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Traditional site characterization methods rely on preplanned sampling programs and off-site analysis of samples to determine the extent and level of hazardous waste contamination. This process is costly and time-consuming. Static work plans specify the numbers and locations of samples to be collected, as well as the analyses to be performed on collected samples. Sampling crews are mobilized, samples are collected, and the crews are demobilized before final results become available. Additional sampling programs are often required to resolve uncertainties raised by the initial sampling and analysis results. The drawbacks of a traditional approach to sampling program design and execution are high costs per sample, pressure to over sample while at the site, and inevitable surprises in the analytical results that require additional sampling to resolve. A key step in the characterization of hazardous wastes at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites is determination of the extent of contamination. The proper number and placement of sampling locations is required to both minimize characterization costs and guarantee that contamination extent can be estimated with reasonable confidence. Because ''soft'' information (i.e., historical records, computer modeling results, past experience, etc.) for a site are usually just as important as ''hard'' laboratory results, the approach taken must include a quantitative way of accounting for both hard and soft site data. An alternative to traditional sampling programs is Adaptive Sampling and Analysis Programs (ASAPs). ASAPs rely on field analytical methods to generate sample results quickly enough to have an impact on the course of the sampling program. Rather than a static work plan, ASAPs are based on dynamic work plans that specify the logic for how sampling numbers, locations, and analyses will be determined as the program proceeds. To ensure that the sampling stays on track, ASAPs also rely on rapid, field-level decision making. ASAPs require (1) field analytical methods that are appropriate for the types of expected contaminants and media present at the site, and (2) a way of supporting decision making in the field that is appropriate for the goals of the program.