current status of cercla
BUILD ACT of 2018
The Consolidated Appropriations Act enacted in 2018 contains the BUILD Act or, Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development Act, which contains several amendments to CERCLA law.
These changes include:
- Exempting local and state governments from being deemed "owners or operators" of property seized through the government's law enforcement powers. Shielding these government entities from liability for contamination existing before they acquired the title to the property.
- Expands the definition of a 'bona find prospective purchaser' to a tenant entering into a lease after January 11, 2002.
- Expands the list of entities eligible for brownfield redevelopment funding to include, a charitable organization, a limited liability company whose managing members are charitable organizations and a qualified community development entity.
- Publicly owned brownfield sites may receive redevelopment grant money if the owner did not contribute to contamination.
- The cap on remediation grant funds increased to $500,000. The EPA Administrator's authority grants as much as $650,000 for a site based on its assessment of the site's size, ownership status and level of contamination.
- Creation of multipurpose grants program that allows the EPA to grant a single entity up to $1,000,000 for characterization, assessment, planning or remediation of contamination.
- Brownfield sites adjacent to a body of water, designated flood plain or if renewable energy facilities are installed on the site are given weight when assessing applications.
- $200,000,000 per fiscal year (2019-2023) is allocated for funding of these grants.
Superfund Remedial Annual Accomplishments FY 2017
The following is information gathered from the EPA's Superfund Remedial Annual Accomplishments (2017 Fiscal Year) which comprises the current status of CERCLA.
- In May Pruitt (former EPA Administrator) issued a memorandum: Prioritizing the Superfund Program. Which outlined the following three actions:
1. The establishment of the Superfund Task Force (to provide recommendations on expedited timeframe)
2. That the administrator is retaining the authority of the assistant administrator for Office of Land and Emergency Management and the regional administrators to select remedies estimated to cost $50 million or more.
3. Regional administrators and their staffs should increase coordination with the administrators office throughout the process of developing and evaluating alternatives and remedy selection for sites.
- In July, Pruitt used the Task Force's report with forty-two recommendations under five goals:
1. Expediting Cleanup and Remediation
2. Re-invigorating Responsible Party Cleanup and Reuse
3. Encouraging Private Investment
4. Promoting Redevelopment and Community Revitalization
5. Engaging Partners and Stakeholders
- The EPA's data for FY 2017 shows that Superfund cleanups provide significant economic benefits to communities. 487 Superfund sites in reuse, 6,622 businesses generated $43.6 billion in sales and employed 156,352 people.
- In FY 2017 the environmental benefits of EPA Superfund and RCRA Correction Action enforcement increased, with commitments to address ~20.5 million cubic yards of contaminated soil and 412 million cubic yards of contaminated water.
- In January, the EPA added a scoring mechanism to the Hazard Ranking System to evaluate sites with subsurface intrusion contamination for placement on the Superfund NPL.
- In August, the EPA added 7 sites and proposed 4 sites to the NPL.
- The EPA deleted two and partially deleted four sites off of the NPL in FY 2017.
- As of September, alternative energy facilities located at 50 Superfund sites provided an installed capacity of more than 316 megawatts.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act enacted in 2018 contains the BUILD Act or, Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development Act, which contains several amendments to CERCLA law.
These changes include:
- Exempting local and state governments from being deemed "owners or operators" of property seized through the government's law enforcement powers. Shielding these government entities from liability for contamination existing before they acquired the title to the property.
- Expands the definition of a 'bona find prospective purchaser' to a tenant entering into a lease after January 11, 2002.
- Expands the list of entities eligible for brownfield redevelopment funding to include, a charitable organization, a limited liability company whose managing members are charitable organizations and a qualified community development entity.
- Publicly owned brownfield sites may receive redevelopment grant money if the owner did not contribute to contamination.
- The cap on remediation grant funds increased to $500,000. The EPA Administrator's authority grants as much as $650,000 for a site based on its assessment of the site's size, ownership status and level of contamination.
- Creation of multipurpose grants program that allows the EPA to grant a single entity up to $1,000,000 for characterization, assessment, planning or remediation of contamination.
- Brownfield sites adjacent to a body of water, designated flood plain or if renewable energy facilities are installed on the site are given weight when assessing applications.
- $200,000,000 per fiscal year (2019-2023) is allocated for funding of these grants.
Superfund Remedial Annual Accomplishments FY 2017
The following is information gathered from the EPA's Superfund Remedial Annual Accomplishments (2017 Fiscal Year) which comprises the current status of CERCLA.
- In May Pruitt (former EPA Administrator) issued a memorandum: Prioritizing the Superfund Program. Which outlined the following three actions:
1. The establishment of the Superfund Task Force (to provide recommendations on expedited timeframe)
2. That the administrator is retaining the authority of the assistant administrator for Office of Land and Emergency Management and the regional administrators to select remedies estimated to cost $50 million or more.
3. Regional administrators and their staffs should increase coordination with the administrators office throughout the process of developing and evaluating alternatives and remedy selection for sites.
- In July, Pruitt used the Task Force's report with forty-two recommendations under five goals:
1. Expediting Cleanup and Remediation
2. Re-invigorating Responsible Party Cleanup and Reuse
3. Encouraging Private Investment
4. Promoting Redevelopment and Community Revitalization
5. Engaging Partners and Stakeholders
- The EPA's data for FY 2017 shows that Superfund cleanups provide significant economic benefits to communities. 487 Superfund sites in reuse, 6,622 businesses generated $43.6 billion in sales and employed 156,352 people.
- In FY 2017 the environmental benefits of EPA Superfund and RCRA Correction Action enforcement increased, with commitments to address ~20.5 million cubic yards of contaminated soil and 412 million cubic yards of contaminated water.
- In January, the EPA added a scoring mechanism to the Hazard Ranking System to evaluate sites with subsurface intrusion contamination for placement on the Superfund NPL.
- In August, the EPA added 7 sites and proposed 4 sites to the NPL.
- The EPA deleted two and partially deleted four sites off of the NPL in FY 2017.
- As of September, alternative energy facilities located at 50 Superfund sites provided an installed capacity of more than 316 megawatts.