HRS Toolbox
The HRS Toolbox page provides current guidance documents that may be used to determine if a site is a candidate for inclusion on the National Priorities List.
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See EPA's PDF page to learn more about PDF, and for a link to the free Acrobat Reader.
Guidance for Performing Preliminary Assessments Under CERCLA
The Guidance for Performing Preliminary Assessments Under CERCLA is applicable to the most commonly encountered sites and site conditions. This document provides guidelines and instruction on PA evaluation, scoring, and the use of standard PA scoresheets.
- Guidance for Performing Preliminary Assessments Under CERCLA (PDF) (173 pp, 1.2 MB, About PDF)
Guidance for Performing Site Inspections Under CERCLA
The Guidance for Performing Site Inspections Under CERCLA is applicable to the most commonly encountered sites and site conditions. This guidance discusses how to review and evaluate available information, plan an effective sampling strategy to acquire analytical data to evaluate a site according to the HRS, and prepare required reports and work products.
- Guidance for Performing Site Inspections Under CERCLA (PDF) (236 pp, 3.2 MB, About PDF)
Hazard Ranking System Guidance Manual
The Hazard Ranking System Guidance Manual provides general and technical guidance for individuals involved in determining HRS scores and preparing HRS scoring packages. The manual clarifies terms and concepts in the HRS, presents strategies and specific guidance for scoring selected HRS factors, and provides guidelines to assist in collecting and organizing relevant data. For more information on HRS Acronyms and Terms, access the Glossary of HRS Acronyms and Terms (A-L) and Glossary of HRS Acronyms and Terms (M-Z).
- Hazard Ranking System Guidance Manual (PDF) (533 pp, 7.6 MB, About PDF)
- Amendments to Superfund Hazard Ranking System Guidance Incorporating Native American Traditional Lifeways (PDF) (24 pp, 802 K, About PDF)
Hazard Ranking System; Final Rule December 14, 1990
This revision to the Hazard Ranking System (HRS) was published in the Federal Register (Volume 55, Number 241) on Friday, December 14, 1990.
- Revised HRS Final Rule, 55 FR 51532 (December 14, 1990) (PDF) (136 pp, 15.5 MB, About PDF)
Fact Sheets
This collection of fact sheets provides a quick reference guide for HRS scoring and site assessment investigations. The fact sheets were published from November 1990 to April 2000.
- Establishing Areas of Observed Contamination (PDF) (7 pp, 46 K, About PDF)
- Establishing Background Levels (PDF) (7 pp, 40 K, About PDF)
- Establishing an Observed Release (PDF) (7 pp, 47 K, About PDF)
- Evaluating Ground Water Plumes Under the HRS (PDF) (5 pp, 28 K, About PDF)
- Evaluating Karst Geology Using the HRS (PDF) (4 pp, 26 K, About PDF)
- Guide to Community Involvement for Site Assessment Managers (PDF) (5 pp, 560 K, About PDF)
- Improving Site Assessment: Abbreviated Preliminary Assessments (PDF) (9 pp, 44 K, About PDF)
- Improving Site Assessment: Integrating Removal and Remedial Site Evaluations (PDF) (6 pp, 40 K, About PDF)
- Improving Site Assessment: Pre-CERCLIS Screening Assessments (PDF) (7 pp, 37 K, About PDF)
- Integrating Removal and Remedial Site Assessment Investigations (PDF) (8 pp, 318 K, About PDF)
- Revised HRS: An Improved Tool for Screening Superfund Sites (PDF) (4 pp, 24 K, About PDF)
- Revised HRS: Background Information (PDF) (11 pp, 79 K, About PDF)
- Revised HRS: Evaluating Sites After Waste Removals (PDF) (10 pp, 56 K, About PDF)
- Revised HRS: Questions and Answers (PDF) (7 pp, 37 K, About PDF)
- Soil Screening Guidance (PDF) (7 pp, 42 K, About PDF)
- Using Qualified Data to Document an Observed Release and Observed Contamination (PDF) (18 pp, 89 K, About PDF)
HRS Scoring and Documentation Tools
The HRS Scoring and Documentation Tools collection currently contains the NPL Characteristics Data Collection Form and the Superfund Chemical Data Matrix (SCDM).
- NPL Characteristics Data Collection Form (Ver. 3.0, 12/2001) (PDF) (33 pp, 270 K, About PDF)
- Superfund Chemical Data Matrix (SCDM)
NPL Listing Policy Documents
The NPL Listing Policy Documents currently contains a Policy for Withdrawing a Proposal to List a Site on the NPL, a Policy for Obtaining a Govenor's Letter prior to Listing on the NPL, and a Policy for Clarifying the Definition of "Site" under the NPL.