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Superfund is the common name for the United States Environmental Law that is officially known as the '''Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act''' ('''CERCLA'''), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601 to 9675, which was enacted by the United States Congress on December 11 , 1980 in response to the Love Canal disaster. This law created a Tax on Petroleum and Chemical Industries and provided broad Federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger Public Health or the Environment . Over five years, $1.6 billion was collected, and the tax went to a Trust Fund for cleaning up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. CERCLA was later amended to increase the amount of the 'Superfund' to $8.5 billion.

CERCLA established prohibitions and requirements concerning closed and abandoned Hazardous Waste sites, and:
  • provided for the liability of persons responsible for releases of hazardous waste at these sites; and

  • established a trust fund to provide for cleanup when no responsible party could be identified.


CERCLA authorizes two kinds of response actions:
  • Removal actions. Typically short-term response actions, where actions may be taken to address releases or threatened releases requiring prompt response. Removal actions are classified as: (1) emergency; (2) time-critical; and (3) non-time critical. Removal responses are generally used to address risks such as abandoned drums containing hazardous substances, contaminated surface soils posing acute risks to human health or the environment, etc. The regulations for removal actions can be found at 40 C.F.R. 300.415. ("C.F.R." refers to the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations.)

  • Remedial actions. Usually more long-term response actions than a removal action. Remedial actions permanently and significantly reduce the risks associated with releases or threats of releases of hazardous substances that are serious but lack the time-criticality of a removal action. These actions can be conducted only at sites listed on Environmental Protection Agency 's (EPA), National Priorities List (NPL), in the United States and territories. The regulations for remedial actions can be found at 40 C.F.R. 300.430.


Under CERCLA, four classes of parties, termed "potential responsible parties," may be liable for contamination at a Superfund site:
  • the current owner or operator of the site (CERCLA section 107(a)(1));

  • the owner or operator of a site at the time that disposal of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant occurred (CERCLA section 107(a)(2);

  • a person who arranged for the disposal of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant at a site (CERCLA section 107(a)(3)); and

  • a person who transported a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant to a site; that transporter must have also selected that site for the disposal of the hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants (CERCLA section 107(a)(4)).


CERCLA also enabled the revision of the National Oil And Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) found at 40 C.F.R Part 300. The NCP provided the guidelines and procedures needed to respond to releases and threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. The NCP also established the National Priorities List . The NPL, which appears as Appendix B to the NCP, primarily serves as an information and management tool for EPA, and helps the Agency prioritize sites for cleanup. The NPL is updated periodically.
The identification of a site for the NPL is intended primarily to guide EPA in:

  • determining which sites warrant further investigation to assess the nature and extent of the human health and environmental risks associated with a site;

  • identifying what CERCLA-financed remedial actions may be appropriate;

  • notifying the public of sites EPA believes warrant further investigation; and

  • serving notice to potentially responsible parties that EPA may initiate CERCLA-financed remedial action.


Inclusion of a site on the NPL does not in itself require potentially liable parties to initiate action to cleanup the site, nor does it assign liability to any person. The NPL serves primarily informational purposes, identifying for the States and the public those sites or other releases that appear to warrant remedial actions.

The EPA lists 1,604 sites as of May 2005 , many of which have already been cleaned up.

Despite its name, the 'Superfund' lacks the sufficient funds to clean up even a small number of the sites on the NPL. As a result, the government will typically order "potentially responsible parties" to clean up the site themselves under Section 106 of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. Section 9606. If a party fails to comply with such an order, it may be fined up to $25,000 per each day that noncompliance continues. A party that cleans up a site may seek contribution from other "potentially responsible parties" under CERCLA section 113(f).


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