Superfund Glossary
(From the Superfund Fact Book)

Mark Reisch & David Michael Bearden
Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division

Updated March 3, 1997

97-312 ENR

Glossary of Superfund Terms¹⁰²

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |

Administrative order on consent. A legal agreement between EPA and PRPs whereby PRPs agree to perform or pay the cost of a site remediation. The agreement describes actions to be taken at a site and may be subject to a public comment period. Unlike a consent decree, an administrative order on consent does not have to be approved by a judge.

 

Administrative record. A file that is maintained, and contains all information used by the lead agency to make its decision on the selection of a response action under CERCLA. This file is to be available for public review with a copy established at or near the site, usually at one of the information repositories. A duplicate file is held in a central location, such as an EPA Regional Office.

 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). This organization established under section 104(i) of CERCLA provides technical support and assistance to protect human health and worker safety, determines the toxicological and human health impacts associated with hazardous substances, develops a priority-order list of hazardous substances most frequently found at sites on the CERCLA National Priorities List, and produces toxicological profiles of chemicals.

 

Air stripping. A treatment system that removes, or "strips," volatile organic compounds from contaminated ground water or surface water by forcing an airstream through the water and causing the compounds to evaporate.

 

Alternative remedial contract system (ARCS). A strategy in which responsibility for remedial contract management is relegated to the EPA regions. An ARCS contract is a form of cost-reimbursable contract called a "cost-plus-award-fee contract," under which EPA reimburses the contractor for all allowable costs incurred.

 

ARAR. CERCLA section 121 requires cleanups to meet "ARARs": any 'legally applicable or relevant and appropriate standard, requirement, criteria or limitation' that has been promulgated under federal or state environmental laws. The ARARs include such things as the Clean Water Act's water quality criteria, the Solid Waste Disposal Act's land disposal restrictions, and some states' ground water anti-degradation provisions that require cleanup to background levels. EPA can waive the ARARS in some situations.

 

Bioremediation. A treatment method that utilizes micro-organisms to degrade organic contaminants and convert them into non-hazardous constituents.

 

Brownfields. Abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.

 

Cap. An impermeable layer that seals the top of a hazardous waste site.

 

Carveout. A term used to designate an exemption from CERCLA law or regulations. Generally pertains to liability for site remediations.

 

CERCLA. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-510).

 

CERCLIS or CERCLA information system. A database maintained by EPA and the states that lists sites where releases may have occurred, need to be addressed or have been addressed. CERCLIS consists of three inventories: CERCLIS Removal Inventory, CERCLIS Remedial Inventory, and CERCLIS Enforcement Inventory.

 

Coastal waters. For the purposes of classifying the size of discharges, means the waters of the coastal zone except for the Great Lakes and specified ports and harbors on inland rivers (40 CFR 300.5).

 

Comment period. A time period provided for the public to review and comment on proposed EPA actions or rulemakings following publication in the Federal Register.

 

Community relations plan. Formal plan for EPA community relations activities at Superfund sites. It is designed to ensure citizens opportunities for public involvement at the sites, and to allow them the opportunity to learn more about the site.

 

Consent decree. A legal document approved and issued by a judge that formalizes an agreement reached between EPA and PRPs where PRPs will perform all or part of a Superfund site remediation, and identifies other enforcement action to be taken by the Agency. The consent decree describes actions that PRPs are required to perform and is subject to a public comment period.

 

Construction completion. Construction completion at sites refers to the point in the cleanup process at which physical construction is complete for all remedial and removal work required at the entire site. Construction is officially complete when a document has been signed by EPA stating that all necessary remediation has been finished. While no further construction is anticipated at the site, there may still be a need for long-term, on-site activity before specified clean-up levels are met (e.g., restoration of ground water and surface water). Although physical construction may not be necessary at some sites, these sites are also included in this category to fully portray EPA's progress.

 

Containment. A remediation method that seals off all possible exposure pathways between a hazardous disposal site and the environment, which generally includes capping and institutional controls.

 

Contribution. A legal doctrine that enables parties sued under joint and several liability to obtain compensation from other parties who may have been legally liable, but who were not proceeded against in the original court action.

 

Cost-effective alternative. An alternative control or corrective method identified as the best available in terms of reliability, permanence, and economic considerations.

 

Cost recovery. A legal proceeding, authorized under CERCLA, that allows the government to proceed against PRPs for recovery of both administrative and actual cleanup costs expended in either emergency removal or remedial activities at hazardous waste sites.

 

Covenant not-to-sue. CERCLA authorizes EPA to release responsible parties from liability to the United States under CERCLA, including future liability resulting from releases or threatened releases addressed by a remedial action.

