Superfund Amendments of 1984

Summary

Superfund Amendments of 1984 - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) (Superfund) to add a definition of "underground storage tank." Revises the definition of "hazardous substance" to include any petroleum substance contained in an underground storage tank. Excludes from specified liability provisions persons who have sold or delivered a petroleum product intended for resale or use which is subsequently stored in an underground storage tank. Provides for cost recovery for responses to releases of pollutants or contaminants by adding the terms "pollutants or contaminants" to specified references to hazardous substances under liability provisions. Requires listing of pollutants or contaminants as hazardous substances under specified conditions. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA Administrator), within one year after the initiation of response to a release or threat of release of a pollutant or contaminant which may present an imminent and substantial danger to the public health or welfare, to decide whether to designate such pollutant or contaminant as a hazardous substance. Directs the EPA Administrator to publish such decision. Directs the EPA Administrator, if the decision is in the affirmative, to simultaneously promulgate such designation as an interim final regulation. Increases criminal penalties for specified violations under CERCLA. Amends the Clean Water Act to revise criminal penalty provisions. Increases criminal penalties for specified violations. Sets forth penalties for persons who negligently or knowingly introduce into a sewer system or into a publicly owned treatment works any pollutant or hazardous substance which causes or may reasonably be anticipated to cause personal injury or property damage, or causes such treatment works to violate any effluent limitation or condition in any permit issued to the treatment works under specified provisions of the Clean Water Act by the EPA Administrator or a State. Provides that no State shall be required, before July 1, 1986, to modify a permit program approved or submitted under specified provisions of the Clean Water Act as a result of the amendment made by such provisions of this Act. Authorizes, under CERCLA, community relocation and business and employee protection in cases of toxic substance contamination. Includes under the term "remove" or "removal" the costs of permanent relocation of residents where it is determined that such permanent relocation is cost-effective or may be necessary to protect health or welfare. Provides that such term may also include, in the case of a business located in an area of evacuation or relocation, the payment of those installments of principal and interest on business debt which accrue between the date of evacuation or temporary relocation and 30 days following the date that permanent relocation is actually accomplished or, if permanent relocation is formally rejected as the appropriate response, the date on which evacuation or temporary relocation ceases. Provides that such term may also include, in the case of an individual unemployed as a result of such evacuation or relocation, specified types of assistance authorized under the Disaster Relief Act of 1974. Exempts permanent relocation payments from specified limitations on Superfund obligations. Revises CERCLA provisions relating to the State share of costs of remedial actions in response to a release of a hazardous substance at a disposal facility owned by a State or local government. Requires that such facility be operated, as well as owned, by the State or local government in order for such provisions to apply. Provides that, for purposes of such State share of cleanup costs at facilities owned and operated by a State or local government, "facility" does not include navigable waters or the beds underlying those waters. Provides for reimbursement to the State of any amount paid by the State after the enactment of this Act in excess of ten percent of the costs of remedial action at a facility owned but not operated by the State or local government. Revises health-related response authority provisions to provide that, in cases of public health emergencies declared by a Federal or State public health official authorized by Federal or State law to make such declarations, exposed persons shall be eligible for admission to and treatment at hospitals or other facilities which provide medical care or assistance. Requires that the costs of such treatment be treated as removal costs for purposes of response authority provisions. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (the ATSDR Administrator) to: (1) within six months after the enactment of this Act, prepare a list of at least 100 hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants which, in the sole discretion of the ATSDR Administrator, are determined to be most often released into the environment or found at the location of responses under response authority provisions or at facilities on the National Priority List; (2) within 24 months after such enactment, prepare a list of an additional 100 or more such hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants; and (3) at least annually thereafter, add to such list other substances which are frequently found or otherwise pose a potentially significant threat to human health by reason of their physical, chemical, or biological nature. Directs the ATSDR Administrator, following a review of the existing literature, to initiate a research program for each hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant so listed. Requires that such research program: (1) be designed to determine the health effects of such substance, both by itself and in combination with other substances with which it is commonly found, and techniques for developing methods to determine such health effects; and (2) include specified types of studies and information. Directs the ATSDR Administrator to prepare, based on the data