Updated Soil Lead Guidance for CERCLA Sites and RCRA Corrective Action Facilities

On January 17, 2024, EPA announced updates to guidance for lead in residential soil at CERCLA (also known as Superfund) sites and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act corrective action facilities.

EPA is lowering recommended screening levels and strengthening guidance for investigating and cleaning up lead-contaminated soil in residential areas where children live and play.

Screening levels are not cleanup standards. While this update will help EPA site teams make site-specific cleanup decisions to protect nearby communities, EPA makes cleanup decisions specific to each site, using site-specific factors, including risk factors and community input that can vary from site to site.

Updating the residential soil lead guidance is a significant milestone in EPA’s agency-wide Strategy to Reduce Lead Exposures and Disparities in U.S. Communities.

The public input period closed on May 16, 2024. Comments are posted in the public docket. EPA will review the comments received and may consider them while implementing the updated guidance and in any future updates to the guidance.

• Updated Soil Lead Guidance for CERCLA Sites and RCRA Corrective Action Facilities (pdf)
• Orientación actualizada sobre el plomo en suelos residenciales para los sitios sujetos a CERCLA y las instalaciones sujetas a RCRA (pdf)

Supporting Information 

Read through an explainer about the updated soil lead guidance:

• Explainer: Updated OLEM Residential Lead Guidance (pdf)
• Explicativo: Orientación actualizada sobre el plomo en suelos residenciales para los sitios sujetos a CERCLA y RCRA (pdf)
• Frequent questions about the updated residential lead guidance
• Read the press release
• Supplemental Framework: Selecting a Remedial Screening Level for Residential Soil Lead (pdf)
• Residential Lead Screening Level Checklist