Analysis of State Superfund Programs 50-State Study, 2001 Update

摘要

States are in the process of cleaning up thousands of sites that are not on the National Priorities List (NPL) but are contaminated with hazardous substances. Because these sites are not on the NPL, they are not eligible for cleanup funding under the federal Superfund program. These non-NPL cleanups are either paid for by the states, by responsible parties, or by volunteers such as developers or prospective purchasers who want to put the site to a new use. In fiscal year 2000 (FY00), states completed cleanups at more than 4,500 non-NPL sites, with slightly fewer than half of those being completed under states voluntary cleanup programs. The total number of cleanups completed was about the same as the total completed in FY97, after accounting for differences in reporting by two states. By the end of FY00, the states had completed cleanups at a total of about 29,000 non-NPL sites since the start of their respective cleanup programs. New Jersey, which enacted the first cleanup law in the nation in 1976, accounts for more than a third of that total. In addition, states were overseeing or paying for cleanups that were underway at about 15,700 sites during FY00. The proportion of voluntary cleanups increased, from 40 percent of the total cleanups underway and 40 percent of the total cleanups completed in FY97, to 45 percent of both categories in FY00.