developed and collected on the health effects of hazardous substances, toxicological profiles sufficient to establish the likely effect on human health of each of the substances so listed. Requires that such profiles be revised and republished as necessary, but no less often than once every five years. Requires that the costs of such research and preparation of profiles be treated as response costs for purposes of recovery under liability provisions. Allows any individual or group of individuals or any State or local public health authority or any licensed physician to submit a petition to the ATSDR Administrator providing evidence that: (1) such individual or individuals are or have been exposed to a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant; (2) such exposure has resulted or is resulting in levels of illness in excess of what is to be expected; and (3) the probable source of such exposure is a release under CERCLA. Directs the ATSDR Administrator, within 60 days after receipt of such petition, to: (1) initiate a health effects study; or (2) determine that such a study is unwarranted, and provide a written explanation of such determination. Provides that such a determination shall constitute final agency action for purposes of judicial review under CERCLA or the Administrative Procedures Act. Requires that each such health effects study ascertain specified information. Directs the President to take such steps as may be necessary to eliminate any significant risk to human health which such study finds the exposure concerned presents. Provides that such steps may include provision of alternative household water supplies and permanent or temporary relocation of individuals. Provides that nothing in such health effects study and emergency relief provisions shall be construed to delay or otherwise affect or impair the authority of the EPA Administrator to exercise any authority vested in the EPA Administrator under any other provision of law (including but not limited to the imminent hazard authority under specified provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act) or the response and abatement authorities under CERCLA. Provides that the ATSDR Administrator, in implementation of these and other health-related authorities under CERCLA: (1) is authorized to provide for peer review where appropriate; and (2) shall establish and maintain a program of clinical training for physicians and other health professionals. Directs the President, for the purpose of implementing these and other health-related authorities under CERCLA, to provide adequate personnel (no fewer than 100 full-time equivalent employees) to the ATSDR. Includes under authorized uses of the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund (Superfund) the costs of such laboratory studies and health assessments. Revises provisions relating to the National Contingency Plan to direct the ATSDR Administrator to conduct, as part of the response to each of the releases or threatened releases listed under the National Contingency Plan, a preliminary assessment of the hazards to human health associated with such release or threatened release. Requires that such assessment include a list, prepared by the Administrator of the EPA, of all hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants being released or threatened to be released. Directs the ATSDR Administrator, if such assessment indicates the possibility of a significant threat to human health, to undertake a health effects study. Directs the ATSDR Administrator, if the ATSDR Administrator has not previously conducted such an assessment, to undertake and complete such an assessment within 12 months after the enactment of this Act. Includes under authorized uses of Superfund: (1) payment of any expenses or costs incurred under such emergency relief and health effects studies provisions; and (2) costs incurred by ATSDR in preparing toxicological profiles. Revises response authority provisions to add provisions for public participation. Requires that notice of the proposed action and an opportunity for meeting in the affected area, as well as a reasonable opportunity to comment, be afforded to the public prior to the United States' or a State's final selection of remedial action or entry into a covenant to settle or dispose of a claim arising under CERCLA. Requires that such notice be accompanied by a discussion and analysis sufficient to provide a reasonable explanation of the proposal and alternative proposals considered. Defines "alternative water supplies," under CERCLA, as including, but not being limited to, drinking water and household water supplies. Adds to response authority provisions a requirement that the President provide alternative water supplies as a removal action in any case in which: (1) a drinking water supply is closed or restricted by a State, local, or Federal public health officer due to contamination with a hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant; or (2) the presence of a hazardous substance in a drinking water supply constitutes a danger to human health through short-term or long-term exposure. Requires that such action begin within seven days of notice of such closure or restriction or of receipt of evidence of such presence of a hazardous substance. Requires public health officers, in determining whether a drinking water supply is to be closed or restricted, to take into account the recommended maximum contaminant levels, if any, established under the Safe Drinking Water Act for such hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. Directs the EPA Administrator, within 12 months after the enactment of this Act, to revise the National Contingency Plan to reflect the requirements of the amendments to CERCLA made by this Act. Requires that the portion of such Plan known as the National Hazardous Substance Response Plan be revised to provide procedures and standards for remedial actions undertaken pursuant to CERCLA which are consistent with amendments made