United States
                  Environmental Protection
                  Agency
                          OSWER/OSRTI
Site Assessment and Remedy Decisions Branch
                    Washington, DC 20460
                                                                   IMPIJ

The National Priorities List (NPL) is a list of national priorities among the known or threatened releases of hazardous
substances throughout the United States. The list serves as an information and management too! for the Superfund
cleanup process as required under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA).The NPL is intended primarily to guide EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation to
assess the nature and extent of public health and environmental risks associated with a release of hazardous substances.

There are three ways a site is eligible for the NPL;

       1.  Scores at least 28.50:
          A site may be included on the NPL if it scores sufficiently high on the Hazard Ranking System (HRS),
          which EPA published as Appendix  A of the National Contingency Plan. The HRS is a mathematical
          formula that serves as a screening device to evaluate a site's relative threat to human health or the
          environment. As a matter of Agency policy, those sites that score 28,50 or greater on the HRS are eligible
          for inclusion on the NPL. This is the most common way a site becomes eligible for the NPL.

       2,  State Pick;
          Each stale and territory may designate one top-priority site regardless of score.

       3.  ATSDR        Advisory:
          Certain other sites may be listed regardless of their HRS score, if all of the following conditions are met:

             a.  The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) of the U.S. Department of Health
                 and Human Services has issued a health advisory that recommends removing people from the site;
             b.  EPA determines that the release poses a significant threat to public health; and
             c.  EPA anticipates it will  be more cost-effective  to use its remedial authority than to use its emergency
                 removal authority to respond to the site.

Sites are first proposed to the NPL in the Federal Register. EPA  then accepts public comments for 60 days about
listing the sites, responds to the comments, and places those sites on the NPL that continue to meet the requirements
for listing. To submit comments, visit www.reguiaiions.gov.

Placing a site on the NPL does not assign liability 10 any party or to the owner of any specific property: nor does it
mean that any remedial or removal action will  necessarily be taken.
 For more information, please visit

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