United States August
Environmental Protection Agency 1987
Washington DC 20460
&EPA The New
Superfund
What It Is,
How It Works
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The Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly
known as Superfund, was enacted in 1980.
This law provided broad federal authority
and resources to respond directly to
releases (or threatened releases) of
hazardous substances that could endanger
human health or the environment. Costs
for the first five years of the Superfund
program were covered by a $1.6 billion
Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund
established to pay for cleanup of
abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous
waste sites. The law also authorized
enforcement action and cost recovery from
those responsible for a release.
The hazardous waste problem, brought
to public attention in the late 1970s by
Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York, is
now recognized as larger and more
complex than originally expected
generating a need for new and stronger
legislation.
On October 17, 1986, the Superfund
Amendments and Reauthorization Act of
1986 (SARA) was enacted. The new
Superfund:
reauthorizes the program for five years;
increases the size of the Fund to $8.5
billion;
strengthens and expands the cleanup
program;
focuses on the need for emergency
preparedness and community
right-to-know;
and
changes the tax structure for financing
the Fund.
How The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Superfund (EPA) has the primary responsibility for
Works managing the cleanup and enforcement
activities under Superfund. A
comprehensive regulation known as the
National Contingency Plan (NCP) describes
the guidelines and procedures for
implementing this law.
Every Superfund site is unique, and
cleanups must be tailored to the specific
needs of each site or release of hazardous
substances. From the beginning of the
process, EPA makes a concerted effort to
encourage those responsible to pay for
cleanup. However, if an immediate
problem threatens human health, welfare,
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or the environment, EPA will take action.
If efforts to ensure responsible party
response do not lead to prompt action and
EPA determines that action is necessary,
EPA can initiate:
removal actions short-term actions
which stabilize or clean up a hazardous
site that poses a threat to human health or
the environment. Typical removal actions
include removing tanks or drums of
hazardous substances on the surface,
installing fencing or other security measure;
and providing a temporary alternate source
of drinking water to local residents.
or
remedial actions the study, design,
and construction of longer-term and
usually more expensive actions aimed at
permanent remedy. EPA can respond in
this way only at sites on the National
Priorities List (NPL) the list of the
nation's most serious hazardous waste
sites. Typical remedial responses include
removing buried wastes from the site;
installing a clay "cap" over the site;
constructing underground walls to control
movement of ground water; on-site
incineration or solidification of wastes; or
providing a permanent alternate source of
drinking water.
Removal Removals can take place at any site,
Actions including those on the NPL. Removals mai
be ordered, for example, to clean up spills
of hazardous materials when a truck or
train overturns, to keep the public from
being exposed to hazardous substances, or
to protect a drinking water supply from
contamination.
Under the 1980 law, each removal was
limited to six months and a total cost of $:
million. EPA could grant an exemption to
these limits if:
continued federal response was needed
to prevent, limit, or control an emergency;
there was an immediate risk to human
health or Welfare or the environment; and
such assistance was not otherwise
available on a timely basis.
The new Superfund raises the limits on
removal actions to 12 months and $2
million and provides an additional
exemption. The removal can continue if it
is consistent with long-term action to be
taken at the site.
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Remedial Remedial response is a long and
Actions complicated process. After learning of a
site, EPA's first step is to review all
available information about the site. If this
preliminary assessment indicates that
there may be a hazardous waste problem
that poses risks to human health or the
environment, EPA orders a site inspection.
These inspections include visiting the site,
sampling drums, soil, surface water, and
ground water, where necessary, and
documenting the site layout and terrain.
By using a system designed to rank the
hazards associated with a site, sites to be
proposed for the NPL are identified. After
a public comment period, sites that meet
established criteria will be placed on the
final NPL.
The New Superfund at a Glance
The new Superfund reflects EPA's experience in
administering this complex cleanup program since
1980. The new program builds on the existing
program by:
increasing the size of the Fund;
stressing permanent remedies and treatment or
recycling technologies in cleaning up hazardous
waste sites;
setting specific cleanup goals and standards;
providing new enforcement authorities and
responsibilities;
increasing state involvement in every phase of
the Superfund program;
increasing attention to community and state
emergency preparedness activities;
increasing the focus on human health problems
posed by hazardous waste sites;
encouraging greater citizen participation in
making decisions on how sites should be cleaned
up;
expanding research and training activities to
promote the development of alternative and
innovative treatment technologies;
requiring cleanup of federal facilities to meet
Superfund requirements;
and
expanding the statutory cost and duration limits
on removal actions.