by this Act relating to the selection of remedial action. Directs the EPA Administrator, within 12 months after the enactment of this Act, to propose amendments to the hazard ranking system in effect on July 1, 1984 (under CERCLA provisions for the National Contingency Plan). Requires that such proposed amendments be published in the Federal Register and otherwise be made available for public review and comment to the same manner and extent as regulations promulgated pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act. Requires that the system in effect on July 1, 1984, shall continue in full force and effect until the effective date of any proposed changes. Sets forth provisions relating to Federal facilities. Revises provisions for the President's authority to delegate duties or powers under CERCLA to require the concurrence of the EPA Administrator (or the responsible State official) in the selection of appropriate remedial action with respect to a Federal facility or activity for which such duties or powers are delegated to an officer, employee, or representative of the Federal agency which owns or operates such facility or conducts such activity. Delegates abatement action authority to the EPA Administrator in such cases. Directs the EPA Administrator, within 18 months after the enactment of of this Act and after consultation with the Attorney General, to revise and republish the guidelines for using the imminent hazard, enforcement, and emergency response authorities of CERCLA abatement action provisions and other statutes administered by the EPA Administrator to effectuate the responsibilities and powers created by the amendments made by this Act. Directs the EPA Administrator, notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule of law, to establish such administrative procedures as the EPA Administrator deems advisable regarding the opportunity for any person to object to an order issued under CERCLA abatement action provisions. Authorizes a State Attorney General to initiate legal actions to recover costs, compel remedial action, or otherwise enforce requirements or claims under CERCLA in any case in which a responsible party is a Federal agency. Authorizes a court to award litigation costs to a State Attorney General who prevails or substantially prevails in such an action. Revises statute of limitations provisions for specified claims against the Superfund under CERCLA. Sets forth a three-year statute of limitations: (1) after the date of the response action, for claims for the costs of response; (2) after the date on which final regulations are promulgated for the assessment of natural resources damages, for specified claims for such damages; or (3) after the date of the discovery of the loss and its connection with the release in question or the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is later, for claims for any other damages. Sets forth exceptions for minors or incompetent persons. Includes under authorized uses of the Superfund the payment of advances for specified kinds of litigation costs to groups of individuals (or their dependents) exposed to hazardous substances in connection with a release. Provides that such advances: (1) may not include any attorney fees; and (2) must be repaid to the Superfund out of the proceeds of any award or settlement of such claims. Revises provisions for selection of remedial action to direct the President, in evaluating the cost-effectiveness of proposed alternative remedial actions, to take into account the total short- and long-term costs of such actions, including the costs of operation and maintenance for the entire period during which such activities will be required. Requires that preference be given to remedial actions which have as a principal element treatment which significantly reduces the volume, toxicity, or mobility of the hazardous substances. Declares that, where practicable treatment technologies are available, the offsite transport and disposal of hazardous substances or contaminated materials without such treatment should be the least favored alternative remedial action. Requires that remedial actions selected or otherwise required or agreed to by the President under CERCLA attain a degree of cleanup of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants from the environment and of control of further release at a minimum which assures protection of human health and the environment. Requires that, to the extent practicable, such remedial actions completely remove released hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants from the environment. Provides that no permit shall be required under hazardous waste management provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act for the portion of any removal or remedial action conducted under CERCLA entirely onsite. Requires that any onsite treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants comply with the requirements of specified standards for remedial action added to CERCLA by this Act. Directs the President, subject to such specified requirements, to select the appropriate remedial action which provides a balance between the need for protection of public health and welfare and the environment at the facility under consideration and the availability of amounts from the Superfund to respond to other sites which present or may present a threat to public health or welfare or the environment, taking into consideration the relative immediacy of such threats. Revises the CERCLA definition of "remedy" or "remedial action" to also include the costs of permanent relocation where, due to the release of a hazardous substance, the resale of property is impracticable because of a substantial loss in value of such property because of a substantial burden imposed on the property by the release or threat of release and where injuries or illnesses, including acute mental distress, can be attributed to continued residence. Establishes a Federal cause of action under CERCLA. Makes specified