State and local health departments
• Search engine (online)
• Environmental consulting firms
• Local environmental non-profits
• Online environmental forums
• Other TAG recipients

Make sure your technical advisor meets the qualifications that are listed in the TAG Guidelines.

If they choose, grantees may also select a TA from DTSC’s vendor list of interested and available Technical Advisors.

DTSC does not require that the TA is competitively procured. However, the TA must meet the qualifications listed in the guidelines. Keep the information regarding their qualifications as part of your grant records.

No, there are not any restrictions or certification requirements for TAs. However, TAs are required to have training and experience that allows them to effectively fulfill the role, which requires interpreting complex data and effectively communicating the information to the community. Refer to the guidelines for a complete list of the qualifications required.

Yes, there are no restrictions on the amount of TAs a grantee can hire.

No, you do not need to identify a TA before applying for the TAG program.

The purpose of the TAG Program is to improve the community’s understanding of a project site, as well as improve the communication between DTSC and the community. A TA can review a cleanup plan and help communicate the details of the cleanup plan to the community, but not create the plan. A project that includes the development of a cleanup plan may be better suited for other types of funding sources. Reach out to CCLR with questions about other sources of funding that may be available to you.

DTSC is building a vendor list of interested and available Technical Advisors. Please review the TAG SOIQ Information and submit the Statement of Interest and Qualifications for Technical Advisors form.

Consider setting terms with your vendor or contractor to extend payment due dates for 60-90 days and submit your reimbursement report to DTSC in a timely manner.

Yes, regulations only allow for a total of 25% of the award to be disbursed through Advance Pay.

Your grant manager must live within 5 miles of the eligible cleanup site. The grant manager’s home address must be within the 5 miles radius of the site.

If the site is not an active cleanup site overseen by DTSC, it is not an eligible site. You can check the status of a site using Envirostor. However, if you know the site is an active DTSC cleanup site and it is within 5 miles of a vulnerable community, but it is not showing in the Technical Assistance Grant Site Mapping Tool, please email DTSC_TAGprogram@dtsc.ca.gov for assistance.

Not necessarily; the applicant can meet other eligibility criteria, such as being a tribal community, having a CES poverty percentage of 50% or greater or having special circumstances (e.g. climate change vulnerability, food desert, lack of medical facilities, recent natural disasters, etc.) and can demonstrate it is disadvantaged.

No, sites must be under DTSC Cleanup Program oversight, in investigation, cleanup or operation and maintenance phases.

Yes, an applicant can apply for multiple grants for different cleanup sites, as long as their organization has the capacity to manage the grant and the eligibility criteria is met for all. Separate applications must be submitted for each site. No more than 2 grants will be awarded per organization.

No, one grant will be awarded per site.

Multiple community organizations can apply for the same site but only one grant will be awarded per site. In the event that multiple community groups are interested in the same site, we encourage you to collaborate on a project.

Applicants are required to submit a Letter of Intent. DTSC will post the Letter of Intent online to inform the rest of the community that your group is interested in applying for a TAG. The notice will also explain that other groups in your community interested in applying for a TAG may contact your group and join your team or may submit their own Letter of Intent. Other groups in your community then have 15 days to get in touch with your group to discuss working together to submit one application to DTSC as a coalition; otherwise they can submit their own Letter of Intent.

No, an applicant must be a 501(c)(3), a community group under fiscal sponsorship from a 501(c)(3), or a Tribal community. However, a 501(c)(4) can partner with a 501(c)(3) applicant on a project.

No, the Tribe does not have to be federally recognized. A Tribal community is eligible if they are culturally, regionally, or traditionally affiliated with lands or resources of California, including those listed on the California Tribal Consultation List maintained by the California NAHC.

It depends on the type of grant and the applicant. Please email DTSC_TAGprogram@dtsc.ca.gov to discuss your individual situation.