ROD (Record of Decision)

A record of decision, written ROD in the National Contingency Plan, is the document in which the lead agency records its final selection of a remedial action for a site (40 CFR 300.4, 300.430(f)(4)(i)).

What puts a property on this record

The regulation sets up no list of decisions; it says when one is made. The lead agency presents a preferred alternative in a proposed plan for public comment, then, after weighing the comments and consulting the state or support agency, makes the final selection and documents it in the ROD (40 CFR 300.430(f)(1)(ii), (f)(3), (f)(4)(i)).

A ROD is not an NPL listing. Fund-financed remedial action is limited to releases on the NPL (40 CFR 300.425(b)(1)), while the definition of lead agency speaks of a remedy a federal agency selects at a site not on it (40 CFR 300.5); see NPL and SEMS. A cleanup can be divided into operable units, each of which may address one portion of a site, one problem or an early phase (40 CFR 300.5).

What a listing shows, and what it does not

The regulation does not say what a listing holds. The ROD documents the facts and analyses behind the selection and, as appropriate, the remediation goals the remedy is expected to achieve (40 CFR 300.430(f)(5)). It says whether hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants are to remain "above levels that allow for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure", which calls for a review at least every five years (40 CFR 300.430(f)(4)(ii), (f)(5)(iii)(C)).

Institutional controls such as deed restrictions and limits on water use may form part of the completed remedy where necessary, but may not be the sole remedy in place of active measures unless such measures are found not practicable by weighing the trade-offs among alternatives in selecting the remedy (40 CFR 300.430(a)(1)(iii)(D)).

A ROD records a decision when signed; the remedy's design and construction come after it, and operation and maintenance may then follow (40 CFR 300.435(a), (f)(1)). Where an action, settlement or consent decree after the ROD differs from the remedy in scope, performance or cost in ways that "significantly change but do not fundamentally alter the remedy selected in the ROD", the lead agency publishes an explanation of significant differences; where the differences "fundamentally alter the basic features of the selected remedy", it proposes an amendment for public comment (40 CFR 300.435(c)(2)). The sections cited do not say what a five-year review found.

In a Phase I ESA

Records of decision are not a standard source of Table 2, and Table 3, the standard's examples of additional records, does not name them (E1527-21, 8.2.2, Table 2, Table 3). Additional records are checked when the environmental professional judges them reasonably ascertainable, useful, accurate and complete enough for the purpose of the records review, and generally obtained in initial site assessments for the type of transaction involved, under local good commercial and customary practice (E1527-21, 8.2.4).

If the subject property or an adjoining property is on a Table 2 list, such as the NPL list, the standard says the agency's file on the listing should be reviewed; if the professional judges that unwarranted, the report says why, and other records or interviews with regulatory officials may stand in, with an opinion on whether they suffice (E1527-21, 8.2.3.1, 8.2.3.2). For a remedial action, the administrative record file typically holds the ROD (40 CFR 300.810(a)(4)).

At the subject property, the answer turns on whether the decision's site or operable unit takes it in, whether substances are to remain above levels that allow unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, which controls the remedy relies on, and whether the remedy was later changed. Where the file shows a release that left hazardous substances present or likely present at the subject property, the class turns on the documents: a controlled recognized environmental condition is a recognized environmental condition (REC) addressed to the regulatory authority's satisfaction with substances left in place under required controls; the report identifies the documents providing the controls without vouching for their adequacy (E1527-21, 3.2.17, 3.2.17.1, 12.6.1). Compliance with the controls is outside the practice (E1527-21, 13.1.4). Unless judged a de minimis condition or a historical REC, the REC is listed in the Conclusions, and the professional should give an opinion on additional investigation, if any (E1527-21, 3.2.20, 3.2.39, 12.7, 12.8). See activity and use limitations.

Nearby, the answer turns on where the decision and its remedial investigation place the contamination and where it is moving (40 CFR 300.5). See superfund site within the search distance.

A listing of the subject property, or of another site inside the approximate minimum search distance, from any source the assessment uses gets the professional's judgment on its significance (E1527-21, 8.1.10).

What the federal rule says

The inquiry rule does not name records of decision. Its list for the subject property includes:

Records of reported releases or threatened releases, including site investigation reports for the subject property;

40 CFR 312.26(b)(1), edition revised as of July 1, 2025

It also names registries or public lists of institutional controls applicable to the subject property (40 CFR 312.26(b)(7)). The rule lets the procedures of E1527-21 be used to comply with its sections 312.23 through 312.31 (40 CFR 312.11(a)).

Where the record is kept

Once the ROD is signed, the lead agency announces it in a major local newspaper and lets the public inspect and copy it at or near the facility (40 CFR 300.430(f)(6)). The lead agency, which may be a state or another federal agency, compiles the administrative record at a central docket, with a copy open to the public at or near the site, apart from some documents the section lets stay elsewhere and a confidential portion kept only at the central location (40 CFR 300.800, 300.805(a)). These rules apply in full to remedial actions whose remedial investigation began after they were issued, and to earlier ones as far as practicable (40 CFR 300.800(d), (e)). Explanations of significant differences and amended decisions are added to it later (40 CFR 300.825(a)(2)).

This page is general reference for environmental professionals. It does not classify any property. ASTM E1527-21 is the standard and is not reproduced here; the judgment of the environmental professional on the facts governs.