U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
OSWER Cross-Program Revitalization Measures
March 17, 2009
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Cross-Program Revitalization Measures (CPRM) Report
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. PURPOSE OF THE REPORT ON OSWER CLEANUP AND
REVITALIZATION CROSS-PROGRAM PERFORMANCE MEASURES 3
II. BACKGROUND 4
III. OSWER-CPRM CROSS-PROGRAM RESULTS 6
IV. OSWER - CPRM PROGRAM-SPECIFIC RESULTS 7
CPRM Results for the Brownfields Program 8
CPRM Results for the Emergency Removal Program 9
CPRM Results for the RCRA Corrective Action Program 9
CPRM for the Superfund Program 10
CPRM Results for the Underground Storage Tank Program 11
V. SUMMARY 12
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Cross-Program Revitalization Measures (CPRM) Report
I. PURPOSE OF THE REPORT ON OSWER CLEANUP AND
REVITALIZATION CROSS-PROGRAM PERFORMANCE MEASURES
This report seeks to define how much contaminated or potentially contaminated land the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (EPA OSWER)
cleanup programs address and how much progress OSWER has made in making sure these lands are
protective for use now, as well as for the
foreseeable future. OSWER provides policy,
guidance and direction for these programs,
including:
"By 2011, control the risks to human health and the
environment at contaminated properties or sites
through cleanup, stabilization, or other action and
make land available for reuse. "
http ://www. epa. gov/ofco/plan/2006/goal_3 .pdf
• developing guidelines for the land disposal of
hazardous waste and underground storage
tanks;
• providing technical assistance to all levels of
government to establish safe practices in
waste management;
• administering the Brownfields Program, which supports state and local governments in
redeveloping and reusing potentially contaminated sites, and;
• managing the Superfund Program to respond to abandoned and active hazardous waste sites and
accidental oil and chemical releases, as well as encouraging innovative technologies to address
contaminated soil and groundwater.
The primary objective of OSWER cleanup programs is to ensure that the cleanup of contaminated sites
is protective of human health and the environment. During the cleanup process, EPA considers the
future use or reuse of the site to help ensure that the land will remain protective for continued use/reuse
over the long term. EPA developed the new national cross-program revitalization measures (CPRM) to
measure, report and communicate the progress that is being made towards enabling reuse at sites
overseen by OSWER cleanup programs. These data collection efforts were predicated by the EPA
cleanup programs looking beyond completing construction of the remedy to the next stages in the land
use cycle, such as the implementation of institutional controls. To date, hundreds of thousands of acres
of land have been assessed and/or remediated and determined protective for current and reasonably
anticipated future uses. As a result, hundreds of communities across the country have reclaimed
properties for ecological, recreational, commercial, residential and other productive purposes.
CPRM are composed of the Universe Indicator (UI), Protective for People Under Current Conditions
(PFP) Performance Measure, and Ready for Anticipated Use (RA U) Performance Measure.
This report presents the data results through FY08 for the Universe Indicator and Protective for People
(PFP) and Ready for Anticipated Use (RAU) performance measures1. The measures are defined as
follows:
Universe Indicator The number of actual, potentially or previously contaminated sites
and associated surface acres for which OSWER cleanup programs
have an oversight role for assessment and/or response action.
1 Two voluntary indicators were also developed to describe the status and type of land: Status of Use Indictor and Type of
Use Indicator. These are not currently reported on an annual basis.
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Cross-Program Revitalization Measures (CPRM) Report
Protective for People (PFP) The number of acres and sites at which there is no complete pathway
Performance Measure for human exposures to unacceptable levels of contamination based
on current site conditions.
Ready for Anticipated Use The number of acres and sites at which: 1) there is no complete
(RAU) Performance Measure pathway for human exposures to unacceptable levels of contamination
based on current site conditions (PFP), and 2) all cleanup goals have
been achieved for media that may affect current and reasonably
anticipated future land uses of the acres or site so that there are no
unacceptable risks, and 3) all institutional or other controls identified
as part of the response action to help ensure long-term protection have
been put in place.
II. BACKGROUND
In September 2004, the OSWERLand Revitalization Outcomes and Benefits Workgroup (Workgroup)
was convened to develop a set of new, cross-programmatic indicators and performance measures with
clarity and reliability as driving principles.
