25 Years of Superfund

A quarter century ago, congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act or CERCLA. CERCLA implemented regulations that levied a tax on certain businesses that were deposited in a trust fund. That trust fund became known as the Superfund, a fund used to clean up contaminated sites where the owner could not be determined or had gone bankrupt. The fund was also utilized to conduct emergency remedial activities and when the reponsible party was determined, they paid the cost back into the fund.

The main driver for CERCLA was the emerging environmental contamination at Love Canal, NY and the impact the contamination had on the community.

In 1995, CERCLA was not reauthorized by congress and Bill Clinton didn't push for it to be. The Superfund at that point had about $3.6 billion dollars to clean up numerous sites throughout the nation. A few years ago, that money was depleted and remedial activities since then have come out of appropriations, or tax dollars and have declined by 35% to forty or so per year. President Bush nor congress has made this a priority.

Here's a history of Superfund written by an organization founded by Lois Gibbs, a resident and activist from Love Canal who was sitting next to Jimmy Carter when he signed the CERCLA legislation. This seventeen page PDF file is written by activist groups and endorsed by major environmental organizations. Take from that what you will.

Should Superfund be reauthorized? In my opinion yes, but with major changes. I would rewrite the legislation thusly:

• Reinstate the corporate tax but at a lower rate and with a stipulation that those companies that prefer to conduct voluntary remediation get a greatly reduced rate. The death of Superfund is not nearly as important as it would have been 20 years ago. Many companies are contracting with remediation companies directly instead of through the state or federal government because they can keep costs lower and in return, reduce their tax burdens by selling remediated properties.
• Implement a three-year timetable for a business that is responsible for contamination to begin remediation with full completion in six-years. Superfund sites sat on the National Priorities List for twenty years before full remediation was completed. Granted, some amount of time was wasted due to endless lawsuits and community unwillingness to allow work to begin.
• When an orphan site (a site where the responsible party or company cannot be located or complete the remedial action) exists, that's when the bulk of the Superfund money will be utilized.
• Corporations who perform voluntary cleanup on contaminated sites will be given assistance through low-cost loans from the fund that will spur more cleanup activities.
• Get the hands of the government out of the work. The reason for Superfund's failure was not only corporate pressure on congress, but more importantly the exhorbitant cost of doing a cleanup. A $2-million remediation quickly became a $4-million dollar cleanup once the government forced the responsible parties to exceed costs through typical government equipment add ons. Computers, vehicles and other equipment were written into every contract because of government intrusion.
• Revise the way that contaminated sites are ranked. The sites that pose the greatest danger to the surrounding community must be addressed first.
• Streamline the process. The red tape is onerous to the point of delaying remedial actions by years if not decades.

Full disclosure; I am in the remediation business and reauthorization of the Superfund may or may not mean more business for me. Most of the work my company performs is of the voluntary cleanup-type so Superfund wouldn't come into play.