Comprehensive Environmental Response defined

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)1-3 and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA)1 2 4 protect the public from the risks created by past and recent chemical disposal practices. Cleanup of contaminated sites is needed in order to protect human and natural resources, as defined by the Clean Air Act,5 the Clean Water Act,6 the Safe Drinking Water Act,7 and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)89... 

These substances are defined under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended, commonly known as Superfund. This policy guideline will provide a clear and consistent understanding of ATSDR s current approaches andjudgments regarding hazards posed by the presence of TCDD and its less toxic dioxin-like congeners, the CDDs and CDFs, in residential soils. Likely users of this policy guideline include... 

The third series of acts, commonly referred to as CERCLA/superfund acts, provided the federal government with the authority to respond to (l.e., clean up) uncontrolled release of hazardous waste. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) was enacted In 1977. CERCLA applies to the release or threat of release Into the environment of any hazardous substance. The broad scope of this statute is Indicated by the fact that "environmental" Includes all environmental media, and "hazardous substance" Is broadly defined to include not only RCRA "hazardous waste" but a list of substances identified by ERA in 40 CFR 302, which now includes over 700 hazardous substances and over 1500 radionuclides. Whenever there is a release or threat of a release of a hazardous substance to the environment, EPA is authorized by the statute to undertake "removal" and/or "remedial" action. 

The quantity released must involve at least 1,000 pounds of a hazardous substance, as defined by Section 102 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act The release must be one in a trend of frequent releases from the same facility (>3 releases within a 12-month period)... 

Despite its low profile in the EPA, TSCA fines collected for violation of this complex scheme of chemical regulation have often exceeded those collected under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, the Clean Air Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Much of this enforcement is centered on the information collection and reporting requirements of TSCA. Mixtures are not chemical substances under TSCA however, all ingredients within a mixture can be defined as chemical substances. Articles are not considered chemicals under TSCA. The incorporation... 

Defining what constitutes a hazardous waste requires consideration of legal and scientific factors. The basic definitions used in this chapter are derived from (a) the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA), and (b) the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA). These definitions are given below. 

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