The focus of this Guide is on environmental conditions on the grounds of public housing, near the property and in the surrounding neighborhood. Not included in the Guide are building-related issues addressed by other programs, such as lead-based paint and asbestos in individual dwelling units, radon or public safety.

This Guide, while referenced to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) methods for performing environmental site assessments, is more general and broad in scope. It does not address economic liability issues; its purpose is to help public housing authorities to identify unique and potent environmental issues affecting their residents.

This Guide was designed for use by a wide range of public housing authorities. The nation's 1.4 million public housing units are managed by 3,300 public housing authorities. Units and projects vary widely in age, density, location, design, construction and upkeep. Public housing authorities vary enormously from rural authorities with as few as six units to urban authorities with thousands of units and large, complex organizations. Currently, public housing authorities have multiple responsibilities, often with limited funding and increasing workloads.

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