Federal Facilities

The growing number of federal hazardous waste cleanups represents a daunting challenge for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal agencies. Several issues may need to be addressed as Superfund reauthorization approaches. First, how can federal facility assessments be sped up? Second, cleaning up federal waste sites will have a major impact on federal spending. The full force of this impact is still unknown, however, because of uncertain cost estimates. The sooner these uncertainties are resolved, the sooner the government can begin planning how best to accomplish these cleanups. Third, what risks do federal sites pose to human health and the environment, and how can these risks be compared? Fourth, will EPA be able to fulfill its oversight responsibilities for federal facility cleanups? Increasing numbers of federal Superfund facilities, some far larger and more complex than nonfederal sites, will dramatically expand EPA's oversight work load. EPA has already had difficulty in meeting its oversight requirements; its future ability to meet these requirements also appears questionable.