CERCLA

SAFE 210

History

Enacted in 1980 Focused on abandoned disposal sites/inactive

hazardous waste sites and spills/discharges into the environment

Failure or success?

Definitions Hazardous substances - located in 40 CFR Part

302. Hazardous substances defined in: Section 101(14) and 102 of CERCLA Hazardous wastes under RCRA and Section 3001 Hazardous substances in Section 311 of CWA Toxic pollutants in Section 307 of CWA Hazardous air pollutants in Section 112 of CAA Imminently hazardous substances in Section 7 of TSCA

Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) Reportable quantity Release

Major Components

Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA)“Superfund”

Response actions/remedial process National Priority List (NPL) National Contingency Plan (NCP) Reporting requirements Liability

SARA/ “Superfund”

Created by taxes Used to pay cleanup and enforcement costs as well

as natural resource damages and private party claims.

Response Actions

Removal action< 12 months to completeUp to 2 million in expenditure

Remedial actionTakes years to complete

Remedial Process Site identification NPL listing Planning remedial actions Remedial investigation/feasibility study Determining level of cleanup Record of decision Administrative record Implementation of cleanup decision State involvement11 Sullivan, Thomas F.P. et al. Environmental Law Handbook. Sixteenth ed. 2001. Rockville, MD.

National Priorities List

Established in 1981 Based on a hazard ranking system

National Contingency Plan (NCP)

Primary guide for response actions The NCP addresses:

ResponsibilitiesCoordinationResponseCleanup Administrative record

Reporting Requirements

Report to National Response Center What is a release? What is the reportable quantity?

Liability – PRP

Who are Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs)?Current owner and operatorOwner at time of disposalGenerator of hazardous substancesTransporter of hazardous substance (that who arranged

for disposal)

Liability Features

Strict liability Retroactive liability Joint and several liability

Defenses Against Liability

Act of God Act of war Act or omission of a third party

Brownfields

Abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination