Which act is commonly referred to as the Superfund law?

Which act is commonly referred to as the Superfund law?

• A. Clean Water Act
• B. Clean Air Act
• C. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
• D. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)

Answer: (D)

The term Superfund refers to the cleanup program created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980. This law established a dedicated fund to finance the cleanup of abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites and set out the liability rules for who pays and how cleanups are carried out. That combination of funding and rapid response to contaminated sites is why CERCLA is the act most commonly called the Superfund law. The other acts focus on different protections: Clean Water Act deals with discharges to surface waters, Clean Air Act handles air emissions, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act governs the management of hazardous waste from generation to disposal; none of them establish the specific nationwide cleanup fund and liability framework that defines the Superfund program.

The term Superfund refers to the cleanup program created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980. This law established a dedicated fund to finance the cleanup of abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites and set out the liability rules for who pays and how cleanups are carried out. That combination of funding and rapid response to contaminated sites is why CERCLA is the act most commonly called the Superfund law. The other acts focus on different protections: Clean Water Act deals with discharges to surface waters, Clean Air Act handles air emissions, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act governs the management of hazardous waste from generation to disposal; none of them establish the specific nationwide cleanup fund and liability framework that defines the Superfund program.