In September 2006, the Workgroup completed a report titled, "Measuring Revitalization of
Contaminated Properties in America's Communities: Past Accomplishments and Future Opportunities".2
The report presented information explaining:
• Why cleanup and land revitalization are important and why measuring EPA's efforts is
important;
• How the OSWER cleanup programs are currently measuring their revitalization activities and
accomplishments;
• What opportunities exist for new or enhanced approaches for measuring and characterizing
cleanup and revitalization accomplishments across OSWER programs; and
What the next steps are for the successful development and implementation of new or
enhanced revitalization measures.
Based on the Workgroup's findings, on October 20, 2006, OSWER issued Interim Guidance for
implementing a consistent set of cross-program revitalization measures. This guidance applied to the
following cleanup programs: the Brownfields, Superfund (including federal facilities), Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action, Underground Storage Tanks (UST), and
Emergency Response programs.3 The Interim Guidance established the overarching concepts for the
CPRM to promote greater consistency in how OSWER cleanup programs measure their
accomplishments. Additionally, the measures better promote and communicate cleanup and
revitalization related accomplishments and associated benefits and values to society.
In order to consistently communicate OSWER revitalization efforts across the cleanup programs, "acre"
and "site" were identified as the units of measure to be used to quantify these efforts. Historically, EPA
tracked a variety of metrics for sites or releases at sites, but did not account for the considerable
variability in site size possible across EPA cleanup programs. For example, a leaking underground
storage tank site may be only one acre, while some federally-owned Superfund sites can be thousands of
acres. Using acres-based performance measures, in addition to site-wide performance measures, can
2 http://www.epa.sov/landrevitalization/docs/revitalizationmeasuresreport9-06.pdf
3 http://www.epa.sov/oswer/landrevitalization/docs/cprmsuidance-10-20-06covermemo.pdf
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Cross-Program Revitalization Measures (CPRM) Report
help demonstrate incremental progress at portions of a site which may result in faster return of portions
of sites to communities for beneficial uses or reuses.
Since some cleanups take a considerable amount of time to complete, EPA uses the PFP Performance
Measure to communicate the intermediate milestone of acres determined to be protective for current
uses. The RAU performance measure is a longer term measure that communicates when cleanup
goals—appropriate for current as well as reasonably expected uses—are achieved. The RAU measure
also includes a provision to ensure that any needed land or water use controls (i.e., institutional or other
controls) have been put in place.
The CPRM Interim Guidance contains additional information, detailed definitions of the indicators and
performance measures, and the methodologies supporting the CPRM effort. More detailed information
regarding program-specific approaches for implementing CPRM is presented in the guidance developed
by the Superfund and Federal Facilities Response4 and RCRA Corrective Action5 programs.
The information contained in this report will also serve as a tool to update the data contained in the land
chapter of EPA's Report on the Environment (ROE).
4 "Guidance for Documenting and Reporting Performance in Achieving Land Revitalization, The Office of Superfund
Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI) and Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office (FFRRO)", OSWER
9200.1-74 (www.epa.gov/fedfac/sf ff final cprm guidance.pdf).
5 "Guidance for Documenting and Reporting RCRA Subtitle C Corrective Action Land Revitalization Indicators and
Performance Measures" (www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/correctiveaction/resources/guidance/brfields/lr guid.pdf)
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Cross-Program Revitalization Measures (CPRM) Report
III. OSWER - CPRM CROSS-PROGRAM RESULTS
This section briefly describes the CPRM data for OSWER as a whole. Figure 1 and Table 1 present the
overall magnitude of OSWER cleanup and revitalization efforts to date. The CPRM Universe includes
almost 490,000 sites and close to 15 million acres. This is similar to the total acreage of the state of West
Virginia (15.4 million acres), 0.6 percent of the total land in the United States, or 15 percent of the
developed land in the United States6. Of the OSWER CPRM Universe, approximately 80 percent of the
acres are PFP and 6 percent of the acres have met both the PFP and the RAU.
Figure 1 presents data regarding the acreage of contaminated land being addressed by the OSWER
programs for which cross-program revitalization measures have been developed. Acres that meet the
more stringent criteria for RAU also satisfy the criteria for PFP. For this reason, the data are presented
in a Venn diagram format to convey that the amount of contaminated land that is protective for people is
a subset of the total contaminated lands Universe and that the amount of land that is ready for
anticipated use is a subset of the PFP Universe. The circles in the diagram are drawn to scale (e.g., the
area of the circle representing PFP acres is 80% of the area of the circle representing the OSWER
Universe in acres). A similar format is used throughout the document to portray the CPRM data for
specific programs.