 

Delisting. The process by which a Superfund site is removed from the National Priorities List (NPL) after it has been completely cleaned up.

 

Dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). Generally organic compounds (or mixtures of such compounds) that are immiscible (do not mix) with water.

 

Environment. As defined by CERCLA §101(8): "(A) the navigable waters, the waters of the contiguous zone, and the ocean waters of which the natural resources are under the exclusive management authority of the United States under the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, and (B) any other surface water, ground water, drinking water supply, land surface or subsurface strata, or ambient air within the United States or under the jurisdiction of the United States."

 

Environmental income tax. A tax on corporations imposed on their modified alternative minimum taxable income over $2 million, the proceeds of which go to the Hazardous Substance Superfund Trust Fund. The tax is 0.12% ($12 per $10,000 of income in excess of $2 million). It is the Fund's largest single source of revenue, and raised $612 million in FY1995.

 

Environmental response team (ERT). EPA hazardous waste experts who provide 24-hour technical assistance to EPA Regional Offices and states during all types of emergencies involving releases at hazardous disposal sites and spills of hazardous substances.

 

Facility. As defined by CERCLA §101(9): "(A) any building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline (including any pipe into a sewer or publicly owned treatment works), well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, storage container, motor vehicle, rolling stock, or aircraft, or (B) any site or area where a hazardous substance has been deposited, stored, disposed of; or placed, or otherwise come to be located; but does not include any consumer product in consumer use or any vessel."

 

Feedstock tax. An excise tax that is levied on 42 chemical raw materials, the proceeds of which go to the Hazardous Substance Superfund Trust Fund. The taxes range from $0.24 to $4.87 per ton. In FY1995 it supplied $291 million.

 

Ground water. As defined by CERCLA §101(12): "water in a saturated zone or stratum beneath the surface of land or water."

 

Guarantor. As defined by CERCLA §101(13): "any person, other than the owner or operator, who provides evidence of financial responsibility for an owner or operator under this Act."

 

Hazard Ranking System (HRS). A scoring system used to evaluate potential relative risks to public health and the environment from releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances. EPA and states use the HRS to calculate a site score (0-100) based on the actual or potential release of hazardous substances from a site through air, surface water or ground water. A score of 28.5 places the site on the National Priorities List.

 

Hazardous substance. As defined by CERCLA §101(14), any substance designated or listed under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, CERCLA, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act. The term excludes petroleum, or any fraction thereof, unless it is specifically listed under one of the mentioned laws; it also excludes natural gas, natural gas liquids, liquefied natural gas, and synthetic gas usable for fuel (or mixtures of natural gas and such synthetic gas).

 

Hazardous wastes. Those wastes that are regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (40 CFR Part 261) either because they are "listed" or because they are ignitable, corrosive, chemically reactive, or toxic. As such, they are hazardous substances under CERCLA.

 

Information repository. A file containing current information, technical reports, reference documents, and technical assistance grants application information on a Superfund site. The information repository is usually located in a public building (often a library) that is convenient for local residents.

 

Institutional controls. Measures, such as access restrictions and deed restrictions, that separate people from the source of contamination. More than one institutional control may be used at a site.

 

Joint and several liability. A legal standard, where any involved party can have the legal responsibility for cleaning up the entire site, regardless of its degree of involvement, unless there is a reasonable basis for apportioning liability.

 

Leachate. A contaminated liquid resulting when water percolates, or trickles, through waste materials and collects components of those waters.

 

Lead agency. The federal agency (or state agency operating pursuant to a contract or cooperative agreement) that has primary responsibility for coordinating response actions under the National Contingency Plan. A federal lead agency provides the On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) or Remedial Project Manager (RPM). A state lead agency carries out the same responsibilities delineated for OSCs/RPMs except coordinating and directing federal agency response actions (40 CFR 300.5).

 

Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL). Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the maximum permissible level of a contaminant in water delivered to any user of a public water system.

 

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG). Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the maximum level of a contaminant in drinking water at which no known or anticipated adverse effect on human health would occur, and which includes an adequate margin of safety.

 

Mixed funding. The practice by which the government can assume some proportion of cleanup expenses, with other parties assuming the rest.

 

Monitoring wells. Special wells drilled at specific locations where ground water can be sampled at selected depths and studied to determine the direction of ground water flow and the types and amounts of contaminants present.

 

National Contingency Plan, or National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). The basic policy directive for federal response actions under CERCLA. It sets out the organizational structure and procedures for responding to releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants, and contains the Hazard Ranking System and the National Priorities List as appendices.

National Response Center (NRC). The federal operations center that receives notification of all releases of oil and hazardous substances into the environment.

