Superfund

For hazardous waste sites added in 1996 to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) register of the nation's most contaminated locations, EPA took on average more than nine years to complete the process--from site discovery to final listing on the National Priorities List. Although this represents some improvement over 1995, it is still longer than earlier listing times. Cleanup times have also lengthened. From 1986 to 1989, cleanup projects were finished, on average, 3.9 years after sites were placed on the National Priorities List. By 1996, however, cleanup completions were averaging 10.6 years. The increasingly lengthy cleanups are a concern because of the amount of remaining listing and cleanup activity still to be addressed in the Superfund Program. EPA has made progress at many sites, but construction work remains unfinished at about 800 sites on the National Priorities List, and as many as 2,300 sites could still be added to Superfund in the future. EPA officials believe that recent initiatives will speed up both site listings and cleanups.

GAO noted that: (1) for sites listed in 1996, it took an average of 9.4 years from site discovery to final listing on the NPL; (2) while this is some improvement over 1995, it is still longer than earlier listing times; (3) for sites listed from 1986 to 1990, it took an average of 5.8 years from discovery to listing; (4) the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to evaluate nonfederal sites for listing, where warranted, within 4 years of their discovery; (5) listing decisions were made within 4 years of discovery for 43 percent of the sites discovered from 1987 through 1991; (6) a number of factors contributed to the long time needed to list a site, including a backlog of sites awaiting evaluation and EPA's emphasis on completing already listed sites; (7) cleanup completion times have also lengthened; (8) from 1986 to 1989, cleanup projects were finished, on average, 3.9 years after sites were placed on the NPL; (9) by 1996, however, cleanup completions were averaging 10.6 years; (10) SARA did not set deadlines for completing cleanups within a certain number of years, but EPA set an expectation for fiscal year 1993 for its regions to complete cleanup within 5 years of a site's listing; (11) much of the time taken to complete cleanups is attributable to the early planning phases of the cleanup process, when cleanup remedies are selected; (12) less time has been spent on actual construction work at sites than on selecting remedies; and (13) EPA officials attributed the increased completion times for cleanups to the growing complexity of sites, efforts to reach settlements with parties responsible for site contamination, and resource constraints.