Institutional controls are a mechanism for providing a certain degree of safety in the absence of technology which could clean a site thoroughly, including a legal mechanism designed to ensure that sites are used only for the purposes for which they were remedied. There are many types of controls, each of which can be designed to meet specific site needs. Institutional controls can also provide flexibility by lengthening the time frame for site cleanup. If, as seems likely, Congress amends the Superfund program to take future land use into account in selecting the type and level of cleanup at a site, institutional controls will become an important and integral element of many remedial actions. Because different levels or types of cleanups would be undertaken--for example, at sites which will be used for industrial purposes as opposed to sites that will be used for residential uses--flexible but long lasting mechanisms such as institutional controls will be necessary to ensure that land uses continue to be compatible with the level of cleanup at a site for as long as residual contamination presents risks. This report anticipates amendments to Superfund and describes in concrete terms how institutional controls have been used at Superfund sites and in similar situations in the past. Experience with past use of institutional controls provides Superfund policymakers with valuable examples and knowledge about how best to use these tools to protect humans for as long as risk remains at a site.