The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, is a federal law enacted in 1980 to address hazardous waste sites across the United States. The law established a trust fund, known as the Superfund, to pay for the cleanup of contaminated sites when no responsible party can be identified or located.
Under Superfund, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is authorized to respond to releases of hazardous substances and pollutants that pose a threat to public health or the environment. The EPA also has the authority to seek out potentially responsible parties (PRPs) and hold them accountable for the cost of cleanup.
PRPs may include current or former owners or operators of a contaminated site, as well as those who contributed to the release of hazardous substances. Liability under Superfund is strict, joint, and several, meaning that multiple parties can be held responsible for the full cost of cleanup, regardless of their individual contributions to the contamination.
Superfund has been used to clean up some of the nation’s most contaminated sites, including Love Canal in New York, the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California, and the Gowanus Canal in New York City. As of 2021, there are over 1,300 Superfund sites on the National Priorities List, which is the list of the most contaminated sites in the country.
Superfund is an important tool for protecting public health and the environment by ensuring that contaminated sites are cleaned up and those responsible for the contamination are held accountable. More information about Superfund and its implementation can be found on the EPA’s website.