CERCLA

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School

Wilson College *

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224

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Law

Date

Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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3

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Morgan Kelly CERCLA ENV Law The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, otherwise known as CERCLA and sometimes referred to as Superfund was established in 1980 (EPA. 2022) and authorizes a Federal "Superfund" to clean up unauthorized or abandoned hazardous waste sites. In addition to emergency discharges of pollutants and toxins into the environment from spills, accidents, and other causes. Furthermore, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been given authority under CERCLA to identify the parties in charge of any release and to guarantee their cooperation in the cleanup. When potentially accountable parties cannot be found or identified or when they are inactive, the EPA cleans up orphan sites. The EPA achieves private party cleanup through orders, consent decrees, and other minor party settlements using a variety of enforcement techniques. Once a response action is finished, EPA also recovers costs from economically viable people and businesses. The Act may be put into effect by EPA in each of the 50 states as well as U.S. territories. State environmental protection or waste management agencies coordinate the identification, monitoring, and response actions for Superfund sites. Through this research, it appears that CERCLA’s mandates are the guiding principles to which every action is made. For instance, the EPA website states, “CERCLA gives the president authority to clean up these sites “under requirements generically referred to as “removal” or “remedial” provisions” (EPA, 2023). Other governmental organizations that monitor hazardous waste production and disposal, such as the National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan, or simple NCP, mandatorily utilize CERCLA’s implementing regulations.
Morgan Kelly CERCLA ENV Law Since its inception, CERCLA has operated in accordance with its fundamental goals, which include safeguarding public health and the environment, holding accountable those responsible for the cleanup, including communities in the cleanup process, and putting contaminated sites back to use. Nearly 400 polluted sites, not least of all the iconic Love Canal site, that were originally on CERCLA's national priorities list (NPL) have been cleaned up and rehabilitated effectively during the past three decades (Beyer, 2019). Despite these success stories, there are currently 1,337 sites on the National Priorities List (NPL), many of which are the original sites from when the list was first created in 1983. Lack of federal money and the expense of cleanup continue to play a significant role in CERCLA's slow progress on cleaning up its listed sites (Beyer, 2019). Research of reported sites also stymies the progress of Superfund site clean-ups, awareness, and recognition, followed by deployment of field technicians, samples drawn, and studies done are just the steps required to begin finding a solution. All that to say, it is a strenuous and long-winded process before the boots can even hit the ground. CERCLA is a tremendously important asset to the United States with plenty on its plate to be dealing with, although it is clear that more provisions must be offered for these forces to have more of an effect.
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