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Superfund Remedial Performance Measures
The Superfund Remedial Program has six performance measures that are employed in the program to accomplish specific desired environmental results. As of October 2014, Superfund is reporting accomplishments at sites with Superfund alternative approach (SAA) agreements.
Performance measures on this page:
- Remedial Site Assessment Completions
- Remedial Action Project Completions
- Construction Completions
- Human Exposure Under Control
- Groundwater Migration Under Control
- Sitewide Ready for Anticipated Use
Remedial Site Assessment Completions
This measure tracks the number of remedial site assessments completed under the federal Superfund program by EPA and its federal and state partners. The assessments are used to determine if sites warrant short- or long-term cleanup attention under a Superfund managed or monitored program.
Remedial Action Project Completions
This measure augments the site-wide Construction Completion measure and applies to the actual construction or implementation of a discrete scope of activities supporting a Superfund site cleanup. Each "remedial action" (RA) project is generally designed to achieve progress toward specific remedial action objectives (RAOs) identified in a remedy decision document (e.g. Record of Decision (ROD), ROD amendment, or Explanation of Significant Difference (ESD)).
Construction Completions
This measure is a site-wide measure that documents sites where physical construction of all cleanup activities is complete, including actions to address all immediate threats and to bring all long-term threats under control.
Human Exposure Under Control
This measure tracks sites on the National Priorities List (NPL) where all identified unacceptable human exposures from site contamination for current land and/or ground water use conditions have been controlled.
- Human Exposure Status Definitions
- Current human exposure is under control - Sites are assigned to this category when assessments for human exposures indicate there are no unacceptable human exposure pathways and the Region has determined the site is under control for current conditions site wide.
- Insufficient data to determine human exposure control status - Due to uncertainty regarding exposures, one cannot draw conclusions as to whether human exposures are controlled. Sites are typically assigned to this category when responses have not been initiated or response actions have been initiated but have not yet generated reliable information to make an evaluation for this indicator - i.e., there is not sufficient information to determine whether there are any current, complete unacceptable human exposure pathways at the site, therefore no determination is possible.
- Current human exposures is not under control - Sites are assigned to this category when 1) contamination has been detected at a site at an unsafe level, and 2) a reasonable expectation exists that people may be exposed to the contamination.
Groundwater Migration Under Control
This measure tracks sites on the NPL where either: 1) contamination is below protective, risk-based levels or, if not, 2) where the migration of contaminated ground water is stabilized, there is no unacceptable discharge to surface water, and monitoring will be conducted to confirm that affected ground water remains in the original area of contamination.
- Contaminated Groundwater Status Definitions
- Contaminated ground water migration is under control - indicates that all information on known and reasonably expected ground water contamination has been reviewed and that the migration of contaminated ground water is stabilized and there is no unacceptable discharge to surface water and monitoring will be conducted to confirm that affected ground water remains in the original area of contamination.
- Insufficient data to determine migration control status - Due to uncertainty regarding contaminated ground water migration, one cannot draw conclusions as to whether the migration of contaminated ground water is stabilized.
- Contaminated ground water migration is not under control - indicates that all information on known and reasonably expected ground water contamination has been reviewed and that the migration of contaminated ground water is not stabilized.
Sitewide Ready for Anticipated Use (SWRAU)
The Sitewide Ready for Anticipated Use Superfund performance measure is used to designate final and deleted construction complete NPL sites, and sites with SAA agreements* in place, where, for the entire site:
- All cleanup goals in the Record(s) of Decision or other remedy decision document(s) have been achieved for media that may affect current and reasonably anticipated future land uses of the site, so that there are no unacceptable risks; and
- All institutional or other controls required in the Record(s) of Decision or other remedy decision documents have been put in place.
*reporting accomplishments as of October 2014.