Figure 1
Summary of OSWER CPRM Data, EOY FY 2008
OSWER Universe:
14,927,934 acres
Acres RAU:
917,145 acres
(6%)
Acres PFP:
11,961,223 acres
(80%
6 Developed land accounts for 102.5 million acres or 5% of total land in the US. 2008 EPA's Report on the Environment.
Chapter 4 - Exhibit 4-2, http://www.epa.gov/ncea/roe.
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Cross-Program Revitalization Measures (CPRM) Report
Table 1 presents the same information as Figure 1 in tabular format, and includes CPRM site counts as
well. CPRM data were available for FY 2008, and this data is used as the baseline from which future
trends in CPRM data will be referenced.
Table 1
Summary of Cross-OSWER CPRM Data, FY 2008
Program
Brownfields
Emergency
Removal
RCRA Corrective
Action
Superfund Program
Leaking USTs8
Total
Baseline
(cumulative total
by the end of FY)
FY 2008
Mid-Year FY 2008
FY 2008
FY 2008
FY 2008
—
Overall CPRM Universe
Sites
5,413
TBD7
1,968
1,710
479,817
488,908
Acres
50,712
TBD
10,187,208
4,210,197
479,817
14,927,934
PFP
Sites
987
85
1,893
1,351
377,019
381,335
Acres
9,160
221
9,938,942
1,635,881
377,019
*11,961,223
*80% of CPRM Acres Universe
RAU
Sites
987
NA
230
343
377,019
378,579
Acres
9,160
NA
97,880
433,086
377,019
"917,145
**6 % of CPRM Acres Universe
The lack of CPRM Universe data for the Emergency Removal program as of this date may also result in
underestimation of the CPRM Universe data.
IV. OSWER - CPRM PROGRAM-SPECIFIC RESULTS
This section presents the baseline for each EPA cleanup program in terms of the number of sites and
acres for which the cleanup programs have an oversight role for assessment and/or response action. It
also presents the number of sites and acres for each of EPA's six cleanup and revitalization programs
that have achieved PFP and RAU. Additionally, details about each program's CPRM data collection,
reporting and their results are offered. The data presented herein represent the CPRM accomplishments
as of end-of-year FY 2008.
Each OSWER program is responsible for collecting and maintaining its own information for the CPRM
effort. OSWER then compiles the data across the programs to present an OSWER-wide report. Each
program developed guidance to measure sites and acres.9
7 The Emergency Removal Program has not yet calculated its CPRM Universe. While the program is exploring options to do
so, it may not be possible to establish a past Universe given that the program does not revisit sites where the emergency has
been addressed.
8 As described in the October 2006 CPRM guidance, "A limitation in applying the RAU measure to UST sites is the UST
Program's inability at this point in time to identify whether any institutional controls, if needed, are in place. OSWER
recognizes this limitation as an inconsistency with the general guidance for the RAU measure described in Section IV.A.,
above." Also, one LUST cleanup achieves both PFP and RAU at the same time because a LUST cleanup must achieve
applicable risk-based cleanup standards before being considered "complete."
9 Program-specific guidance for the PFP and RAU measures can be found in Appendix A of the Interim Guidance document.
Likewise, guidance for estimating acreage can be found in Appendix B of the Interim Guidance document.
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Cross-Program Revitalization Measures (CPRM) Report
CPRM Results for the Brownfields Program
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. The passage of
the Brownfields Law that amended the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA) in 2002 provided guidance on criteria for grants to be awarded to communities
to address brownfields. The purpose of the grants is to provide seed funding and technical assistance to
communities to identify, assess and clean up properties. Every year, the CPRM Universe of brownfields
that benefit from EPA funding increases as the program funds new communities to assess and clean up
properties.
