Institutional Controls

Institutional Controls are being used at some RCRA and CERCLA sites. Each state and locality has its own laws and policies regarding specific institutional controls, making this a complex topic to navigate. Some states have passed legislation to improve the use and effectiveness of institutional controls. There are a number of EPA projects and informational sources on institutional controls, including fact sheets. Additional resources are available from State organizations.

Adding Institutional and Engineering Controls into RCRAInfo

In 2004, two event codes (CA770-Engineering Controls Established, and CA 772- Institutional Controls Established) were added as data elements to EPA's tracking database on RCRA sites, RCRAInfo, to indicate if a RCRA site has institutional controls and/or engineering controls in place. EPA is encouraging all EPA Regions and State RCRA programs to use these data elements where appropriate. Attached is a 2004 memorandum and attachment from Tom Dunn, Acting Director of OSWER.

• Memo – Tracking RCRA Institutional and Engineering Controls in RCRAInfo
  [PDF (32K), 2 Pages]
  2004
• Attachment – Tracking RCRA Institutional and Engineering Controls in RCRAInfo
  [PDF (103K), 5 Pages]
  2004

• Citizen's Guide
  ICs: A Citizen's Guide to Understanding ICs at Superfund, Brownfields, Federal Facilities, Underground Storage Tanks and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Cleanups
  [PDF (89K), 6 Pages]
  February 2005
• The RCRA Corrective Action Web Page on Institutional Controls contains guidance, checklist and glossary of terms http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/ca/guidance.htm#Institutional
• Superfund Web Page on Institutional Controls http://www.epa.gov/superfund/action/ic/
• "Institutional Controls: A Site Manager's Guide to Identifying, Evaluating and Selecting Institutional Controls at CERCLA and RCRA Corrective Action Cleanups," September 2000 (Publication) http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/ca/resource/guidance/ics/icfactfinal.pdf
• The International City/County Management Association administers a Web site dedicated to the collection and distribution of information related to land-use controls (also called institutional controls)
  http://www.lucs.org