CERCLA or Superfund

On December 11,1980, Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) to create the Superfund hazardous substance cleanup program. The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) made numerous changes to CERCLA to expand the program s scope. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 extended the law s taxing authority, which had expired at the end of 1991 under SARA, through December 31, 1995. 

CERCLA s purpose is to authorize the federal government to respond swiftly to hazardous substance emergencies and to protect public health and the environment by cleaning up the nation s worst hazardous waste sites (Reisch and Bearden, 1997). The law seeks to make those responsible for the improper disposal of hazardous waste bear the costs and accept responsibility for their actions with a retroactive liability regime, and established the Hazardous Substance Superfund Trust Fund to finance response actions where a liable party cannot be found or is incapable of paying cleanup costs. The Superfund program is the principal federal effort to clean up inactive hazardous waste sites. 

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Provides information about all RCRA regulations and programs including the Resource Conseiwation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, or Superfund) and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)/Superfund Amendments Reauthorization Act (SARA) Title III. Operates weekdays from 9 00 a.m. to 6 00 p.m., EST, excluding Federal holidays. Sendees are also available in Spanish. 

The toxicological profiles are developed in response to the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 (Public law 99-499) which amended the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA or Superfund). This public law directed ATSDR to prepared toxicological profiles for hazardous substances most commonly found at facilities on the CERCLA National Priorities List and that pose the most significant potential threat to human health, as determined by ATSDR and the EPA. The availability of the revised priority list of 275 hazardous substances was announced in the Federal Register on November 17, 1997 (62 FR 61332). For prior versions of the list of substances, see Federal RegisternoiiCQS dated April 29, 1996 (61 FR 18744) April 17, 1987 (52 FR 12866) October 20, 1988 (53 FR 41280) October 26, 1989 (54 FR 43619) October 17, 1990 (55 FR 42067) October 17, 1991 (56 FR 52166) October 28, 1992 (57 FR 48801) and February 28, 1994 (59 FR 9486). Section 104(i)(3) of CERCLA, as amended, directs the Administrator of ATSDR to prepare a toxicological profile for each substance on the list. 

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liabilities Act (CERCLA or Superfund)... 

In the U.S., three pieces of federal legislation that were passed from 1969 to 1980, and the implementing rules and regulations that followed, initiated a series of fundamental changes in the management of waste and byproduct materials. They presently affect the way in which regulatory agencies address waste and byproduct material use. These acts include the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA, 1969), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA, 1976, 1980), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabilities Act (CERCLA) or Superfund (1980). 

One statute in particular, the CERCLA, or Superfund, is closely tied to RCRA both are designed to protect human health and the environment from the dangers of hazardous waste. While these programs are similar, they do have different regulatory focuses RCRA regulates how wastes should be managed to avoid potential threats to human health and the environment CERCLA focuses on actual releases, or substantial threats of a release in the environment of a... 

Federal Register, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), 42 U.S. Code s/s 9601 et seq. 1980, U.S. Government, Public Laws, 2009. Available at http //www.access.gpo.gov/uscode/title42/chapterl03. html... 

CERCLA, or Superfund, was enacted in 1980, and amended in 1986, for the basic purpose of providing funding and enforcement authority to clean up any site where there is a past unremedied release of a hazardous substance or hazardous substance spill. Such sites are typically characterized as areas where hazardous waste or materials have been disposed of improperly, with litde if any responsible action being taken to mitigate the situation. Standards for financial responsibility were promulgated by the SARA of 1986 which further amended Section 9003 of RCRA and mandated that the EPA establish financial responsibility requirements for UST owners and operators to guarantee cost recovery for corrective action and third-party liability caused by accidental releases of USTs containing petroleum products. 

The toxicological profiles are developed in response to the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 (Public Law 99499) which amended the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA or Superfund). This public law directed the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to prepare toxicological profiles for hazardous substances most commonly found at facilities on the CERCLA National Priorities List and that pose the most significant potential threat to human health, as... 

The RCRA controls the disposal of solid waste and requires that all wastes destined for land disposal be evaluated for their potential hazard to the environment. Solid waste includes liquids, solids, and containerized gases and is divided into nonhazardous waste and hazardous waste. The various amendments are aimed at preventing the disposal problems that lead to a need for the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund, as it is known. 

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, or Superfund) was passed in 1980. It was the first law to focus on the necessary environmental response to uncontrolled hazardous waste sites or potential hazardous waste releases throughout the country. The Superfund law was significantly amended in 1986 by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), which is discussed in the next section, and was last reauthorized in 1990. It has been scheduled for reauthorization for the past several years, but agreement on changes to the act has not yet been reached. 

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