As part of its mission to protect human health and the environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is dedicated to developing and promoting innovative cleanup strategies that restore contaminated sites to productive use, reduce associated costs, and promote environmental stewardship. EPA strives for cleanup programs that use natural resources and energy efficiently, reduce negative impacts on the environment, minimize or eliminate pollution at its source, and reduce waste to the greatest extent possible in accordance with the Agency's strategic plan for compliance and environmental stewardship (U.S. EPA Office of the Chief Financial Officer, 2006). The practice of green remediation uses these strategies to consider all environmental effects of remedy implementation for contaminated sites and incorporates options to maximize the net environmental benefit of cleanup actions.

"April 2008." "EPA 542-R-08-002." Includes bibliographical references. Title from title screen (viewed Apr 28, 2008).

Green remediation is the practice of considering all environmental effects of remedy implementation and incorporating options to maximize net environmental benefit of cleanup actions. This primer outlines the principles of green remediation and describes opportunities to reduce the footprint of cleanup activities throughout the life of a project. Best management practices outlined in this document help decision-makers, communities, and other stakeholders (such as project managers, field staff, and engineering contractors) identify new strategies in terms of sustainability. These strategies complement rather than replace the process used to select primary remedies that best meet site-specific cleanup goals. The primer identifies the range of alternatives available to improve sustainability of cleanup activities and to help decision-makers balance the alternatives within existing regulatory frameworks. To date, EPA's sustainability initiatives have addressed a broader scope or focused on individual elements of green remediation such as clean energy.