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Superfund: Building on the Past, Looking to the Future - 120-Day Study

In November 2003, then-Acting Deputy Administrator Stephen L. Johnson requested a short-term, overall review of the Superfund Program commonly known as the 120-Day Study. The study resulted in 108 recommendations on how to make the Superfund program more efficient, enabling EPA to complete more cleanups with currently available resources.

As part of its ongoing efforts to make the Superfund program more efficient and perform more cleanups with currently available resources, EPA recently released Superfund: Building on the Past, Looking to the Future; The 120-Day Study Action Plan and Principles for Superfund Cleanup in the 21st Century. These two documents advance the goals of the 120-Day Study, an EPA commissioned study which provided 108 recommendations on how to improve the Superfund program.

The Action Plan identifies how EPA will implement each of the recommendations in each of five different categories: Program Leadership, Financial and Resource Management; Contracts/Grants Management; Leveraging All Available Cleanup Resources; and Communication. Most of the recommendations are already being implemented.

The Principles for Superfund Cleanup in the 21st Century responds to a recommendation in the 120-Day Study that the program better articulate Superfund's goals and objectives. While EPA's Regional offices have been implementing many of these principles for some time, these principles will advance consistency at all sites, by all EPA Regions, at each stage of the cleanup process.

You will need the free Adobe Reader to view the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.

120-Day Study

Entire file (PDF) (198pp, 1.4 MB)
Individual Sections:

Table of Contents (PDF) (9pp, 418 K)
Executive Summary (PDF) (7pp, 120 K)
Introduction (PDF) (6pp, 146 K)
Chapter 1: Superfund Program Activities and Resources (PDF) (11pp, 672 K)
Chapter 2: Improving Superfund Program Integration and Communication (PDF) (13pp, 218 K)
Chapter 3: Capitalizing on Lessons Learned for Cleanup Actions (PDF) (20pp, 246 K)
Chapter 4: Enhancing Enforcement (PDF) (8pp, 176 K)
Chapter 5: Examining the Role of Superfund Research and Technology (PDF) (5pp, 146 K)
Chapter 6: Evaluating Superfund's Share of Management and Support Costs (PDF) (4pp, 125 K)
Chapter 7: Optimizing the Use of Superfund Dollars (PDF) (15pp, 241 K)
Chapter 8: Reviewing Existing Performance Measures (PDF) (7pp, 159 K)
Chapter 9: Agenda for Moving Forward (PDF) (4pp, 159 K)
Appendix A: Summary of Recommendations Table (PDF) (14pp, 418 K)
Appendix B: Summary of Options Table (PDF) (5pp, 246 K)
Appendix C: Program Accomplishments (PDF) (10pp, 167 K)
Appendix D: Superfund Resource Tables by National Program Manager (NPM) (PDF) (15pp, 385 K)
Appendix E: Superfund Resource Tables by Headquarters Offices (PDF) (15pp, 380 K)
Appendix F: Superfund Resource Tables by Region (PDF) (12pp, 225 K)
Appendix G: Examples of Technology Innovation Projects (PDF) (3pp, 128 K)
Appendix H: Superfund GPRA Measures (PDF) (3pp, 100 K)
Appendix I: Office of Enforcement and Compliance Internal Performance Measures (PDF) (2pp, 141? K)
Appendix J: Management & Support Internal Performance Measures (PDF) (3pp, 141 K)

Action Plan

Entire file (PDF) (58pp, 572 K)
Individual Sections:

Table of Contents (PDF) (5pp, 105 K)
Executive Summary (PDF) (4pp, 124 K)
Chapter 1: Program Leadership (PDF) (10pp, 175 K)
Chapter 2: Financial and Resource Management (PDF) (16pp, 214 K)
Chapter 3: Contracts/Grants Management (PDF) (9pp, 172 K)
Chapter 4: Leveraging All Available Cleanup Resources (PDF) (7pp, 169 K)
Chapter 5: Communication (PDF) (3pp, 123 K)
Index of Recommendations (PDF) (4pp, 262 K)

Principles for Superfund Cleanup in the 21st Century (PDF) (5pp, 54 K)

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