Environmental restoration activities, defined here as work to identify and characterize contaminated sites and then contain, treat, remove or dispose of the contamination, now comprises a significant fraction of work in the DOE complex. As with any other DOE activity, a safety analysis must be in place prior to commencing restoration. The rigor and depth of this safety analysis is in part determined by the site's hazard category. This category in turn is determined by the facility's hazardous material inventory and the consequences of its release. Progressively more complicated safety analyses are needed as a facility's hazard category increases from radiological to hazard category three (significant local releases) to hazard category two (significant on-site releases). Thus, a facility's hazard category plays a crucial early role in helping to determine the level of effort devoted to analysis of the facility's individual hazards. Improper determination of the category can result in either an inadequate safety analysis in the case of underestimation of the hazard category, or an unnecessarily cumbersome analysis in the case of overestimation. Contaminated sites have been successfully categorized and safely restored or remediated at the former DOE production site at Hanford, Washington. This paper discusses various means used to categorize former plutonium production or support sites at Hanford. Both preliminary and final hazard categorization is discussed. The importance of the preliminary (initial) hazard categorization in guiding further DOE involvement and approval of the safety analyses is discussed. Compliance to DOE direction provided in 'Hazard Categorization and Accident Analysis Techniques for Compliance with DOE Order 5480.23, Nuclear Safety Analysis Reports', DOE-STD-1027-92, is discussed. DOE recently issued 10 CFR 830, Subpart B which codifies previous DOE safety analysis guidance and orders. The impact of 10 CFR 830, Subpart B on hazard categorization is also discussed.