Figure 2 illustrates the CPRM-related accomplishments of the Brownfields Program. For this program,
PFP is not treated as an interim accomplishment, but rather, when a property is designated as Ready for
Reuse, it is determined to be RAU and PFP for CPRM purposes, as outlined in the CPRM Interim
Guidance. Figure 2 shows that through FY 2008, Brownfields grants awarded resulted in the assessment
and/or cleanup of almost 5,500 properties and over 50,000 acres.10
Figure 2
Summary of Brownfields CPRM Data, EOY FY 2008
Brownfields Universe:
50,712 Acres
Brownfields Universe:
5,413 Properties
Brownfields Acres
PFP & RAU:
9,160 Acres
Brownfields Properties
PFP & RAU:
987 Properties
10 EPA is seeing similar successes in State and Tribal Response Programs. Based on data from 2006 and 2007 alone, over
18,900 sites were cleaned, with required institutional controls in place, through State and Tribal Response Programs, totaling
over 250,000 acres.
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Cross-Program Revitalization Measures (CPRM) Report
CPRM Results for the Emergency Removal Program
OSWER is responsible for responding to the release of oil and hazardous substances where state and
local first responder capabilities were exceeded or where additional support is needed. For the purpose
of reporting the CPRM, the Emergency Removals Program reports the PFP measure, but not the RAU
measure. OSWER's main focus on responding to these releases is to remove the immediate threat in
order to protect human health and the environment. The results reported in Table 1 represent CPRM PFP
data for the first two quarters of FY08. OSWER plans to have complete yearly PFP data starting in
2009. It may not be possible to establish a past Universe of sites since the program does not revisit sites
where the emergency has been addressed.
CPRM Results for the RCRA Corrective Action Program
The RCRA Corrective Action Program, run by EPA and 43 authorized states and territories, compels
responsible parties to investigate and cleanup hazardous releases. The Universe currently being reported
for the RCRA cleanup program is the corrective action GPRA 2008 Universe (1,968 sites). EPA
originally set a goal of controlling current unacceptable risks to human health at sites that present the
greatest risks. This priority of addressing the greatest risk sites first is reflected in the large number of
sites and acres have already achieved PFP. Beginning in FY09, the RCRA program will report on the
corrective action 2020 Universe (3,746 sites). EPA is working toward the 2020 goal of implementing
final remedies11 at all facilities requiring corrective action.
RCRA Corrective Action Program began collecting data for the CPRM in Fiscal Year 2007. Figure 3
reflects reporting through FY 2008. From a Universe of approximately 2,000 sites and 10 million acres,
about 96 percent of sites and 98 percent of acres meet the PFP measure. About 12 percent of sites and
less than 1 percent of acres meet the RAU measure, reflecting the program's focus on controlling the
greatest risks before pursuing final remedies. The majority of the acres included under RCRA corrective
action are on federal facilities.
Figure 3
Summary of RCRA Corrective Action CPRM Data, EOY FY 2008
RCRA Universe: ^^f====:==^^ / RCRA Universe:
10,187,208 acres ^^^ ^~^^v^^ 1,968 sites
See www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/ca/backgnd.htm#ll for a brief definition of a "final remedy."
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Cross-Program Revitalization Measures (CPRM) Report
CPRM for the Superfund Program
The Superfund Program addresses abandoned hazardous waste sites. Superfund sites are the most
seriously contaminated abandoned properties and require long-term cleanup efforts. Superfund also
provides technical assistance and oversight at federal Superfund sites where work consists of two core
components: the Superfund Federal Facilities Response Program and the Base Realignment and Closure
(BRAC) Program.
Superfund has recently undergone an extensive effort to collect and ensure quality assurance and quality
control (QA/QC) of its CPRM data. Figure 4 reflects the data collected through FY 2008. From a
Universe of about 1,700 sites and more than 4 million acres, about 39 percent of acres meet the PFP
measure and 10 percent of acres meet the RAU measure. About 20 percent of sites have met the RAU
accomplishment and about 79 percent have achieved PFP.12
Figure 4
Summary of Superfund Non-Federal Sites and Superfund-Related Federal Facilities CPRM Data,
EOY FY 2008
Superfund Universe:
4,210,197 acres
Superfund Universe:
1,710 sites
Note that the federal facilities Universe also includes sites and acreage for which a Finding of Suitability
for Lease (FOSL) or Finding of Suitability for Transfer (FOST) will apply. Some FOSL/FOST acreage
cannot be considered PFP or RAU.
