Superfund's Future

Chapter Three

The Remedial Programand the CurrentNational Priorities List

 

In the two decades since the Superfund statute was enacted, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has cataloged more than 43,000 potentially contaminated sites in its Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS). More than 41,000 of these sites have had a preliminary assessment to determine whether cleanup is warranted,¹ but only a small number have, in fact, been placed on the National Priorities List (NPL), which is generally considered the official register of the most hazardous sites in the nation. The NPL is the centerpiece of the Superfund program and the focus of EPA's remedial program. NPL sites addressed ...