The goal of a Remedial Investigation Report (RIR) is to identify and define the source of contamination and particular constituents of concern, define the nature and extent of the contaminants (including fate and transport), characterize the affected media, and determine the appropriate Act 2 standards to be used. DEP and EPA determine whether these goals and benchmarks have been met, through their review of the RIRs upon submittal. For example, the RIRs for AOIs 4 and 9 were not approved due to the need for additional definition of the extent of groundwater impact beyond a property boundary, as identified in the report summaries.
The Remedial Investigation Reports compare the data to the Act 2 Statewide Health Standards (one metric of comparison). Future Risk Assessment Reports and Cleanup Plans will define whether other metrics or benchmarks will be used, such as site-specific standards or cleanup goals that must be met to achieve Act 2 closure. The current critical paths for lead, benzene (or any other compound) and air quality (soil or groundwater also) is to complete the remedial investigations to be able to proceed to these future assessments.
Future report summaries will clearly define the goals of the reports and whether those goals have been met.