12 This includes 138 Non-NPL sites with all acres at least PFP, and 1,213 NPL sites with all acres at least PFP. The
Superfund program has a unique GPRA measure which measures the number of sites which are ready for anticipated use
sitewide, often referred to as Sitewide Ready for Anticipated Use (SWRAU). Once all OU's or parcels have been designated
as RAU at a specific site, and the site is an NPL site which is already Construction Complete, the site meets the criteria for
becoming SWRAU. The 343 RAU sites reported in this report represents only the Superfund program's GPRA SWRAU
accomplishment. It is important to note that there are non-NPL sites at which all acres are RAU, but do not meet this
measure due to their NPL status. Those sites are not counted in the 343.
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Cross-Program Revitalization Measures (CPRM) Report
CPRM Results for the Underground Storage Tank Program
OSWER works with states and tribes to regulate and clean up leaking underground storage tanks. While
the vast majority of these tanks are located on sites with relatively small acreage, the large total number
of OUST sites demonstrates that, collectively, these sites represent a significant amount of land. For the
purpose of the CPRM, one confirmed UST release is measured as one site and one acre for the Universe
Indicator. One cleanup completed equals one acre for the PFP, as well as one acre of RAU.13
Figure 5 reflects data through FY 2008 CPRM for the LUST cleanup program. Based on these
assumptions, with a total Universe of almost 480,000 sites and acres, approximately 79 percent of OUST
sites and acres are considered PFP and RAU.
Figure 5
Summary of Leaking Underground Storage Tank CPRM Data, EOY FY 2008
Leaking USTs CPRM
Sites/Acres Universe
479,817
Leaking USTs CPRM
Sites/Acres
PFP & RAU
377,019
13 The decision to equate each LUST cleanup to one acre was reached through a combination of industry data as well as
consultation with and best professional judgment of state and regional program managers.
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Cross-Program Revitalization Measures (CPRM) Report
V. SUMMARY
The CPRM data show the significant percentage of acres and sites in OSWER's contaminated land
inventories that are protective for people under current conditions.
EPA OSWER cleanup programs have an oversight role for assessment and/or response action at almost
one half million sites encompassing almost 15 million acres of our Nation's land, which translates into
more than 15% of all developed land in the U.S14. EPA and its partners have made significant strides in
ensuring that these lands are protective for use now and in the foreseeable future. To date, hundreds of
thousands of acres of land have been assessed and/or cleaned and determined protective for current and
reasonably anticipated future uses, and hundreds of communities have reclaimed, previously
contaminated properties for ecological, recreational, commercial, residential and other productive
purposes.
More than 380,000 sites where OSWER has an oversight role have been determined to be protective for
people under current conditions. This represents about 78 percent of the sites in the CPRM Universe.
Close to 12 million acres have been determined to be protective for people, which is about 80 percent of
the overall OSWER CPRM Universe. The CPRM data also indicate that more than 900,000 acres in
OSWER's contaminated land Universe have had a determination made that they are ready for
reasonably anticipated future uses; therefore, directly contributing to returning the sites back to the
communities.
Taken as a whole, the CPRM results demonstrate that EPA and its partners have made significant
progress in completing assessment and cleanup processes at a large number of sites and acres, and,
through this collaboration, they are helping to revitalize contaminated or potentially contaminated land
so that it can once again be a positive resource to communities. The PFP Performance Measure is a
particularly useful interim milestone for large and/or complex sites. In these areas, significant strides
have been made in stabilizing exposures, while longer-term cleanup objectives are pursued.
These CPRM results are the beginning of an ongoing OSWER process to provide some insight into the
status of cleanup and the nature of the work remaining to cleanup and revitalize the Nation's
contaminated and potentially contaminated land.
OSWER is aware of the millions of acres and thousands of properties that remain in the Universe of
sites that have yet to achieve the PFP and RAU milestones. It is also aware that this Universe is
expected to increase in the future; new properties will receive cleanup funding through the Brownfields
Program, additional properties will be entered into the RCRA Corrective Action Universe, additional
lands may be addressed through the expanded efforts from the Superfund Program, and there will be
new emergency removals. OSWER cleanup and revitalization programs will continue to address these
issues, and it is anticipated that the cross-program revitalization measures will continue to inform the
public about these challenges and the progress being made.
14 Developed land accounts for 102.5 million acres or 5% of total land in the US. 2008 EPA's Report on the Environment.
Chapter 4 - Exhibit 4-2, http://www.epa.gov/ncea/roe.
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