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The new Superfund also sets the
following goals:
By January of 1988, EPA should
complete preliminary assessments for all
facilities that were listed in the inventory
of potentially hazardous waste sites
(CERCLIS) as of October 17, 1986.
EPA should complete site inspections at
all facilities in the inventory, where
necessary, by January 1989.
Since each NPL site presents a unique
set of challenges, there is no single,
all-purpose solution. A workable and
permanent solution is developed through a
four-stage process.
The Remedial Investigation/Feasibility
Study (RI/FS) examines the type and extent
of contamination and identifies possible
remedies. The new Superfund sets several
requirements for this phase of remedial
response:
Remedies must protect human health
and the environment, be cost-effective, and
emphasize use of permanent solutions that
encourage treatment or recycling rather
than land disposal.
Remedies must meet all applicable and
relevant federal and state standards for
protecting human health and the
environment.
By December 1988, health assessments
must be completed at all sites proposed for
the NPL as of October 17, 1986 and at all
newly-proposed NPL sites within one year
of proposal.
A Record of Decision (RODJ documents
the action plan for the remedy chosen for a
site and provides background on the
decision. The ROD also provides the basis
for future EPA efforts to recover Fund
monies spent on cleanup from responsible
parties.
The Remedial Design (RDJ details design
plans and specifications for conducting the
cleanup.
Remedial Action (HA), also known as the
construction or implementation phase,
follows the completion and approval of the
remedial design and includes actual site
cleanup measures. The new Superfund
requires EPA to begin 175 new remedial
actions by October 1989 and another 200
by October 1991.
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State States have always been encouraged to
Involvement participate in the Superfund process.
(Under the new Superfund, Indian Tribes
are generally treated as states.) Now, states
are more formally involved in the
selection, initiation, and development of
remedial responses. EPA must develop
state participation regulations that will
provide for a number of opportunities to
participate, including review and comment
on planning documents, involvement in
long-term planning activities, and
participation in negotiations.
Either EPA or the state may take the lead
role in managing cleanup activities. When
EPA takes the lead, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers manages the remedial design
and remedial action phases for EPA.
Private contractors actually complete the
work at a site under federal or state
government supervision.
Research, The 1980 Superfund law had no specific
Development, provisions for research, development, and
and Traininq ' tramin8- The new Superfund establishes a
research and development program,
including demonstration programs for
technologies that offer alternatives to
conventional methods of handling site
cleanups, and favoring methods that lead
to the destruction or recycling of wastes
rather than land disposal.
It also calls for the establishment of
training programs for hazardous substance
response and research.
Enforcement Based on the principle that "the polluter
Authorities should pay," Superfund contains
authorities which allow EPA to ensure that
those responsible for hazardous waste
problems pay for their cleanup. Superfund
enforcement authorities enable EPA to
encourage responsible parties to undertake
cleanup activities and recover Fund
monies spent for cleanup from those
responsible parties.
Cleanup Action In cases of imminent
hazard to human health or the
environment, Superfund authorizes EPA to
order the responsible party to undertake
necessary actions to control the threat. To
accomplish this, the Agency can either
issue an administrative order or bring a
civil action against the responsible party.
The new Superfund provides specific
procedures for negotiating settlements with
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responsible parties to conduct response
actions. These are designed to encourage
voluntary cleanup.
Criminal Authorities Criminal
penalties for failure to notify proper
authorities of a release have been increased
and submitting false information is now a
criminal offense.
Citizen Suits Superfund authorizes a
citizen to sue any person, the United
States, or an individual state for any
violation of standards and requirements of
the law.
Access to Sites Superfund strengthens
EPA's ability to obtain access to sites in
order to investigate and clean up.
Cost Recovery EPA can recover
cleanup costs for Fund-financed responses
from the responsible parties. Past and
present facility owners and operators, as
well as those who produce or transport
hazardous substances can all be liable
under Superfund for response costs and for
damage to natural resources. EPA may
recover federal response costs from any or
all of the responsible parties involved in a
cleanup action. The dollars recovered go
back into the Fund for use in future
response actions.