 

National Response Team (NRT). Representatives of 13 federal agencies who as a team coordinate federal responses to nationally significant incidents of pollution and provide advice and technical assistance to the responding agency(ies) before and during a response action.

 

Natural resources. As defined by CERCLA §101(16): "land, fish, wildlife, biota, air, water, ground water, drinking water supplies, and other such resources belonging to, managed by, held in trust by, appertaining to, or otherwise controlled by the United States ..., any state or local government, any foreign government, any Indian tribe, or, if such resources are subject to a trust restriction on alienation, any member of an Indian tribe."

 

NBAR. Nonbinding allocation of responsibility. A device, established in SARA, that allows the EPA to make a nonbinding estimate of the proportional share that each of the various responsible parties at a Superfund site should pay toward the costs of cleanup.

 

Notice letter. EPA's formal notice by letter to PRPs, also called a Section 104(e) letter, that CERCLA-related action is to be undertaken at a site with those PRPs being considered responsible.

 

NPL. National Priorities List. The list of (currently, approximately 1,200) hazardous waste sites that have been determined (by a hazard ranking score) to pose a serious threat to human health and/or the environment.

 

Offshore facility. As defined by CERCLA §101(17): "any facility of any kind located in, on, or under any of the navigable waters of the United States, and any facility of any kind which is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and is located in, on, or under any other waters, other than a vessel or a public vessel."

 

On-scene coordinator (OSC). The federal official predesignated by the EPA or USCG to coordinate and direct federal responses under the National Contingency Plan; or the DOD official designated to coordinate and direct the removal actions from releases of hazardous substances from DOD vessels and facilities (40 CFR 300.5).

 

Onshore facility. As defined by CERCLA §101(18): "any facility (including, but not limited to, motor vehicles and rolling stock) of any kind located in, on, or under, any land or nonnavigable waters within the United States."

 

Operable unit. A discrete part of the entire response action that decreases a release, threat of release, or pathway of exposure (40 CFR 300.5).

ORC. Office of Regional Counsel. The EPA's legal office in the regions. Tyrpically, an ORC attorney is assigned to each Superfund case.

 

Orphan share. A share of waste at a site that cannot be collected because the PRP is either unidentifiable or insolvent.

 

Petroleum exclusion clause. Language in CERCLA §101(14) that excludes petroleum from the definition of "hazardous substance".

 

PRP. Potentially responsible party. Any individual or company that may have contributed to contamination at a Superfund site. Examples of PRPs include waste generators, waste transporters, current or former landowners, and site operators. One who may be liable for site cleanup costs under CERCLA.

 

Preliminary Assessment/Site Inspection (PA/SI). The PA is the process of collecting and reviewing available information about a known or suspected hazardous disposal site or release to determine if the site requires further study. If so, the more extensive site inspection is undertaken to gather technical information and laboratory samples. The information is used to score the site using the hazard ranking system to determine whether the site will be placed on the National Priorities List.

 

Pump-and-treat. A treatment process that involves removal of contaminated ground water through pumping or other processes, followed by treatment of the water and either re-injection of the water into the ground or discharge of the water to a stream or lake.

 

RCRA. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-580). The principal federal law that regulates the definition, transportation, and disposal of hazardous wastes (as well as solid wastes in general). A key difference from Superfund is that it addresses current and future waste disposal practices, while Superfund was established to clean up inactive hazardous waste sites.

 

RD/RA. Remedial design/remedial action. The final stage of a site cleanup, when the remedy is conceived and put into effect.

 

Regional response team. Representatives of federal, state, and local agencies who may assist in coordination of activities at the request of the On-Scene Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager before and during response actions.

 

Release. As defined by CERCLA §101(22): "any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment (including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed receptacles containing any hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant...." It excludes certain workplace releases, engine exhausts, and releases of nuclear materials covered by other law.

 

Relevant and appropriate requirements. Those federal or state cleanup requirements that, while not "applicable," address problems sufficiently similar to those encountered at the CERCLA site that their use is appropriate. Requirements may be relevant and appropriate if they would be "applicable" except for jurisdictional restrictions associated with the requirement (40 CFR 300.5).

 

Remedial action, remedy. The actual construction or implementation phase that follows the remedial design of the selected remediation alternative at a site on the National Priorities List.

 

Remedial action plan. A plan that details the technical approach for implementing the remedial response. It includes the methods to be followed during the entire remediation process -- from developing the remedial design to implementing the selected remedy through construction.

 

Remedial design. An engineering phase that follows the record of decision when technical drawings and specifications are developed for the subsequent remedial action at a site on the National Priorities List.

