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Applicable or Relevant and Appropriate Requirements (ARARs)

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Section 121(d) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) requires that on-site remedial actions attain or waive federal environmental ARARs, or more stringent state environmental ARARs, upon completion of the remedial action. The 1990 National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) also requires compliance with ARARs during removal and remedial actions to the extent practicable.

The pages below provide links to guidance documents designed to assist EPA and state personnel in attaining compliance with ARAR requirements. ARARs are identified on a site-by-site basis for all on-site response actions where CERCLA authority is the basis for cleanup.

On this page:

Overview of ARARs

Assists Remedial Project Managers (RPMs) in identifying and complying with all applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs). Covers potential ARARs of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and other environmental statutes.

Clarifies the relationship between ARARs and protectiveness.

Serves as a guide to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and assists EPA and State personnel involved with hazardous waste remediation and emergency response. See Section XII (beginning on page 127) for an overview of ARARS.

Clarifies the EPA policy on ARARs with respect to attaining permits for activities at Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) sites.

Provides updated guidance on compliance with the Clean Air Act, as amended November 1990, and related air quality rules under other environmental statutes. It addresses statutory and regulatory changes that have occurred subsequent to the publication of the CERCLA Compliance with other Laws Manual, Parts I & II (1989).

Provides answers to questions that arose in developing applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs) policies, training sessions, and in identifying and complying with ARARs at specific sites.​

Provides a guide to Chapter 6 of the "CERCLA Compliance with Other Laws Manual: Part II." The document discusses CERCLA compliance with State requirements, based on policies in proposed revisions to the NCP.

Superseded Documents

1 This document supersedes: "ARARs Q's and A's" (May 1989) EPA 9234.2-01/FS

Superfund LDR Guide #4: Complying With the Hammer Restrictions Under Land Disposal Restrictions (LDRs)
OSWER 8347.3-04FS, July 1989
Out-of-Date: This LDR guide is no longer in effect.

RCRA-Specific ARARs

​Consolidates existing guidance on the RCRA regulations and policies that most often affect remediation waste management.

Defines RCRA hazardous wastes and describes how to determine when a CERCLA substance is also a RCRA-listed or characteristic hazardous waste.

Summarizes the "CERCLA Compliance with Other Laws Manual: Parts I and II." It addresses compliance with Subtitle C of RCRA, as amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984, with focus on RCRA Subtitle C disclosure requirements.

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) addresses waste management at operating facilities. The RCRA Corrective Action program manages response actions at these sites. RCRA Corrective Action guidance is generally consistent with CERCLA to the extent practicable, and may find application at CERCLA sites.

Land Disposal Restrictions (LDRs)

In 1984, Congress created EPA's Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) program. The LDR program ensures that toxic constituents present in hazardous waste are properly treated before hazardous waste is disposed of in the ground. This web page provides comprehensive information about LDRs including a selection of OSWER guidance documents.

Summarizes the major components of RCRA LDRs, outlines the types of restrictions imposed, and presents compliance options specified in the regulation.

Defines the California list of wastes, summarizes their restrictions, and discusses their potential to overlap with other LDR treatment standards.

Summarizes the types and effective dates of treatment standards, and outlines procedures for compliance with the treatment standards and minimum technology requirements set during national capacity extensions.

Outlines the process used to determine whether the RCRA LDRs established under the Hazardous Waste and Solid Waste Amendments are 'applicable' to CERCLA response actions.

Outlines the process for utilizing a Treatability Variance for the remediation of soil and debris contaminated with RCRA hazardous wastes. Until the the Agency promulgates treatment standards for them, the treatment levels outlined will serve as alternative 'treatment standards' to obtain compliance with LDRs.

Outlines the process for utilizing a Treatability Variance for the removal of soil and debris contaminated with RCRA hazardous wastes. Until the the Agency promulgates treatment standards for them, the treatment levels outlined will serve as alternative "treatment standards" to obtain compliance with LDRs.

Outlines the process used to determine whether the RCRA land disposal restrictions (LDRs) established under the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) are applicable to an on-site CERCLA response action.

The 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) require EPA to promulgate regulations restricting the land disposal of RCRA hazardous wastes. This fact sheet summarizes the key provisions of the Third Third LDR rule.

Provides questions and answers which summarize the considerations involved with obtaining a treatability variance from LDRs.

Until treatment standards for soil and debris are established, OSWER has concluded that LDRs should generally not apply to soil or debris that does not contain restricted RCRA wastes. This directive includes suggested language to be incorporated into the feasibility study report.

Explains: (1) how to determine when LDRs are 'applicable' to a Superfund removal or remedial action, and (2) the Superfund approach for complying with those LDRs which are applicable.

Explains EPA's interpretation of LDRs as potential ARARs for ground water cleanups involving reinjection. It concludes that RCRA section 3020 applies to reinjection of treated ground water into Class IV injection wells.

Other RCRA ARARs Guidance

Discusses the circumstances under which delisting wastes may be appropriate, and the procedures for delisting a RCRA hazardous waste as part of a Superfund remedial response.

Addresses compliance with the 1990 promulgated Toxicity Characteristics Rule (55 FR 11798).

Discusses CERCLA remedial actions which must comply with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) unless a waiver is justified.

Superseded Documents

Superfund LDR Guide #4: Complying With the Hammer Restrictions Under Land Disposal Restrictions (LDRs)
OSWER 8347.3-04FS, July 1989
Out-of-Date:
This LDR guide is no longer in effect.

