Superfund Act to Ensure Cleanup of Hazardous Waste Sites

Ways EPA Exercises the Superfund Act to Ensure Cleanup of Hazardous Waste Sites Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Ways EPA Exercises the Superfund Act to Ensure Cleanup of Hazardous Waste Sites Due to rising concerns that poor disposal of dangerous wastes and accidental spills of toxic chemicals were increasingly threatening human and environmental safety in the 1970s, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. (CERCLA) also known as Superfund was created in 1980 to respond to emergencies caused by chemical toxins to environment, discourage the release of toxic chemicals before it happened, monitor and evaluate clean up of toxic wastes, make parties responsible for pollution and contamination accountable and above all raise funds to enable enactment of the Act (Stafford, 1981). The Unites states Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exercises the Superfund Act., (CERCLA), to ensure clean up of toxic wastes in a number of ways: first, CERCLA created a tax which generates the funds that the EPA uses for formulating and monitoring cleaning procedures exercises, and enacting various regulations. Secondly CERCLA gave EPA federal mandate to seek parties responsible for release of pollutants and contaminants to the environment and make them affirm cooperation in the cleanup process. When such parties are financially viable, EPA recovers the costs once cleaning actions have been completed, but in cases w...