Superfund/Cerclis
Site discovery and EPA notification are the first steps to the
Superfund site cleanup process. After discovery, site
information is gathered and entered into EPA's database of
potential hazardous substance release sites, the "Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Information
System" (CERCLIS). The site then undergoes evaluation and
administrative steps toward cleanup and deletion from the NPL.
The National Priorities List (NPL) is made up of sites with
known or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants
or contaminants that meet the statutory criteria provided by the
the Hazard Ranking System. CERCLA section 105(a)(8)(B) requires
the U.S. EPA to develop this listing located in Appendix B of
the National Contingency Plan (NCP) (40 CFR Part 300).
Fiscal Year 2005 (which ended on Sept. 30),
confirms that EPA completed work at 40 sites, for a cumulative
total of 966 sites with work completed -- 62 percent of the top
priority sites ranked on the National Priorities List. EPA
conducted 665 ongoing cleanup projects at 422 sites (includes
projects led by EPA, projects led by potentially responsible
parties and federal facility sites). EPA funded new work at 17
projects across the country. Superfund also continued to prepare
for future cleanup efforts by listing 18 new sites and proposing
12 sites to be added to the NPL.
Underscoring EPA's commitment to the "polluter pays" principle,
the agency secured private party commitments of more than $1.1
billion in FY 05. Of this amount, potentially responsible
parties agreed to conduct more than $857 million in future
response work, and to reimburse EPA for $248 million in past
costs.
CERCLIS is short for Comprehensive Environmental Response
Compensation and Liability Information Systems and is the
official repository for the site-specific and non site-specific
data in support of the Superfund Process of CERCLA. It also
contains the inventory of all potential hazardous substance
release sites that have been identified in the United States.
The information contains data on hazardous waste sites collected
from site inspections, preliminary assessments, remediation
planning and actions taken at the sites. Data is available of
1982 to the present.
EPA provides online access to the CERCLIS database and standard
CERCLIS site reports can be downloaded to a personal computer.
You can also access CERCLIS directly from this site with links
to specific CERCLIS Addresses
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