Groundwater ARARs

U.S. EPA’s Office of Water sets National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs or primary standards). These are legally enforceable standards that apply to public water systems.

Clarifies the relationship between ARARs and protectiveness.

Clarifies the EPA policy on ARARs with respect to attaining permits for activities at Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) sites.

This fact sheet is one of a series of fact sheets that provide answers to questions that arose in developing applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs) policies, training sessions, and in identifying and complying with ARARs at specific sites.
 

This fact sheet is one of a series of fact sheets that provide answers to questions that arose in developing applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs) policies, training sessions, and in identifying and complying with ARARs at specific sites. This sheet updates and replaces one which was first issued in May 1989.

This fact sheet is one of a series of fact sheets that provide answers to questions that arose in developing applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs) policies, training sessions, and in identifying and complying with ARARs at specific sites. This sheet provides guidance on the status of State ground-water antidegradation provisions as potential ARARs for CERCLA ground-water and soil cleanups, and how those provisions relate to EPA's policy of returning usable ground water to its beneficial uses within a time frame that is reasonable, given the particular circumstances of the site.

This fact sheet is one of a series of fact sheets that provide answers to questions that arose in developing applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs) policies, training sessions, and in identifying and complying with ARARs at specific sites. This sheet addresses compliance with Federal Water Quality Criteria as ARARs. Federal Water Quality Criteria (FWQC) are nonenforceable guidance established by EPA, through the Clean Water Act, for evaluating toxic effects on human health and aquatic organisms. FWQC may be ARARs for a Superfund action when they are relevant and appropriate.

This fact sheet provides a guide to Chapters 3 and 4 of Part I of the "CERCLA Compliance with Other Laws Manual." The fact sheet focusses on CERCLA compliance with the Clean water Act (Chapter 3) and Safe Drinking Water Act (Chapter 4), and discusses other statutes with provisions relevant to surface water or drinking water.

Section 121(d) of CERCLA requires that on-site remedial actions attain or waive Federal or more stringent State applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs) upon completion of the remedial action. The 1990 National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) requires compliance with ARARs during remedial actions as well, and during removal actions to the extent practicable. This volume covers potential ARARs of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), Clean Air Act (CAA), and other laws as required by CERCLA.

This memorandum clarifies that reinjection of treated ground water to promote in-situ treatment is allowed under section 3020(b) as long as certain conditions are met. Specifically, the ground water must be treated prior to reinjection; the treatment must be intended to substantially reduce hazardous constituents in the ground water - either before or after reinjection; the cleanup must be protective of human health and the environment; and the injection must be part of a response action under CERCLA section 104 or 106 or a RCRA corrective action intended to clean up the contamination.

UIC Program

The following page provides general information, regulations and guidance about the Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program.

This memorandum explains EPA's interpretation of whether the RCRA land disposal restrictions (LDRs) are applicable or (under CERCLA response actions only) relevant and appropriate to such reinjections or to the remediation as a whole. There has been some question as to whether ground water contaminated with restricted RCRA hazardous wastes, which is extracted during a RCRA corrective action or CERCLA response action, must meet the best demonstrated available technology (BDAT) identified for that waste under the RCRA LDRs prior to each reinjection, in a pump-and-treat reinjection remediation system.

OGWDW fact sheet

ARAR Waivers

This memorandum provides EPA policy related to the use of CERCLA ACLs in Superfund cleanups and supersedes any previous guidance on this matter. CERCLA section 121 provides authority to use ACLs under certain circumstances. This memorandum reiterates the statutory requirements and provides several factors to consider in evaluating whether use of CERCLA ACLs may be appropriate under site-specific circumstances.
 

Clarifies the role of EPA Headquarters in ground water Technical Impracticability decisions. Emphasizes that these decisions should be made as soon in the Superfund process as sufficient information is available.

Discusses the importance of consistent national implementation of policies concerning sites with ground water contamination. Emphasizes that Technical Impracticability (TI) waivers will generally be appropriate for sites where restoration of ground water to drinking water standards is technically impracticable.
 

This interim final guidance clarifies how EPA will determine whether ground water restoration at Superfund and RCRA sites is technically impracticable and if so, what alternative measures must to undertaken to ensure that a final remedy is protective. Topics include the types of technical data needed, the criteria for decisions, the types of documentation needed, and alternative remedial strategies for sites with dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs).
 
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide clarification to the 1995 Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) memorandum titled, Superfund Groundwater RODs: Implementing Change This Fiscal Year, July 31, 1995, (OSWER Directive 9335.3-03P) regarding the use of Technical Impracticability (TI) waivers at Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) sites with Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL) contamination.
 

The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of Technical Impracticability (TI) waivers that have been issued by EPA's Regional offices, and to distribute brief summaries of completed TI waiver decisions, including a summary of the site conditions and the Regions' rationale for adopting a TI waiver.

Addresses the Fund-balancing waiver, which is one of six statutory waivers that may be invoked to allow the selection of a remedy that does not meet all ARARs.

Transmits the appropriateness of incorporating an "Interim" ARAR waiver during a remedial action in order to facilitate a cleanup plan.

A "No Migration" Variance allows land disposal of restricted wastes not meeting the Land Disposal Restriction (LDR) treatment standards. This guide outlines procedures for obtaining a No Migration Variance for RCRA hazardous wastes when the LDRs are ARARs during a CERCLA response.

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Last updated on March 31, 2023