Siting of School Facilities

Quick Links to EPA School Siting Resources

Quick Links to Non-EPA School Siting Resources

National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities Site Selection Resource Page (Extensive links)

California Site Review Process

California School Site Selection And Approval Guide, California Department Of Education

New Jersey Environmental Guidance for Licensing of Proposed Childcare Centers

N.J.A.C. 7:26E Technical Requirements for Site Remediation (Tech Rule)

Safe Routes To School, U.S. Department of Transportation

Safe Routes to School National Partnership

Integrating Schools Into Healthy Community Design, National Governors Association

Local Governments and Schools: A Community-Oriented Approach, International City/County Management Association, 2008

Growth and Disparity: A Decade of U.S. Public School Construction 1995-2004, Building Educational Success Together (BEST), 2006

Building Schools on Brownfields: Lessons Learned from California, Bureau of National Affairs, 2005

Creating Connections: The CEFPI Guide for Educational Facility Planning, Council of Education Facility Planners International, 2004

Emergency Planning (DoED)

In the next few decades, thousands of schools around the country will be built and renovated. Where and how schools are built will profoundly affect the communities they serve and the quality of their air and water. Some of the factors that can directly impact the health and well-being of children, staff and the broader community include:

potential air, soil and water contamination on school sites;
traffic and busing requirements that affect ambient air quality;
safe walking and bicycling routes, which affect opportunities for physical activity; and
play spaces and sport facilities that also influence opportunities for physical activity.

Over the past several years, a number of widely publicized incidents involving air, water or soil contamination at existing or newly constructed school and day care facilities have raised awareness of the need to properly evaluate and, where necessary, remediate or avoid sites where children's health could be compromised.

While a first-rate education in a safe and healthy facility must always be the primary consideration when making school spending decisions, a growing number of communities are using these investments to meet multiple goals -- educational, health, environmental, economic, social, and fiscal. These decisions are complex, and ultimately, a local responsibility.

EPA recognizes that selecting the most appropriate school sites is most likely if communities have access to and utilize the best available resources. EPA will use this web page to assist states, communities and the public in finding existing school siting resources, including guidance already available from EPA, as well as leading efforts by states and other organizations.

Development of Voluntary Model School Siting Guidelines

In December 2007, Congress enacted comprehensive legislation designed to address a wide range of energy and related issues. Among the provisions included in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 was a requirement that EPA develop – in consultation with the Secretaries of the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services -- model guidelines for siting of school facilities that take into account:

the special vulnerabilities of children to hazardous substances or pollution exposures in any case in which the potential for contamination at a potential school site exists;
the modes of transportation available to students and staff;
the efficient use of energy; and
the potential use of a school at the site as an emergency shelter.

An EPA-wide work group is currently developing the draft guidelines and EPA anticipates posting a draft for public comment on this web page this summer. EPA will widely publicize the availability of the draft to ensure that a broad spectrum of input is received.

To learn more about the school siting guideline development process, read remarks (PDF, 38 kb, 7 pages About PDF)
by Dr. Peter Grevatt, EPA Senior Advisor for Children's Health, presented at an April 28, 2009 briefing on "Sources of Pollution and Safe School Siting."

EPA School Siting Resources

IAQ Design Tools for Schools School Site Selection and Evaluation Guidance

Prior to site acquisition, complete a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment using ASTM Standard Practice E1527-05. A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment uses readily available information to identify potential liability and risk associated with environmental and public health considerations due to previous ownership and uses of a property. The Phase I assessment includes a review of the site history, a visual site inspection of the property and surrounding properties for potential sources of contamination, and a review of Federal, State, and local government records of sites or facilities where there has been a release of hazardous substances that may impact the site under consideration.
If preliminary assessment suggests significant potential sources of contamination, conduct a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment using ASTM Standard Practice E1903-97 (2002) .
Ensure that soil contamination is cleaned up or avoid site. EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) has developed Draft Guidance for Evaluating the Vapor Intrusion to Indoor Air Pathway from Groundwater and Soils (Subsurface Vapor Intrusion Guidance) where contamination with volatile or semi-volatile contaminants or petroleum hydrocarbons may pose vapor intrusion risks.
Provide opportunities for participation in the school site acquisition process by school administrators and staff, parents, age-appropriate students, community members and state or tribal cleanup program officials.

Smart Growth And Schools

Many communities that are reevaluating their growth patterns are also assessing how and where they spend their education dollars. Investments in schools both respond to and influence growth. Although challenging, the boom in school construction offers an unprecedented opportunity to improve the quality of schools and communities together, by applying the principles of smart growth to educational facility planning. Communities benefit when schools are within walking distance for students, faculty, and staff or older school buildings are renovated rather than replaced by new facilities. When smart growth approaches are used, additional community outcomes may included:

Reduced emissions from automobiles and buses when schools are walkable;
Reduced water runoff when schools are built compactly and in communities with narrower, pedestrian friendly streets;
Fiscal efficiencies when older schools are renovated rather than decommissioned or demolished and replaced by new facilities on the edge of communities.

Brownfields and Land Revitalization

Brownfields are real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment. Read more...

Related Brownfields Resources

Related EPA Resources

Managing Your Environmental Responsibilities: A Planning Guide for Construction and Development

State and Local School Siting Resources

A number of states and localities have already established specific school siting requirements or guidance that addresses environmental health and safety issues. For an extensive resource list of links to these resources, visit the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities Resource List: School Facilities Planning and Design Guidelines -- State and Local

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