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The Birth of Superfund (continued)
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NEW AUTHORITIES PROVIDED BY CERCLA
If there was such a thing as a "truth in labeling" requirement for statutes, Superfund would be one law that would meet it. For (as passed by Congress in 1980 and strengthened by amendments in 1986), CERCLA is truly a:
- Comprehensive,
- Environmental Response,
- Compensation, and
- Liability Act.
Congress recognized that the problem was broad -- and that broad solutions had to be created. Love Canal showed what could happen with the improper disposal of chemical wastes, but the issue was bigger than that. As stated by a 1980 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee report:
When confronted with an incident of toxic chemical contamination, it is often difficult to distinguish whether it is the result of a spill, a continuing discharge, an intentional dumping, or a waste disposal site. Any legislative solution would also have to address, in addition to disposal sites, the closely related problems of spills and other releases of dangerous chemicals which can have an equally devastating effect on the environment and human health.
Therefore, CERCLA provides comprehensive authority for the government to act. EPA can respond to:
- A "release" or "substantial threat" of a release
of a "hazardous substance" into the environment; or
- A "release" or "substantial threat" of a release of "any pollutant or contaminant which may present an imminent and substantial danger to public health or welfare."
"Release" includes virtually any situation where a hazardous substance is released from its normal container. "Substantial threat of release" is even broader -- allowing EPA to respond in situations like corroding tanks or abandoned drums, where there is even a risk of "release."
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MORE ON CERCLA'S DEFINITIONS "RELEASE" What's Included: "[A]ny spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment." What's Excluded: Releases related to workplace-related incidents, nuclear incidents, motor vehicle exhaust emissions, and agricultural activities. These types of releases are covered by other laws. "HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE" What's Included: CERCLA defines hazardous substances by referring to other environmental statutes and includes under the definition: "hazardous waste" under RCRA; "hazardous substances" and "toxic pollutants" under the Clean Water Act; hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act; and imminently hazardous chemical substances under TSCA. What's Excluded: Petroleum and natural gas. "POLLUTANT OR CONTAMINANT" What's Included: CERCLA's definition is broad and includes any substance that "may reasonable be anticipated to cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutation, physiological malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction) or physical deformations." What's Excluded: Petroleum and natural gas. |
