PREFACE
This document provides guidance to EPA staff on how EPA typically plans and implements community involvement activities at Superfund sites. It is intended to help promote consistent implementation of national policy on these issues. The activities identified as requirements are ones that are mandated by the Comprehensive Emergency Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) or addressed in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), which is EPA’s regulatory blueprint for implementation of the Superfund program. This guidance does not, however, substitute for CERCLA or the NCP, nor is it a regulation itself. Thus, it does not impose legally binding requirements on EPA, states, or the regulated community, and may not apply to a particular situation based upon the circumstances of each situation. EPA and other federal, state, tribal, and local decision-makers retain the discretion to adopt community involvement approaches that differ from this guidance on a case-by-case basis, when appropriate. Any decisions regarding a particular site will be made based on the applicable statutes and regulations.
This document provides guidance to EPA staff on how EPA typically plans and implements community involvement activities at Superfund sites. It is intended to help promote consistent implementation of national policy on these issues. The activities identified as requirements are ones that are mandated by the Comprehensive Emergency Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) or addressed in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), which is EPA’s regulatory blueprint for implementation of the Superfund program. This guidance does not, however, substitute for CERCLA or the NCP, nor is it a regulation itself. Thus, it does not impose legally binding requirements on EPA, states, or the regulated community, and may not apply to a particular situation based upon the circumstances of each situation. EPA and other federal, state, tribal, and local decision-makers retain the discretion to adopt community involvement approaches that differ from this guidance on a case-by-case basis, when appropriate. Any decisions regarding a particular site will be made based on the applicable statutes and regulations.