Community Because the people in a community with a
Involvement Superfund site personally face the
hazardous waste problems associated with
that site, EPA encourages community
residents to participate in the process of
determining the best way to clean it up. To
ensure effective and substantive two-way
communications from the outset at each
remedial response site, a community
relations program is tailored to local
circumstances. Often, EPA or state staff
will interview residents, local officials, and
civic leaders to learn all they can about the
site and about the community's concerns.
These interviews are conducted before
and. during field work on the Remedial
Investigation. The new Superfund
formalizes existing EPA community
relations policy and public participation
requirements outlined in the National
Contingency Plan. It also requires EPA to:
publish a notice and brief analysis of the
proposed remedial action plan;
provide an opportunity for the public to
comment on that plan;
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provide an opportunity for a public
meeting to allow for two-way
communication on the remedial action
plan;
make a copy of the transcript of the
public meeting available to the public; and
prepare a response to each significant
comment made on the proposed remedial
action plan.
Community relations activities are
somewhat different during a removal
action, where human health and the
environment must be protected from an
immediate threat. During the initial phase
of these response actions, the Agency's
primary responsibility is to inform the
community about actions being taken and
the possible effect on the community.
The new Superfund also requires EPA to
develop a grant program to make funding
for technical assistance available to those
who may be affected by a release. The
purpose of these grants is to help
concerned citizens understand and
interpret technical information on the
nature of the hazard and recommended
alternatives for cleanup. Grants are limited
by law to one grant of no more than
$50,000 per NPL site. In addition, the grant
recipient must contribute at least 20
percent of the total cost of the grant.
Federal The new Superfund confirms that
Facilities Superfund applies to federal agencies and
states tnat they must comply with its
requirements. It also defines the process
federal agencies must follow in
undertaking remedial responses. If the
federal agency and EPA disagree, EPA is
responsible for selecting the remedy. State
and local officials must be given the
opportunity to participate in the planning
and selection of any remedy at a federal
facility, including reviewing all data.
States are given a formal opportunity to
review remedies to ensure that they
incorporate state standards. The new
Superfund also provides a schedule for
response actions at federal facilities,
including a schedule for preliminary
assessments, listing on the National
Priorities List, remedial
investigations/feasibility studies, and
remedial actions.
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New In passing the new Superfund, Congress
Authorities 8ave ^PA a number of significant new
authorities. These authorities formalize
federal, state, and local cooperation in
emergency preparedness and expand EPA's
authorities to include identifying and
cleaning up leaking underground
petroleum storage tanks through state
cooperative agreements.
Emergency Preparedness and Community
Right-to-Know
In response to the tragic toxic chemical
release in Bhopal, India, and a subsequent
serious incident in Institute, West Virginia,
Congress established new reporting
requirements for facilities that handle
hazardous chemicals. It also authorized
new measures to increase the nation's
focus on emergency preparedness.
Provisions in Title III of the Superfund
Amendments and Reauthorization Act
establish a Preparedness and Community
Right-to-Know program.
There are four major elements of this
program:
Emergency Planning requires the
designation of state emergency response
commissions and local emergency
planning committees that are responsible
for developing local contingency plans.
This planning is done in cooperation with
local hazardous chemical handlers.
Emergency Notification requires
hazardous chemical handlers to notify the
local emergency planning committee and
state emergency response commission
immediately when there has been a release
of a hazardous chemical.
Right-to-Know requires handlers to
provide information on the chemicals they
produce, use, or store to the local planning
committee and the public.
Emissions Inventory requires chemical
"handlers to report any emissions of
hazardous chemicals to EPA annually. EPA
will maintain this information in a public
inventory.
Leaking Underground Storage Tank
(LUST) Trust Fund
Based on increasing evidence of ground
water contamination from leaks in
underground petroleum storage tanks,
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Congress added new response authorities
to the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA) to regulate underground
storage tanks and respond to leaks that
seriously threaten the nation's ground
water. Under these authorities, EPA is
issuing regulations for underground storage
tanks. EPA (and states that have entered
into cooperative agreements with EPA)
have also been given the authority to take
corrective action or order a tank owner or
operator to take corrective action to protect
human health and the environment.
To finance the corrective actions and
enforcement measures taken, Congress
established a $500 million LUST Trust
Fund, supported by a tax on gasoline.
