Superfund: EPA's Use of Risk Assessments in Cleanup Decisions (Testimony,
06/22/95, GAO/T-RCED-95-231).
As it deliberates reauthorizing the Superfund program, Congress is
considering risk assessments as a way to control federal expenditures in
this multibillion-dollar program. One important aspect of this debate
is how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts human health
risk assessments and uses them in making cleanup decisions at Superfund
sites. This testimony discusses the extent to which EPA uses human
health risk assessments and federal and state standards in determining
(1) whether to clean up a Superfund site and (2) how extensive the
cleanup should be. GAO also discusses both its ongoing work on whether
federal and state standards are based on estimates of risk and its
completed work on the extent to which Superfund risk assessments follow
EPA guidelines.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: T-RCED-95-231
TITLE: Superfund: EPA's Use of Risk Assessments in Cleanup
Decisions
DATE: 06/22/95
SUBJECT: Environmental monitoring
Health hazards
Hazardous substances
Waste disposal
Evaluation methods
Standards evaluation
Safety standards
Waste management
Compliance
Site selection
IDENTIFIER: Superfund Program
------------------------------------------------------------------------
We regret that electronic text of GAO Testimony is not available at
this time.
See the GAO FAQ - Section 2.0 for printed copy ordering information.
The FAQ is automatically retrieved with all WAIS search results or
can be obtained by sending e-mail to: info@www.gao.gov