Incorporating Sustainability Principles in CERCLA and RCRA Cleanup Enforcement Actions

Memorandum reinforces EPA’s positions on sustainability by:

• Encouraging cleanup enforcement staff to collaborate with their program office counterparts to incorporate applicable principles in Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, commonly known as Superfund) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) cleanup enforcement work; and
• Describing the identified seven sustainability principles; and
• Providing information on these topics in a centralized location.

The memorandum includes a case compendium that highlights enforcement settlement agreements that include sustainability principles and a resource library that provides access to EPA, other federal agencies, and external organizations information on sustainability principles.

Issued September 29, 2023.

Incorporating Sustainability Principles in Cleanup Enforcement Actions Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (pdf) (347.48 KB, 09/29/2023)

Sustainability Principles and Cleanup Site Examples (pdf) (346.53 KB, 09/29/2023)
Compendium highlights enforcement settlement agreements that incorporate elements of the seven sustainability principles. (Attachment A to memorandum.)

Sustainability Resources Library (xlsx) (271.26 KB, 09/29/2023)
Provides EPA and external stakeholders to a variety of resources to help incorporate seven identified sustainability principles into cleanup enforcement efforts. (Attachment B to memorandum.)