 

Remedial project manager (RPM). The federal official designated by EPA (or the USCG for vessels) to coordinate, monitor, and direct response activities under the National Contingency Plan; or the federal official the Department of Defense (DOD) designates to coordinate and direct federal response actions resulting from releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants from DOD facilities or vessels (40 CFR 300.5).

 

Remedial response. A long-term action that stops or substantially reduces a release of a hazardous substance that could affect public health or the environment. The term remediation, or cleanup, is sometimes used interchangeably with the terms remedial action, removal action, response action, remedy, or corrective action.

 

Remediation. Activities to clean up a contaminated site.

 

Removal, or emergency removal. An action taken by the EPA under the emergency removal provisions of CERCLA, that enables the agency to take preliminary steps to clean up a site or reduce its danger when there is an imminent and substantial threat to public health or the environment. A removal cannot exceed $2 million or one year for any one action at any one site.

 

Reopener. A clause, usually included in Superfund consent decrees at government insistence, which allows the government to reopen a case and proceed legally against a responsible party who has already settled with the government, if certain contingencies occur, such as discovery of additional unexpected waste, or failure of a remedy.

 

Reportable quantity (RQ). The minimum quantity of a hazardous substance which, if released, is required to be reported.

 

Respond or response. As defined by CERCLA §101(25), "means remove, removal, remedy, and remedial action; all such terms (including the terms 'removal' and 'remedial action') include enforcement activities related thereto."

 

Retroactive liability. Parties can be held liable for releases resulting from actions prior to when Congress enacted CERCLA in 1980.

 

RI/FS. Remedial investigation/feasibility study. The remedial investigation is an engineering study that assesses the geographical, geological, and hydrological properties of a site, and the nature and extent of the hazardous waste contained therein. It is usually combined with the feasibility study, which identifies the various cleanup alternatives and specifies their costs and benefits.

 

Risk assessment. A qualitative and quantitative evaluation performed to define the risk posed to human health and/or the environment by the presence or potential presence and/or use of specific pollutants.

 

ROD. Record of Decision. The formal document by which an EPA administrator (usually the regional administrator) chooses the remedy to be applied at a Superfund site.

 

RPM. Remedial project manager. The EPA official who has charge of the remediation at a particular Superfund site.

 

SACM (Superfund Accelerated Cleanup Model). A model developed by EPA to accelerate remediations so that most contamination is removed early in the process.

 

SARA. Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-499).

 

Section 106 order. A unilateral administrative order that allows EPA to order PRPs to perform certain remedial actions at a Superfund site, subject to treble damages and daily fines if the order is not obeyed.

 

Selected alternative. The remediation alternative selected for a site based on technical feasibility, permanence, reliability, and cost. The selected alternative need not be the least expensive alternative. If there are several remediation alternatives available that deal effectively with the problems at the site, EPA must choose the remedy on the basis of permanence, reliability, and cost.

Settlement. A legal agreement reached between EPA and parties at a Superfund site. The settlement outlines the payments of each party, the time frame of remediation and the remedy selected.

 

SITE (Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation). This program supports development of technologies for assessing and treating waste at Superfund sites. EPA evaluates the technology and provides an assessment of its potential for future use in Superfund remediation actions. The program consists of four related components: the Demonstration Program, the Emerging Technologies Program, the Monitoring and Measurement Technologies Program, and Technology Transfer activities.

 

Source control action. The construction or installation and start-up of those actions necessary to prevent the continued release of hazardous substances (primarily from a source on top of or within the ground, or in buildings or other structures) into the environment [40 CFR 300.5].

 

Source control maintenance measures. Those measures intended to maintain the effectiveness of source control actions once such actions are operating and functioning properly, such as the maintenance of landfill caps and leachate collection systems [40 CFR 300.5].

 

Strict Liability. The government needs to prove only involvement at a waste site, not negligence. Under CERCLA, proof of strict causation is not necessary.

 

Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) Program. A grant program that provides funds for qualified citizens' groups to hire independent technical advisors to help understand and comment on technical decisions relating to Superfund remediation actions.

Third-party suits. In the context of Superfund, third-party suits are those brought by PRPs at a site who are sued by the government, and against other PRPs who were not sued, in order to obtain compensation for their costs and expenses. See contribution.

 

United States and State. As defined by CERCLA §101(27): "the several states of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, and any other territory or possession over which the United States has jurisdiction."

 

Viable PRP. A PRP that is financially solvent and that can be expected to pay its share of the total cleanup costs at a site.

Go to Superfund Fact Book

Endnotes

102 The definitions are taken from several sources, including:

Church, Thomas W. and Robert T. Nakamura. Cleaning Up the Mess: Implementation Strategies in Superfund. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution [1993].

Wagner, Travis P. The Complete Guide to the Hazardous Waste Regulation. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold [1992].