The National Priority List (40 CFR Part 300)

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, as amended, requires a list of national priorities among the known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants throughout the United States. This list, which is Appendix B of the National Contingency Plan (NCP), is the National Priorities List (NPL). Sites are listed on the NPL upon completion of Hazard Ranking System (HRS) screening, after public solicitation of comments about the proposed site, and after all comments have been addressed. The NPL lists the most serious sites in the Superfund cleanup process identified for possible long-term cleanup. The NPL primarily serves as an information and management tool.

The identification of a site for the NPL is intended primarily to guide EPA in:

determining which sites warrant further investigation to assess the nature and extent of the human health and environmental risks associated with a site;
identifying what CERCLA-financed remedial actions may be appropriate;
notifying the public of sites EPA believes warrant further investigation; and
serving notice to potentially responsible parties that EPA may initiate CERCLA-financed remedial action.

RADINFO includes NPL sites in which radioactive material is part of the CERCLA action. The criteria for inclusion is that the EPA Regional fact sheet for a particular NPL site must make mention of radioactive contamination. These sites are in various stages of the clean-up process. More information about CERCLA and the NPL can be found at www.epa.gov/superfund. For more information about individual sites on the NPL, follow these links to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, Liability Information Service (CERCLIS), www.epa.gov/superfund/sites or to EPA Radiation Protection Division's (RPD's) Home Page. Follow this link to view or download 40 CFR 300. http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html

The National Priority List (40 CFR Part 300)

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