persons who are currently liable under CERCLA also liable for the following damages: (1) any medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, or burial expenses due to bodily injury; (2) any loss of income or profits or impairment or loss of earning capacity due to bodily injury; (3) any pain and suffering due to bodily injury; (4) any economic loss and any injury to property, including diminution in value; and (5) punitive damages, whenever the court determines such award is appropriate in accordance with specified provisions, taking into account the proportion of the injured class which would benefit from such award. Sets forth the types of evidence relevant to the issue of causation of bodily injury which shall be admissible in any action for such damages. Makes such persons strictly liable for such damages without limitation to the defenses specified under other liability provisions of CERCLA. Allows punitive damages to be awarded in the case of conduct manifesting a conscious, flagrant indifference to the safety of those persons who might be harmed by a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant and constituting an extreme departure from accepted practice. Limits, in the case of damages provided for under this Act, the liability of persons who arrange for disposal or treatment, or for transport for disposal or treatment, of hazardous substances at facilities owned and operated by others to only such damages resulting from harm caused by releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants owned or possessed by such persons. Makes U.S district court jurisdiction over such actions for damages established by this Act concurrent with State court jurisdiction over such actions. Declares that it is the policy of the Congress to encourage certification of class actions in actions for the damages established by this Act involving common issues of fact or law. Declares, in furtherance of that policy, that Congress finds that the requirements of rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are met in such actions arising from the same release and presenting common issues of fact or law and involving 30 or more potential claimants. Allows, in any action for damages established under this Act, defendants to be added at the request of plaintiffs or defendants, without regard to the citizenship of parties. Requires the Federal government to make available to appropriate parties information in its possession which is material to the identification of other responsible parties who are potential defendants. Sets forth provisions for victim assistance under CERCLA. Includes among authorized uses of the Superfund the costs of grants (of up to a specified maximum annual total amount) to each of five States selected by the EPA Administrator to establish and operate a program of assistance to individuals suffering injury resulting from exposure to the release of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. Directs the EPA Administrator, upon application pursuant to EPA-established procedures, to select by July 1, 1985, five States which shall each establish and operate such a program for at least a five year period. Sets minimum and maximum limits on the amount of each such grant for each fiscal year in FY 1986 through 1990. Requires that States be selected in the sole discretion of the EPA Administrator on the basis of specified criteria. Sets forth requirements for such programs, including provision of group policies of insurance, medical benefits, and disability insurance under specified conditions. Sets forth provisions relating to transportation incident responses under CERCLA. Directs the Secretary of Transportation, as expeditiously as possible, to develop and establish a centralized computer based system enabling law enforcement officers, fire and safety officers, and other appropriate officers of Federal, State, and local government access while in the field and through remote communications equipment to information regarding the identity and nature of the appropriate means of response, the type of threat posed and other suitable information regarding any shipment regulated by the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act. Revises provisions relating to credits to States for specified State or local government response action costs. Authorizes the EPA Administrator, in arranging for response actions under CERCLA, to agree to indemnify a contracting party against specified claims arising out of performance of a cleanup agreement to the extent that such claim does not arise out of the negligence of the contracting party. Provides that no State or local government shall be liable under CERCLA for damages as a result of nonnegligent actions taken in response to an emergency created by the release of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant generated by or from a facility owned by another person. Includes the cost of laboratory studies and health assessments under authorized uses of the Superfund. Requires that a specified minimum amount from Superfund be used for FY 1985 to carry out epidemiologic and laboratory studies and health assessments, including any such activities related to hazardous waste stored, treated, or disposed of at a facility having a permit under specified hazardous waste management provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Requires that such activities be carried out by the ATSDR either directly or through grants to State or local governments which the ATSDR Administrator determines are capable of carrying out such activities. Requires that such activities include conducting health assessments, including those required under specified provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Directs the ATSDR Administrator, in determining sites at which to conduct such health assessments, to give priority to those facilities or sites at which there is documented evidence of release of hazardous constituents, at which the potential risk of human