Five-Year Review of Federal Facility Cleanups

Overview

Section 121 of CERCLA requires remedial actions that result in any hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants remaining at the site be subject to a Five-Year Review. The purpose of the five-year review is to evaluate the implementation and performance of the remedy in order to determine whether the remedy is or will be protective of human health and the environment. For federal facility sites, the lead agency conducts the review, prepares the reports, and submits the report to EPA for review and comment. The lead agency is responsible for ensuring that the recommendations and follow-up actions in the report are completed.

In July 2011, EPA, Department of Defense and its service components, Department of Energy, and Department of the Interior formed a workgroup to improve the federal five-year review process by developing community tools and best management practices. The workgroup is developing a framework so that the five-year review reports are submitted in a timely fashion, are technically accurate, and subsequently provide more timely and consistent review.

Community Tools

The Federal Workgroup on Five-Year Reviews (FYR) developed these training tools to help site managers at federal facilities communicate with community members about the purpose and process of five-year reviews. Use of these materials is not required at any site; they are tools you may use and adapt as appropriate to meet your site-specific needs. When you use these, please add any information specific to your site, such as contact information. 

The federal workgroup on Five-Year Reviews is part of an interagency collaboration between the EPA, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and Department of the Interior, and these community materials represent the collective effort of representatives from all four agencies.

Additional items are in development that will expand these materials for writers and reviewers.

The community outreach materials include:

  • How to Use Community Outreach Materials
  • Video: a primer on the five-year review for community members (total running time: 4 minutes)
  • PowerPoint Community Training Module: more in-depth information about five-year reviews for community members (total running time: 20 minutes)
  • Community FYR Factsheet Template: for site managers at federal facilities to use to create site-specific factsheets to distribute to community members when a five-year review is completed.

Five-Year Review Community Training Video:

If your facility does not allow access to YouTube, the video is available for download in the following two formats.

Five-Year Review Community Training Module:

A narrative PowerPoint slide presentation with embedded video links. Also available is a version without audio or embedded video, if that is not an option for your environment; but you can use the speaker notes provided, if you prefer to narrate it live yourself.

Five-Year Review Community Factsheet Template:

The factsheet template is provided to you as a starting point for creating your own site-specific five-year review factsheet to distribute to community members. Instructions for using it are provided on the first page of the template.

Community Stakeholders Outreach Webinar:

Five-Year Review Writer and Reviewer Tools

Currently under development in the Five-Year Review Interagency workgroup.

Five-Year Review (FYR) Information

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Last updated on October 9, 2024