Superfund Hazard Ranking System Training Course

Course Information and Instructions

The primary purpose of the Hazard Ranking System (HRS) Internet Training Course is to provide participants with the knowledge and tools needed to effectively use the HRS via an interactive Internet-based platform. Although there is a classroom HRS training course available in most EPA Regions each year, this Internet-based version of the HRS training course references the same basic training materials used in the classroom HRS training course. The Internet-based HRS training course is meant to complement, not substitute, the information in the HRS and the HRS Guidance Manual. This training course is designed to:

• Serve as an introduction into the HRS rule and provide a roadmap to the Hazard Ranking System Guidance Manual;
• Provide you with an interactive learning experience through the Internet;
• Show you how the HRS defines what has to be observed, measured, sampled, and reported at the site inspection phase;
• Illustrate the types of information that must be documented at the HRS package preparation phase; and
• Allow you to work at your own pace and when you have available time.

When you complete this course, you will hopefully have a better understanding of the HRS rule and be able to use the Hazard Ranking System Guidance Manual to resolve questions that may arise in the design and implementation of the site inspection or in the compilation of an HRS package. This training course is divided into 20 sections that are linked to excerpts from the Hazard Ranking System Guidance Manual. The examples have been designed to reinforce key concepts.

Course Instructions

The HRS Internet Training Course is designed around a table of contents. This is where you should begin the course. You can return to the course Table of Contents at any time by clicking on the "Table of Contents" button at the bottom of each page.

On the Homepage, each section has a starting page that is accessed by clicking on the header. At the beginning of this "Introduction" page, there is a list of the main topics in the section. Read through the Introduction page and then proceed to the first of the topics in the section. To complete a section, read through all the topics and all the linked pages of the HRS Rule and HRS Guidance Manual. Each section builds upon the previous, so we suggest that you proceed incrementally from section 1 to 20, unless you want to learn a specific topic.

Exercises, provided in the form of question and answer sessions, can be found on the last page of most course sections. These pages test your knowledge of the material taught in that section. Other questions and answers are interspersed throughout the course. To get the most out of the HRS Internet Training Course, you should have a copy of the HRS Rule (55 FR 51532) and the HRS Guidance Manual to refer to while going from page to page.