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 under the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) SAA policy.
Performance measures on this page:
- Remedial Site Assessment Completions
- Remedial Action Project Completions
- Construction Completions
- Environmental Indicators
- 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 (RAPCs)
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)).
As of Fiscal Year 2014, Superfund is reporting RAPC accomplishments at sites with SAA site agreements under the OECA SAA policy.
Construction Completions (CCs)
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.
As of Fiscal Year 2014, Superfund is reporting CC accomplishments at sites with non-NPL SAA site agreements under the OECA SAA policy. In FY 2015, there was one CC at an SAA site. As of October 2015, there have been six CCs at SAA sites over the life of the Superfund Program.
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Environmental Indicators
Superfund Environmental Indicators are measures of program performance used to communicate tangible progress made in protecting human health and the environment through site cleanup activities.
Current Superfund Environmental Indicators are used to report:
- The number of sites at which current human exposure to contamination is under control or falls within the levels specified as safe by EPA; and
- The number of sites where contaminated ground water migration has been controlled to prevent further spread of contaminants and prevent unacceptable discharge levels to surface water, sediments, or ecosystems.
Human Exposure Under Control (HEUC)
This measure tracks Final and Deleted National Priorities List (NPL) and non-NPL Superfund Alternative Approach sites 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.
As of Fiscal Year 2014, Superfund is reporting HEUC accomplishments at sites with SAA site agreements under the OECA SAA policy.
Ground Water Migration Under Control
This measure tracks Final and Deleted National Priorities List (NPL) and non-NPL Superfund Alternative Approach sites 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 Ground Water 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.
As of Fiscal Year 2014, Superfund is reporting Ground Water Migration Under Control accomplishments at sites with SAA site agreements under the OECA SAA policy.
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.
*As of October 2014, Superfund is reporting SWRAU accomplishments at sites with SAA site agreements under the OECA SAA policy.