States can receive Trust Fund money after
they enter into cooperative agreements
with EPA. In addition to cleaning up leaks
from underground petroleum storage tanks,
states can use Trust Fund money to assess
exposure, temporarily or permanently
relocate residents, and provide alternate
household water supplies. Priority for
Trust Fund cleanups is given to releases
posing the greatest threat to human health
and the environment and to sites where
there is no solvent owner or operator of
the tank who will take proper action. In
cases where a responsible party is
identified, EPA or states may recover
money spent out of the LUST Trust Fund
from the tank owner or operator.
Conclusion The Superfund program is a coordinated
effort of federal, state, and local
governments, private industry, and
citizens. The problems are widespread and
will take time to solve. But the Superfund
program is a significant part of our
national response to one of the major
environmental challenges of the decade.
For further information about Superfund,
please contact EPA Headquarters or a
Regional Office or call the national
information number listed on the back
page of this leaflet. The toll-free number of
the National Response Center is also
provided for citizens to report releases of
oil and hazardous substances.
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Superfund In Perspective
Superfund is the newest in a number of federal
pollution control laws, including the Clean Water
Act, the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act, the Toxic Substances Control
Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
Together, these interrelated laws provide EPA with
the authorities needed to protect our environment.
Superfund is a significant addition to the
pollution control effort because it is fundamentally
action-oriented. Before Superfund, the federal
government lacked the authority and resources to
respond to releases of hazardous substances or to
clean up hazardous waste sites. The earlier federal
authorities are primarily regulatory:
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA} establishes a regulatory system to track
hazardous wastes from the time they are generated
to their final disposal. RCRA also requires safe
hazardous waste management and imposes
standards for transporting, treating, storing, and
disposing of hazardous wastes. It is designed to
prevent the creation of new hazardous waste sites.
RCRA provides administrative, civil, and criminal
enforcement authorities for EPA to take action
against facility owners and operators who do not
comply with RCRA requirements. Some RCRA
enforcement provisions apply to hazardous
substance cleanup.
The Clean Water Act (CWAj provides limited
response authority, enabling the federal
government to take action when oil or certain
hazardous substances are released into navigable
waterways. CWA does not authorize the
government to act when hazardous substances are
released elsewhere in the environment.
Even before enactment of the new Superfund,
spme states had established programs for
responding to spills or cleaning up uncontrolled
waste disposal sites. Like the federal government,
however, state governments often lacked the funds
and legal authority needed to deal fully with the
problem. Superfund established a program to
spearhead both federal and state efforts to respond
to releases of hazardous substances into the
environment.
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EPA Superfund Offices
EPA Headquarters
Office of Emergency & Remedial
Response
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 382-2180
EPA Region 1
Emergency and Remedial
Response Division
John F. Kennedy Building
Boston, MA 02203
(617) 565-3626
Connecticut, Maine,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Rhode Island, Vermont
EPA Region 2
Superfund Branch
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278
(212) 264-8672
New Jersey, New York, Puerto
Rico, Virgin Islands
EPA Region 3
Superfund Branch
841 Chestnut Building
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 597-8132
Delaware, District of Columbia,
Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia
West Virginia
EPA Region 4
Emergency and Remedial
Response Branch
345 Courtland Street, NE
Atlanta, GA 30365
(404) 257-4097
Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
Kentucky, Mississippi, North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee
EPA Region 5
Emergency and Remedial
Response Branch
230 S. Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 353-9773
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,
Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin
EPA Region 6
Superfund Program Branch
Allied Bank Tower
1445 Ross Avenue
Dallas, TX 75202-2733
(214) 255-6745
Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico,
OkJahoma, Texas
EPA Region 7
Superfund Branch
726 Minnesota Avenue
Kansas City, KS 66101
(913) 757-2855
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska
EPA Region 8
Waste Management Division
1 Denver Place
999 18th Street
Denver, CO 80202-2413
(303) 564-1720
Colorado, Montana, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming
EPA Region 9
Superfund Programs Branch
215 Fremont Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 454-8910
Arizona, California, Guam,
Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa
EPA Region 10
Superfund Branch
1200 6th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 399-1987
Idaho, Oregon, Washington,
Alaska
Superftind/RCRA Hotline
(800) 424-9346 or 382-3000
in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area (for information
on programs)
National Response Center (800) 424-8802 ,
(to report releases of oil and hazardous substances)
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