The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) announces it is updating guidance for addressing residential lead exposures at Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) sites.
The new directive for investigating and cleaning up lead in residential soil at contaminated sites emphasizes early collaboration with state and local partners to protect communities. You should consider this as a directive for all sites with residential lead contamination subject to CERCLA response and RCRA authorities, including federal facility cleanup programs subject to CERCLA Section 120, and potentially by federal agencies using response action authorities delegated to them under Executive Order 12580.
This Directive supersedes the January 2024 Updated Residential Soil Lead Guidance for CERCLA Sites and RCRA Corrective Action Facilities in addressing lead contaminated soil on residential properties at CERCLA and RCRA sites.
The agency’s new guidance aims to address inefficiencies which slow progress to decrease lead exposure in residential neighborhoods at Superfund and hazardous waste sites. The updated directive establishes the following:
EPA will continue to use site-specific factors, including exposure considerations, soil lead background levels and community input, to make informed decisions on how to address lead exposure at each site.
The announcement on October 20, 2025, also includes a series of process improvements to accelerate response actions that address lead contaminated soil on residential properties including more nationally consistent cleanup decisions, early engagement with state and local partners, sharing best practices through the establishment of a National Center of Excellence for Residential Lead Cleanups, and specialized contracting mechanisms to leverage removal and remedial actions.
EPA plans for a roadmap for response action decision-making at residential properties and other high impact areas for children (e.g., schools, playgrounds). EPA defines residential properties as any area with high or unrestricted accessibility to sensitive populations (e.g., young children less than 7 years old) and includes, but is not limited to, properties containing single- and multifamily dwellings, apartment complexes, vacant lots in residential areas, schools, daycare centers, community centers, playgrounds, parks and other recreational areas, green ways, and any other areas where young children may risk exposure to site-related contaminated media. The roadmap will include engineered and non-engineered approaches.
Establish a National Center of Excellence for CERCLA Residential Lead Cleanups as a centralized resource to share expertise across regions, identify and facilitate efficiencies, and establish best management practices across all phases of characterization and cleanup.
CERCLA five-year reviews (FYRs) remain an essential statutory tool to evaluate protectiveness of both engineered and non-engineered remedy components at any site where hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants remain on site above levels that permit unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, per CERCLA Section 121(c) and 40 CFR Part 300.430(f)(4)(ii). The findings of a FYR may result in the need for further evaluation, cleanup and/or institutional controls to support short- and/or long-term protection.
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