About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

41 Sw. L. Rev. 645 (2011-2012)
EPA Enforcement of CERCLA: Historical Overview and Recent Trends

handle is hein.journals/swulr41 and id is 659 raw text is: EPA ENFORCEMENT OF CERCLA: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW AND RECENT TRENDS Joel A. Mintz* I. INTRODUCTION The enforcement of Comprehensive Environmental Response Liability Act (CERCLA) against potentially responsible parties (PRPs) by the United States EPA is widely viewed as an integral component of the Superfund program. It has catalyzed clean up activities at numerous abandoned hazardous waste sites around the United States and provided an incentive for voluntary clean up of contaminated sites by private entities. At the same time, however, public enforcement of CERCLA has often been steeped in political controversy and stymied by difficulties created within the EPA itself, as well as outside of it. This article traces the historical development of the CERCLA enforcement program, from the earliest EPA efforts to force hazardous waste site cleanups prior to the statute's enactment, through the end of George W. Bush's tenure as president.' It then describes and assays current trends in CERCLA enforcement during the first three years of the presidency of Barack Obama. * Professor of Law, Nova Southeastern University Law Center; Member, American Law Institute and Member-Scholar, Center for Progressive Reform; B.A. Columbia University, 1970; J.D. NYU School of Law, 1974; LL.M. Columbia Law School, 1982; J.S.D. Columbia Law School, 1989. Professor Mintz was an enforcement attorney and chief attorney with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Chicago and Washington, D.C. from 1975 to 1982. 1. For a more comprehensive examination of the historical evolution of EPA's enforcement of hazardous waste requirements (as well as other aspects) of EPA's enforcement work, see JOEL A. MINTZ, ENFORCEMENT AT THE EPA: HIGH STAKES AND HARD CHOICES (University of Texas Press, 1995) (revised edition forthcoming, April, 2012); Joel A. Mintz, Neither the Best of Times Nor the Worst of Times: EPA Enforcement During the Clinton Administration, 35 ENVTL. L. REP. 10390, 10390 (2005); Joel A. Mintz, Treading Water: A Preliminary Assessment of EPA Enforcement During the Bush H Administration, 34 ENVTL. L. REP. 10933, 10933 (2004); Joel A. Mintz, A Review of EPA's Hazardous Waste Enforcement Effort, 1970-1987, 18 ENVTL. L. 683, 685 (1988). 645

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most