United States
                    Environmental Protection
                    Agency
Office of
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
Publication 9200.5-008F
November 1990
xe/EPA         FY '90 Superfund  Successes
                    Fulfilling  the  Promise  of
                    Superfund  Management
                    Review  (90-Day Study)
                    The year following EPA Administrator William K. Reilly's comprehensive Superfund 90-Day Study
                    has seen fundamental changes in this controversial program. EPA is proud of the progress made
                    during FY 1990, as demonstrated by these important accomplishments.

                    EPA's "Enforcement First" Philosophy Brings Measurable Results

                     •  Unilateral Administrative Orders (UAOs) have become a routine way to make polluters pay for
                        cleanups. Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) assumed responsibility for site cleanups, in
                        part, due to the 131 UAOs issued by EPA in FY '90. FY '90 saw EPA issue 31 percent more
                        UAOs than the year before.

                     •  The percentage of sites at which PRPs have started cleanup construction increased from 46
                        percent in FY '89 to 59 percent in FY '90.

                     •  PRPs agreed to undertake cleanup work valued at a record SI.3 billion in FY '90. That repre-
                        sents a 30 percent increase from the $1 billion posted in FY '89.

                     •  EPA referred 79 cases, worth an estimated $185 million, to the United States Department of
                        Justice for cost recovery in FY '90.

                     •  EPA won its first award for treble damages from a recalcitrant PRP in FY '90. The judgment
                        was worth more than $2 million.

                    EPA "Makes Sites Safer" by Controlling Acute Threats

                     •  EPA completed evaluations of the more than 1,200 National Priorities List (NPL) sites in FY
                        '90. As a result, EPA took immediate actions at 50 sites to protect human health and the
                        environment. (More than 2,000 emergency actions have been taken at sites on and off the NPL
                        during Superfund's 10-year history.)

                    EPA Tackles the "Worst Problems at the Worst Sites First"

                     •  EPA has more sites ready for cleanup than it can fund, so the Agency is targeting the most
                        serious problems for immediate attention. Using the Remedial Action Prioritization Strategy,
                        EPA Headquarters and Regional Offices establish a national consensus on which sites get
                        funding  priority.

                     •  EPA also has improved its procedures to evaluate Superfund sites' public health and environ-
                        mental threats.

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EPA Uses More Treatment at Superfund Sites

  •   Superfund's early years saw widespread use of conventional incineration and solidification to
     address contamination. EPA continually has sought more effect techniques. In FY '90,75
     percent of the cleanup remedies EPA chose to control contamination sources included some type
     of treatment to address the most serious threats. Half of these treatment choices employed
     innovative technologies.

  •   EPA revised the National Contingency Plan, Superfund's blueprint, in FY '90 to stress the use of
     treatment to ensure long-term public health and environmental protection from the risks posed by
     Superfund sites.

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