Institutional controls (ICs) are a type of land use control used to help protect people and the environment from exposure to contaminants at a site. They are primarily administrative or legal tools rather than physical remedies. Institutional controls can include government controls, proprietary restrictions, enforcement actions, permit conditions, or informational devices. Unlike engineering controls, which use physical structures or systems to contain or reduce contamination, institutional controls work by limiting how a site is used or accessed. In many cases, institutional controls are approved as part of a cleanup remedy and may be used alone or alongside other remedial actions. Their effectiveness depends on ongoing management to ensure the restrictions remain in place and continue to protect human health and the environment over time.
The Long-Term Contaminant Management Using Institutional Controls (IC-1, 2016) document provides guidance on how to develop and improve long-term programs for managing institutional controls. It builds on earlier ITRC work and uses lessons learned from state and federal programs to identify best practices for stewardship of institutional controls over their full life cycle. The guidance describes key program elements needed to maintain institutional control effectiveness, including clear roles and responsibilities, monitoring, and long-term tracking. It also includes a downloadable tool that helps document important site-specific institutional control information, such as regulatory authority, control details, and performance monitoring schedules, and generates an editable long-term stewardship plan to support consistent, cost-effective program management.
Topic(s): Complex Sites, Institutional Controls, Land Use Controls, Long Term Stewardship, Long-Term Management, Risk Management
