What is the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)?
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) is a federal law that was passed in 1980 to respond to hazardous waste sites. This law was created to help protect the public from the dangers associated with hazardous waste contamination and to provide a system for clean up of these wastes. In Virginia, this law is used to identify, investigate, assess, and remediate contaminated sites. CERCLA includes the Superfund program, which is managed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This program works to locate and clean up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. It is funded by taxes on petroleum and chemicals and also has the ability to levy fines and seek reimbursement from responsible parties. CERCLA allows the EPA to force government and private entities to pay for contaminated site clean up if they are found to be responsible for any part of the contamination. It also allows the EPA to conduct hazardous waste site assessments and compel responsible parties to pay for clean up activities. CERCLA is an important law in Virginia and across the United States that helps protect the public from hazardous waste contamination. It is a key component of environmental law and is used to ensure that those responsible for contamination are held accountable for the costs associated with that contamination.
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