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Georgia

Risk Reduction Standards (RRS)

Agency Georgia Environmental Protection Division

Georgia Risk Reduction Standards (RRS)

The Risk Reduction Standards (RRS) are the cleanup standards in Georgia's Rules for Hazardous Site Response, Rule 391-3-19-.07, applied by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD). They are not a list of sites. They are the measure behind a Hazardous Site Inventory delisting and a brownfield certificate, and the rules set five types.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name a state's cleanup standards among its standard record sources. When a Georgia record says a property meets the standards, the next question is which type. EPD says the type is chosen from the current and reasonably anticipated future land use and the potential exposure pathways at the site.

Type EPD's description
Type 1 No significant risk on the basis of standardized exposure assumptions and a defined risk level, for residential properties
Type 2 No significant risk on the basis of a site-specific risk assessment, for residential properties
Type 3 No significant risk on the basis of standardized exposure assumptions and a defined risk level, for non-residential properties
Type 4 No significant risk on the basis of a site-specific risk assessment, for non-residential properties
Type 5 Contamination remains in place, provided the principal threats at the site are controlled by engineering and institutional controls

What follows from the type:

  • Types 3 and 4 assume non-residential use. A closure to either one was measured for non-residential use. On a brownfield property, EPD treats the certification itself as a de facto land use restriction; see the Brownfield Program page.
  • Type 5 means something was left. EPD says Type 5 may be applied only where Types 1 through 4 are not appropriate. Under the rules it is intended for sites where removal or treatment of the source area is impracticable, and EPD gives landfills and similar waste disposal areas as examples. EPD also says engineering and institutional controls are allowed only where it has approved Type 5 standards. Look for the control and for an environmental covenant.
  • The voluntary program is the exception. EPD says the Voluntary Remediation Program Act provides an alternative to the rules and does not include the impracticability requirement. See the Voluntary Remediation Program page.
  • The method changed in 2018. The rules were revised effective September 25, 2018, with changes to how the standards are calculated. Note the date of a closure decision before comparing it with today's numbers.

EPD says a site where regulated substances in soil or groundwater exceed the standards does not meet state cleanup standards, and a corrective action plan is required.

The numbers EPD publishes

  • Default tables. EPD posts a workbook of default Type 1 and Type 3 standards for soil and groundwater, with a 2026 summary of updates. It says the tables are not an exhaustive list of regulated substances, that it does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness, and that the rules take precedence in any conflict.
  • Type 1 groundwater. Concentrations may not exceed those in Table 1 of Appendix III of the rules. For a regulated substance not in that table, they may not exceed the background or detection limit concentration.
  • Lead under Type 4. EPD gives a soil direct contact value of 1,050 mg/kg for surface soils and 1,278 mg/kg for subsurface soils. A site-specific leaching value must also be calculated, and the final Type 4 soil standard for lead is the lower of the two.

EPD notes that calculating site-specific standards, Type 2 or Type 4, may not always result in higher cleanup standards. It also lists using the release notification concentrations as soil cleanup standards as a common mistake. Those concentrations belong to the reporting step on the Hazardous Site Response Act release notifications page.

Where to look a site up

This is a standard, not a list. The type a property achieved appears in the record of the program that closed it: the Brownfield Public Listing has a Risk Reduction Standard column, and a compliance status report compares site concentrations with the applicable standards. The default tables are on EPD's Risk Reduction Standards page. The Risk Assessment Unit is at 404.657.8600.

Getting the file

The comparison to the standards is in the compliance status report, in the file of the cleanup program. File reviews at EPD's downtown office are by appointment, requested by email at the address on its Land Branch Open Records Requests page. Requests under the Georgia Open Records Act go through EPD's Open Records Request Portal.

Sources

Georgia Environmental Protection Division pages, read October 7, 2026:

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