Contamination Cleanup

Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) in response to a growing desire for the federal government to ensure the cleanup of the nation's most contaminated sites in order to protect the public from potential harm. Since then, several other laws have amended CERCLA for specific purposes, such as relief from cleanup liability for certain persons who were not involved in actions that led to contamination, or who contributed only very small quantities or certain types of waste to a site. This book summarises selected statutory provisions of CERCLA, issues concerning Superfund program funding, the EPA's Brownfields Program, and information on site cleanup and cost issues to estimate future program funding requirements.