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Site Assessment
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The Site Assessment process evaluates sites to determine and implement the appropriate responses to releases of hazardous substances to the environment. During the site assessment process, EPA and states collect data to identify, evaluate, and rank hazardous waste sites based on Hazard Ranking System (HRS) criteria.
Once a site is identified -- for example, from a citizen petition (PDF) (4 pp, 485 K) or a state's recommendation -- the site undergoes a minimal screening process (pre-screening) to determine whether the CERCLA site assessment process or another option is appropriate. Once a potentially hazardous site is identified as appropriate for the site assessment process, EPA or the state conducts a Preliminary Assessment (PA) and if warranted, a Site Inspection (SI). More in-depth assessment and an HRS package are prepared for the minority of sites that are considered strong candidates for inclusion on the National Priorities List (NPL).
Links
- National Priorities List site listing process
- Introduction to the Hazard Ranking System
- Preliminary Assessment and Site Inspection
- Preliminary Assessment Petition (PDF) (4 pp, 485 K) - officially request an assessment of a potential hazardous waste site
- HRS Toolbox - find current guidance documents that may be used to determine whether a site is a candidate for inclusion on the NPL (including PA, SI and HRS)
- HRS Quickscore - use this set of electronic HRS scoresheets to execute real time site score calculations
- HRS Training Course: Online or Classroom
- Federal Facilities Preliminary Assessment Summary Guide (PDF)(39 pp, 2.8 M) and Site Inspection Summary Guide (PDF)(53 pp, 2.8 M).
- Search CERCLIS – find current information about sites in EPA's Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) database
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