Radon
Federal Radon Action Plan
Accomplishments Report Released
[February 4, 2013] Just over a year and a half since the release of the Federal Radon Action Plan (June 2011) the federal partners have released an accomplishments report highlighting significant progress made. More than half of the 33 commitments in the Action Plan have been completed and over a dozen more are on track to completion.
Moving forward, federal partners are focused on maintaining momentum and increasing impacts. To achieve this, they will not only broaden the scope of their work, but will also be calling upon industry and nonprofit organizations to build on, leverage and amplify the impact of federal agency actions.
The Action Plan Scorecard
For over a year, the federal partners have been working to implement the Plan. While work continues on the Plan the federal government wants to keep the public informed about progress. Thus, the federal partners have released a Federal Radon Action Plan Scorecard, a tool designed to display the status of federal activity.
This scorecard shows the status on each commitment identified in the Action Plan and provides a target completion date. You can view progress in three different ways:
- track status by agency,
- track status by progress (green, yellow, or red circle), and
- track status by the Action Plan Framework which groups actions by their primary intent to either demonstrate the importance of radon risk reduction, address finance and incentive issues to drive testing and mitigation or build demand for services from the professional nationwide industry.
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No progress to date |
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On track to complete the commitment by the target completion date |
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Complete |
Beside each commitment is a green, yellow, or red circle.
These circles are status indicators and offer a simple and quick overview of progress as of February 4, 2013. We will update the scorecard as commitments change in status.
The Action Plan
Protecting People and Families from Radon: A Federal Action Plan for Saving Lives (June 20, 2011)

(PDF, 10 pp., 239 K)
The Action Plan aims to increase radon risk reduction in homes, schools and daycare facilities, as well as radon-resistant new construction. It contains both an array of current federal government actions to reduce radon risks and a series of new commitments for future action. To address the current reality of barriers to radon risk reduction the actions implemented through this effort will:
- Demonstrate the importance, feasibility, and value of radon testing and mitigation.
- Provide economic incentives to encourage those who have sufficient resources to test and mitigate, and provide direct support to reduce the risk for those who lack sufficient resources.
- Build demand for services from the professional, nationwide radon services industry.
With this Plan as a catalyst, industry and nonprofit ally organizations will be ready to build on and increase the impact of the ideas for action contained in the federal strategy. These complimentary efforts will create the demand needed for thousands of new jobs in the housing sector for radon testing, mitigation, and new construction.
- Read the full text, "Protecting People and Families from Radon: A Federal Action Plan for Saving Lives (PDF)," (10 pp., 239 K, about PDF) to learn more about the federal government's strategic approach to reduce radon risk in the millions of homes, schools and daycare facilities that it influences.
- Read the June 20, 2011 EPA Press Release.
- A separate non-government group is also working to increase action on radon, see www.radonleaders.org/calltoaction

Key Milestones
Moving Forward — Federal agencies will continue to collaborate to deliver on commitments identified in the Action Plan by target completion dates.
- February 4, 2013 - The Federal Radon Action Plan Accomplishments Report released. (PDF, 10 pp., 239 K)
- August 22, 2012 - EPA, HHS, and HUD celebrated one-year anniversary at CDC's National Cancer Conference in Washington, DC
- January 2012 - Federal Radon Action Plan Scorecard released.
- June 20, 2011 - The Federal Radon Action Plan formally announced at the National Healthy Homes Conference in Denver, Colo., June 20 to 23, 2011
- June 10, 2011 - Senior leaders met again to finalize commitments and scope out the Plan's implementation phase.
- May 6, 2011 - Senior leaders reconvened at the White House Council on Environmental Quality to reaffirm commitment to this effort and discuss key actions to reduce radon risk.
- Nov. 30, 2010 - Federal agencies/departments met at the Federal Radon Summit in Washington, D.C. and agreed to collaborate on a Federal Radon Action Plan to address radon risk.
Federal Dialogue on Building Awareness on Radon
Listen to EPA and HUD's senior leaders talk about federal action on radon and ALA's call to raise national attention on radon and its risks.
Listen to the discussion.
(MP3, 0:45:51, 107.47 M)
(Transcript, 40 K)
Listen to the discussion highlights.
(MP3, 0:05:42, 13.4 M)
(Transcript, 7 K)
Participating Agencies
- Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- Department of Defense (DOD)
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- General Services Administration (GSA)
- Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
- Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- Department of the Interior (DOI)
- Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)




