Overview
EPA National Optimization Strategy
For more than a decade, the EPA’s Office of Superfund and Emergency Management (OSEM) has provided technical support to EPA regional offices at Comprehensive Environmental, Response, and Compensation Liability Act (CERCLA) (also known as Superfund) sites through the use of independent (third party) optimization reviews. This technical optimization support has been in the form of Independent Design Reviews (IDR), Remediation System Evaluations (RSE) and Long-Term Monitoring Optimization (LTMO) reviews.
The EPA developed a national approach that unifies the previously independent optimization efforts under the singular activity and term “optimization,” which can be used to support decision making throughout the Superfund project pipeline from site assessment to site completion. The “National Strategy to Expand Superfund Optimization Practices from Site Assessment to Site Completion” (National Optimization Strategy) 
documents this approach to expand and formalize optimization practices as an operating business model for the Superfund Remedial Program . The National Optimization Strategy also fulfills Action 10 of the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) Integrated Cleanup Initiative (ICI): “Opportunities to Provide Greater Support in Optimizing Cleanup of Superfund Sites.”
The Strategy was jointly developed by members of the EPA’s National Optimization Workgroup with representatives from:
- OSEM.
- Regional Offices.
- The Office of Research of Development (ORD).
The Workgroup includes EPA Headquarter Optimization Leads, EPA regional Optimization Liaisons and EPA Superfund Technical Liaisons (STL) who support optimization reviews and provide assistance with optimization reviews. Additional information on these optimization contacts is provided on the Optimization Technical Experts web page.
