Established in 1985, IRP addresses the release of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants on installations and former properties resulting from past practices that may pose a risk to human health and the environment.  The IRP category includes active installations, BRAC, and FUDS.  Installations and properties generally contain only small areas of localized contamination within their boundaries.  DoD terms these contaminated areas “sites” (except the FUDS program, which refers to these areas as “projects”).  DERP follows CERCLA and the process defined by its implementing regulation, the NCP, to cleanup all DERP sites, including IRP and MMRP.  This process consists of several phases that advance sites through investigation and cleanup.

There are two important DoD environmental restoration milestones in the cleanup portion of the process. The remedy in place, or RIP, milestone marks the point at which DoD has completed constructing the remedy, and the remedy is operating effectively. The response complete, or RC, milestone is reached when all cleanup objectives specified in the site's ROD or decision document have been met. After reaching the RC milestone, a site may require long-term management (LTM) activities to ensure the implemented remedy remains effective. This phase, formerly called long-term monitoring, includes environmental monitoring, review of site conditions, and/or maintenance of a remedial action to ensure that the established remedy continues to meet the objectives prescribed in the ROD.

IRP Prioritization and Goals:
DoD uses the Relative-Risk Site Evaluation (RRSE) framework to prioritize cleanup under the IRP program.  Each site is ranked as high, medium, and low risk, based on the nature and extent of a site’s contamination, the likelihood that contaminants will migrate through the environment, and potential impacts of contamination on populations and ecosystems. 

The Department establishes goals to measure performance in reducing risks and completing cleanup.  Military Components are required to meet the following goals for active installations, FUDS, and BRAC IRP sites:

IRP Active Installations Sites:

• Reduce risk or achieve RIP/RC at all high relative risk IRP sites by the end of FY 2007
  
• Reduce risk or achieve RIP/RC at all medium relative risk IRP sites by the end of FY2011
  
• Reduce risk or achieve RIP/RC at all low relative risk IRP sites by the end of FY2014

IRP FUDS:

• Reduce risk or achieve RIP/RC at all high relative risk IRP sites by the end of FY 2007
  
• Reduce risk or achieve RIP/RC at all medium relative risk IRP sites by the end of FY2011
  
• Reduce risk or achieve RIP/RC at all low relative risk IRP sites by the end of FY2020

IRP BRAC sites:

• Achieve RIP/RC at all Legacy BRAC IRP sites by the end of FY2015
  
• Achieve RIP/RC at all BRAC V IRP sites by the end of FY2014