Superfund reports go to Congress

The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted a set of three reports to Congress evaluating the agency's Superfund program for fiscal 1992, 1993, and 1994. These reports neatly coincide with moves in the Senate to pass a new Superfund reform bill. The reports are required under the 1986 Superfund amendments and provide detailed information on the overall progress of Superfund implementation. They include data on feasibility studies, remedial and enforcement actions, and estimates of how much it will cost the government to complete the Superfund program. During the three years covered in these reports, the number of hazardous waste sites EPA had in its Superfund information system rose from 36,400 in 1992 to 38,600 in 1994. The agency was able to consistently complete assessments of about 95% of these sites during the three years. And the national priority list of Superfund sites rose as well—from 1,275 in 1992 to 1,355 in 1994—so sites continued to be ...