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Making the Program Faster, Fairer, and More Efficient (Continued)
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PLACING "ENFORCEMENT FIRST"
Enforcement procedures were strengthened at the same time that cleanups were being streamlined.
In the early 1980s, the Federal government enforced CERCLA primarily by initiating lawsuits against responsible parties to stop certain actions or have the Trust Fund pay for cleanups and then sue the responsible parties to recover the costs. Either route was slow and cumbersome. With SARA, Congress added a number of provisions to strengthen CERCLA's enforcement procedures, and to encourage voluntary settlements with the PRPs.
After the "90-Day Study" found that cleanups were not moving fast enough, EPA initiated the "Enforcement First" policy. Under "Enforcement First," EPA looks for the parties who are potentially liable for a release and gets them to address the problem they created. The preferred method is to reach a voluntary settlement with the PRPs, but EPA can also issue a unilateral administrative order (UAO). By requiring the responsible parties to take action to clean up a site, "Enforcement First" limits the amount of time spent litigating cases in court and also saves the resources of the Trust Fund for responding to "orphan" sites where no viable responsible parties can be found.
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EPA's Partnership with the EPA works closely with DOJ to require PRPs to bear the cost of cleanup. DOJ attorneys work with EPA to negotiate Consent Decrees, under which PRPs agree to a court order requiring them to perform long-term cleanups. DOJ and EPA also cooperate in the enforcement of UAOs. In cases where EPA has used the Trust Fund to finance cleanups, DOJ initiates judicial actions to recover the costs of cleanup from PRPs. Over the past five years, DOJ has helped EPA obtain over $3.5 billion in cleanup commitments or cost recoveries from PRPs. |
