Summary

Under the Superfund program, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must determine cleanup priorities for hazardous waste sites on the basis of the risks that the sites pose to human health and the environment. In 1989, EPA began a "worst sites first" policy that requires sites posing the greatest risk to be placed on the National Priorities List--a roster of the most contaminated properties. Once EPA decides to address a listed site, it does a formal "baseline" risk assessment to help it determine the steps needed to protect human health and the environment. This testimony discusses the extent to which EPA (1) has implemented its policy of "worst sites first" to reduce its backlog of sites awaiting screening for the National Priorities List and to prioritize sites already on the list and (2) follows its own guidance in conducting baseline risk assessments.