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The federal Superfund program for cleaning up America's inactive toxic waste sites is noteworthy not only for its enormous cost - $15.2 billion has been authorized thus far - but also for its unique design. The legislation that created Superfund provided the Environmental Protection Agency with a diverse set of policy tools. Preeminent among them is a civil liability scheme that imposes responsibility for multimillion dollar cleanups on businesses and government units linked - even tangentially - to hazardous waste sites. Armed with this potent policy implement, the agency can order the parties who are legally responsible for the toxic substances at a site to clean it up, with large fines and damages for failure to comply. EPA can also offer conciliatory measures to bring about voluntary, privately financed cleanup; or it can launch a cleanup initially paid for by Superfund and later force the responsible parties to reimburse the government. In this book, Thomas W. Church and Robert T. Nakamura provide the first in-depth study of Superfund operations at hazardous waste sites. They examine six Superfund cleanups, including three regions and both 'hard' and 'easy' sites, to ask 'what works?' Based on detailed case studies, the book describes various strategies that have been applied by government regulators and lawyers and the responses to those different strategies by businesses and local government officials. The authors characterize the implementation strategies used by the EPA as prosecution, accommodation, and public works. They point out that the choice of strategy involves setting priorities among Superfund's competing objectives. They conclude that the best implementation strategy is one that considers the context of each site and the particular priorities in each case. Looking toward the reauthorization of Superfund, they also offer recommendations for improvements in the organization of the program and discuss proposals for change in its
GAO discussed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) progress in cleaning up hazardous waste sites, focusing on: (1) future site clean-up challenges; and (2) possible clean-up approaches. GAO noted that: (1) EPA and responsible parties have removed significant amounts of hazardous waste from 149 sites on the National Priorities List (NPL) or reported as construction-complete; (2) EPA could better inform the public and Congress on a site's true status if it differentiates between sites that protect human health and the environment and those that require further remediation to achieve their clean-up objectives; (3) the remaining Superfund sites will probably be more costly to cleanup because they are more complex and require more extensive clean-up efforts; (4) EPA, states, and responsible parties will incur significant oversight, operation, and maintenance costs at many former NPL and construction-complete sites where untreated wastes remain; (5) oversight and funding problems will increase as the number of Superfund sites increase; (6) there is no consensus on how much cleanup is appropriate; (7) clean-up methods will depend on how EPA protects human health and the environment and sets clean-up standards at the sites; (8) possible clean-up approaches include uniform national clean-up standards, site-specific risk assessments, and treatment of immediate risks and delay of full cleanup; and (9) each clean-up approach has limitations due to the lack of scientific data and public acceptance.
Discusses EPAs efforts to conduct cleanups of hazardous waste sites. Focuses on the type & extent of actions taken at those sites where remedy construction is complete & at sites deleted from the SUPERFUND priority list. Also evaluates the challenges EPA will face in managing & monitoring these sites. 20 charts & tables.
Provides data on (1) how the EPA used funds obligated for the Superfund program in FY 1987 through 1993; (2) the status of cleanup work at each Superfund site, including federal facilities; (3) the time differences in the cleanup work financed by EPA & parties responsible for the contamination, usually private enterprises; & (4) the extent to which limits on judicial review of EPA's cleanup decisions have eliminated cleanup delays. 15 charts & tables.