Definitions for "Superfund"
Keywords:  cercla, cleanup, sara, epa, npl
Federal and state programs to investigate and clean up inactive hazardous waste disposal sites. The federal program gives the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the funding and authority to investigate, rank and con-duct or supervise cleanup of sites on the National Priority List. New York State's program gives DEC the same authority to deal with sites that do not qualify for the federal superfund list, but meet certain other qualifications.
The term "Superfund" is frequently used to refer to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) enacted in 1980 and modified by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) in 1986. Under this federal statutory framework, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is empowered to determine which locations are contaminated by hazardous waste, respond appropriately to protect public health and the environment, and allocate liability for associated response costs.
The term used to refer to both CERCLA and SARA and the cleanup program they mandated