Superfund: Reauthorization and Prioritization Issues

GAO discussed Superfund reauthorization and risk prioritization. GAO noted that: (1) the Superfund reauthorization bill clearly makes significant advances over the existing Superfund legislation; (2) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs to consider the risks to human health and the environment when prioritizing sites for cleanup; (3) EPA could recover more of its cleanup and oversight costs from responsible parties if several legislative changes are made; (4) the Superfund reauthorization bill would increase federal costs by transferring uncollected cleanup expenses to the federal government; (5) the reauthorization bill would shift a major part of the operation and maintenance costs now borne by states to EPA while increasing the states' share of the remedial cleanup costs; and (6) the cost-sharing formula in the reauthorization bill could increase the federal government's share of the program's costs.