health appears highest, and for which, in the judgment of the ATSDR Administrator, existing health assessment data is inadequate to assess the potential risk to human health. Requires any State or local government carrying out a health assessment to: (1) report the results of the assessment to the ATSDR Administrator; and (2) include recommendations with respect to further activities which need to be carried out. Directs the ATSDR Administrator to: (1) include the same recommendations in a report on the results of any assessment carried out directly by the ATSDR; and (2) issue periodic reports which include the results of all such assessments carried out. Requires that such assessments or other activities be reported after appropriate peer review. Sets forth requirements relating to such health assessments. Provides that, in any case in which such a health assessment (including one required under the Solid Waste Disposal Act) discloses the exposure of a population to the release of a hazardous substance, the costs of such health assessment may be recovered as a cost of response under CERCLA liability provisions from persons causing or contributing to such release of such hazardous substance or, in the case of multiple releases contributing to such exposure, to all such releases. Amends hazardous waste management provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act to add provisions relating to exposure information and health assessments. Requires, beginning nine months after the enactment of the Solid Waste Disposal Act Amendments of 1984, that each completed application for a permit for a landfill or a surface impoundment be accompanied by information reasonably ascertainable by the owner or operator on the potential for the public to be exposed to hazardous wastes or hazardous constituents through releases related to the unit. Sets forth requirements relating to such information. Requires that such information with respect to landfills or surface impoundments for which a completed permit application has been submitted prior to such enactment date be submitted within nine months after such enactment date. Directs the EPA Administrator (or the authorized State program) to make such information, together with other relevant information, available to the ATSDR. Directs the ATSDR Administrator to conduct a health assessment and take other appropriate action with respect to risks pursuant to specified CERCLA provisions added by this Act whenever a landfill or a surface impoundment poses a substantial risk to human health. Provides that such risk may be due to the existence of releases of hazardous constituents, the magnitude of contamination with hazardous constituents which may be the result of a release, or the magnitude of the population exposed to such release or contamination. Provides that a judgment that there is such a risk may be made by the ATSDR Administrator, the EPA Administrator, or the authorized State program. Allows any member of the public to submit evidence of releases of or exposure to hazardous constituents from a facility, or as to the risks or health effects associated with such releases or exposure, to the risks or health effects associated with such releases or exposure, to the EPA Administrator, the the ATSDR Administrator, or the authorized State program. Revises CERCLA response authority provisions to authorize the President to enter into a consent order with one or more responsible parties that will properly carry out a response action. Provides for enforcement of such orders in U.S. district courts. Sets forth a maximum fine for each day of a violation of or failure to comply with such an order. Revises CERCLA abatement action provisions to allow individuals to seek injunctive relief in U.S. district courts. Provides for civil actions to seek such relief against: (1) any person, including the United States or any other governmental agency, to the extent permitted by the eleventh amendment to the Constitution, and including any past or present generator, transporter, owner, or operator who has contributed or is contributing to the past or present handling, storage, treatment, transportation, or disposal of any hazardous substance which may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment; or (2) the EPA Administrator or the ATSDR Administrator where there is alleged a failure to perform any act or duty under CERCLA which is not discretionary. Sets forth requirements relating to such civil actions. Prohibits the commencement of such civil actions: (1) prior to 120 days after the plaintiff has given notice of the endangerment to the EPA Administrator the State in which the alleged endangerment may occur and any alleged violator or contributor; or (2) in endangerment cases, if the EPA Administrator or a State has commenced and is diligently prosecuting a civil or criminal action in a Federal or State court to require compliance or has settled such action to restrain or abate acts or conditions which may have contributed or are contributing to the activities which may present the endangerment (but allows applicants to intervene in such actions in Federal courts unless their interests are adequately represented by existing parties). Provides that only State and local governments may seek injunctive relief in endangerment cases with respect to the siting of, or issuance of a permit for, a hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal facility. Authorizes the court to award litigation costs to any prevailing or substantially prevailing party in such injunctive relief actions. Authorizes the court to require the filing of a bond or equivalent security if a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction is sought.

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2 official files

• Reported to Senate with amendment(s)

  summary · EN · 21 September 1984

  Open at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 31 July 1984

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