Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Purpose To address the hazards to human health and the environment presented by inactive or closed hazardous waste sites Scope Provisions are triggered by a release of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant from a facility or vessel into the environment Enforcement of the Act The EPA can conduct a short-term removal action at any site requiring emergency action or conduct a long-term remedial action at any site on the National Priorities List The EPA can compel private parties to cleanup a site when release or threatened release of hazardous substances present an imminent endangerment to the public health or welfare of the environment

Superfund The name given to CERCLA and to the fund originally designated by that act to assist with the cleanup of contaminated sites

What Triggers CERCLA’s Provisions? A release Of a: hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant, From a facility or vessel, Into the environment

Hazardous Substances “Substances that are listed or designated for regulation under other environmental acts” Examples Listed hazardous wastes (RCRA) Characteristic hazardous wastes (RCRA) Hazardous substances (CWA) Toxic pollutants (CWA) Listed hazardous pollutants (CAA) Imminently hazardous chemical substance or mixture (TSCA)

Pollutants and Contaminants Definition under CERCLA is extremely broad and covers almost any substance as long as that substance “will or may reasonably be anticipated to cause” specified harmful health effects Release Broadly defined as “any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping or disposing into the environment” Exclusions Threat of release Facilities and Vessels Facilities Defined as “any site or area where a hazardous waste has . . . come to be located” Vessels Defined as any craft used as a means of transportation on water Environment Defined broadly and includes surface water, ground water, drinking water supplies, land surface, subsurface strata, and ambient air

CERCLA Remediation The EPA has two options as to how to proceed to remedy the release of a hazardous substance The EPA can do the cleanup itself and then seek recovery of the cleanup costs The EPA can identify potentially responsible parties (PRPs) and have those persons pay for and effect the cleanup Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) are parties identified by the EPA as potentially responsible for the cleanup of hazardous substances pursuant to CERCLA

When is the EPA Authorized to Respond? Under CERCLA, the EPA is authorized to respond if there is a release or substantial threat of a release into the environment of a hazardous substance there is a release or a substantial threat of a release into the environment of a pollutant or contaminant that may present an imminent and substantial danger to the public health or welfare

National Contingency Plan (NCP) A plan, designed to address responses to releases of hazardous substances, that outlines the roles of various groups that play a part in responding to releases The National Priorities List (NPL) A list prioritizing the releases or threats of release of hazardous materials in the U.S. for the purpose of allocating financial and administrative assistance The list is comprised of uncontrolled hazardous substance releases that are priorities for long-term remedial evaluation and response In other words, it ranks the sites eligible for Superfund clean up Long-term remediation actions can only be conducted by the EPA at sites on the NPL The provisions of the APA are triggered when the EPA decides to place a site on the NPL

2 Types of EPA Responses Removal Remediation An action in response to an environmental emergency Intended to contain the problem and reduce the immediate risk to human health and the environment Includes activities such as fencing a release site or immediately cleaning up a spill Available for all situations Remediation A lengthy response following the initial response action related to the cleanup of a hazardous materials release Intended to effectuate a permanent cleanup of a contaminated site May take years or even decades to complete Includes actions such as excavation and the construction of dikes, trenches, or clay covers as well as activities designed to neutralize contaminants found at the site

The Remedial Process Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) The official list of CERCLA sites Preliminary assessment (PA) Conducted by the EPA once the site is placed on CERCLIS Part of the process established pursuant to NEPA This initial assessment assists in determining whether a proposed action may require further investigation to learn whether the action poses an environmental risk Information from the PA and a subsequent investigation will be used to “score” the site to determine whether the site will be placed on the NPL

The Remedial Process (cont.) If site is placed on the NPL, a permanent cleanup plan is developed: Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) Two part process designed to ensure there is enough information to analyze the possible remediation alternatives for a site containing hazardous substances so a permanent cleanup plan can be finalized Meeting Applicable or Relevant and Appropriate Requirements (ARARs) If, to be lawful and effective, a CERCLA remedial action requires compliance with a provision of another environmental law, that requirement is called an ARAR Record of Decision (ROD) Issued by the EPA once RI/FS completed and becomes part of the case’s administrative record Details all facts gleaned by the EPA in its site evaluation and investigation and explains how facts are applied to the law to reach remedies selected Describes remedies selected for site and explains how the EPA reached its decision concerning those remedies

The Cleanup Process Step #1 Remedial Design (RD) Detailed document, comparable to the construction drawings that might be drafted by an architect or engineer Step #2 Remedial Action (RA) Taken by the EPA upon completion of the RD It is the actual implementation of the cleanup process