Bill > AR197

Introduced Session

This resolution urges the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to expend funds from New Jersey Superfund settlements exclusively for remediating the Superfund sites at issue and to limit the settlement expenditures used for agency administrative and oversight costs. Prior to the enactment of the Superfund law in 1980, there was continual hazardous waste dumping in the United States, creating thousands of uncontrolled or abandoned contaminated sites, such as warehouses, manufacturing facilities, processing plants, and landfills. As the problem grew, there was an increase in concern over the health and environmental risks posed by these contaminated sites. Two fires in New Jersey, a chemical waste treatment facility in Bridgeport, and a waste storage facility in Elizabeth affirmed the need for national hazardous site remediation. The Superfund law, or the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), was signed on December 11, 1980. The law addressed the dangers of abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste dumps by developing a nationwide program for emergency response, information analysis, liability for responsible parties, and site cleanup. The law grants the EPA broad authority to clean up identified contaminated sites and in doing so, improves the surrounding environment. Since the Superfund's inception in 1980, New Jersey has had a total of 2,168 identified contaminated sites. Today, New Jersey has 829 active sites with 152 sites placed on the National Priority List. As of April 2023, New Jersey has the highest number of Superfund sites that require remediation. Hence, it is imperative that EPA recognize the dire need New Jersey has for the funds resulting from in-state Superfund settlements be used for remediating the sites at issue and limit the settlement expenditures used for agency administrative and oversight costs.

Committee Categories

Clinton Calabrese (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee (on 11/30/2023)

Official Document