&EPA
RCRA Corrective
Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery | www.epa.gov/hw/learn-about-corrective-action | September 2020
RCRA Corrective Action Program
Vision/Mission/Goals for 2030
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed a new 2030 Vision, Mission, and Goals for the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action hazardous waste facility cleanup program. RCRA Corrective
Action cleanups support healthy and sustainable communities where people and the environment are protected from
hazardous contamination today and into the future.
Background
RCRA set standards for responsible solid waste
management and established safeguards for hazardous
wastes, from generation to transportation, treatment,
storage and disposal. Corrective action is a requirement
under RCRA that applies to facilities that treat, store, or
dispose of hazardous wastes, directing them to investigate
and clean up contamination on or from the facility. EPA,
states, tribal partners, facility owner/operators,
communities, and stakeholders work closely together to
implement the Corrective Action Program to ensure that
cleanups are protective of human health and the
environment at almost 4,000 facilities across the country.
2020 RCRA Corrective Action Goals
The current corrective action program has been driven by
aspirational goals, announced in May 2004, that were
focused on meeting certain cleanup measures by the year
2020. These ambitious and farsighted goals in the early
years of implementation of RCRA Corrective Action
targeted achieving 95% completion of three important
milestones, and the results are impressive. Of the 3,779
4,000
3,500
3,000
.2 2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
Corrective Action 2020 Goals - Historical and FY20 Projected
in III III
an
91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Fiscal Year
I Remedy Construction ¦ Groundwater Environmental Indicator ¦ Human Exposure Environmental Indicator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

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Before remediation (left) and after (right).
Baseline facilities currently of priority for the program,
projections are that the program will meet by the end
of 2020:
•	Human Exposures Under Control - projected to be met
by 96% of facilities
» Migration of Contaminated Groundwater Under
Control - projected to be met by 91% of facilities
•	Remedy Construction - projected to be met by 79%
of facilities
Developing New Vision/Mission/
Goals for the RCRA Corrective
Action Program
In 2020, the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery
(ORCR) initiated a series of discussions to gather input
from a wide range of stakeholders into the development
of a high-level vision, mission, and goals for the RCRA
Corrective Action program over the next 10 years. ORCR
hosted discussions with stakeholder groups, including
members of the National Environmental Justice Advisory
Council (NEJAC), community organizers, federal agencies,
local governments through the Revitalizing Communities
Workgroup of EPA's Local Government Advisory
Committee (LGAC), facility owners and operators, tribal
partners, and state partners, including the Association of
State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials
(ASTSWMO).
On August 19, 2020, EPA hosted a roundtable at which all
groups involved in the initial discussions were invited to
share their reactions and suggestions to the revised vision,
mission, and goals. Feedback regarding the importance of
focusing on protection of human health and the
environment, long-term protectiveness of cleanups, and
revitalization of contaminated properties to support
current and future uses was taken into account in making
final revisions. EPA announced the final vision, mission,
and goals for the program at the ASTSWMO Virtual
Corrective Action Conference on September 1, 2020.
New 2030 Vision/Mission/Goals
VISION ('WHY')
RCRA Corrective Action cleanups support healthy and
sustainable communities where people and the
environment are protected from hazardous contamination
today and into the future.
MISSION ( HOW and WHAT)
EPA, states, and tribal partners work together to ensure
that owners and operators of hazardous waste treatment,
storage, and disposal facilities conduct effective and
efficient cleanups to protect human health and the
environment, support continued use, and make land ready
for reuse including, if necessary, placement of controls to
protect communities into the future.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

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Remediation underway.
2030 GOALS
1.	Through 2030, the RCRA Corrective Action Program
will ensure that RCRA cleanups are initiated and
completed efficiently and expeditiously. Commitments
regarding what work is planned and what progress is
made will be visible to the public. An ambitious
universe of cleanups will be identified for completion
by 2030.
For commitments arid tracking, the program will use
the relevant Corrective Action Program measures
and will use flexible approaches appropriate for each
region and state.
2.	By 2030, the RCRA Corrective Action Program will
eliminate or control adverse impacts beyond facility
boundaries at RCRA Corrective Action facilities
wherever practicable and the program will focus
attention on cleanups that will not meet this target.
The program will develop procedures to:
• identify and address emerging risk issues (e.g.,
vapor intrusion, evolving science), and
o address timelines for facilities brought into the
program post-2020.
3.	By 2030, the RCRA Corrective Action Program will
ensure or confirm that land within facility boundaries
at RCRA Corrective Action facilities will be safe for
continued use or reasonably foreseeable new uses
wherever practicable and the program will focus
attention on cleanups that will not meet this target.
The program will develop procedures to address
timelines for facilities brought into the program
post-2020.
4.	By 2025, the RCRA Corrective Action Program will
identify the key elements of effective Long Term
Stewardship for Corrective Action cleanups, and
regions and states will have approaches in place to
ensure implementation of the key elements.
The program will develop procedures to leverage
interest and investment in new or existing
commercial and community entities to sustain Long
Term Stewardship controls.
5.	By 2022, program procedures will be in place to
regularly adjust the universe of facilities in the cleanup
pipeline to reflect current program priorities.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

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