GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z N National Contingency Plan (NCP) The National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan, more commonly called the National Contingency Plan (NCP), is the federal government's blueprint for responding to both oil spills and hazardous substance releases. This national response capability plan promotes the overall coordination among a hierarchy of responders and contingency plans. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) reduces the burden of human illness and dysfunction from environmental causes through multidisciplinary biomedical research programs; prevention and intervention efforts; and communication strategies that encompass training, education, technology transfer and community outreach. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Basic Research Program Provides funding to 18 programs at 70 universities and institutions around the United States to study the human health effects of hazardous substances in the environment, especially those found at uncontrolled, leaking, waste disposal sites. National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) The federal government's blueprint for responding to both oil spills and hazardous substance releases. The NCP is the result of efforts to develop a national response capability and promote overall coordination among the hierarchy of responders and contingency plans. National Priorities List (NPL) EPA's list of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites, identified as candidates for long-term cleanup using money from the Superfund trust fund. The National Priorities List (NPL) is an information and management tool of the Superfund site cleanup process. A specific site is listed on the NPL after the Hazard Ranking System (HRS) screening process has been completed and public comments about the proposed site have been solicited and addressed. Natural Resource Damages (NRD) Natural Resource Damages (NRD) are defined as injury to, destruction of, or loss of natural resources. The measure of damages under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) is the cost of restoring injured natural resources to their normal condition, compensation for the interim loss of injured resources pending recovery, and the reasonable costs of a damage assessment. No Further Remedial Action Planned (NFRAP) The archive No Further Remedial Action Planned (NFRAP) database contains information on sites which have been removed from the inventory of Superfund sites. Archive status indicates that to the best of the EPA's knowledge, Superfund has completed its assessment of a site and has determined that no further steps will be taken to list that site on the National Priorities List (NPL). Non-time critical actions A type of short-term cleanup in which, based on an evaluation of the site, EPA determines that more than six months is available before on-site activities must begin. A non-time-critical action includes a more extensive study of the contamination and cleanup options, called an Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA), and more formal public participation prior to the publishing of an action memorandum authorizing and outlining the cleanup plan.