Hazardous waste cleanup: A case study for developing efficient programs

As officials in Pacific Basin Countries develop laws and policies for cleaning up hazardous wastes, experiences of countries with such instruments in place may be instructive. The United States has addressed cleanups of abandoned hazardous waste sites through the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The US Congress enacted CERCLA in 1980. The task of cleaning up waste sites became larger and more costly than originally envisioned and as a result, Congress strengthened and expanded CERCLA in 1986. Today, many industry representatives, environmentalists, and other interested parties say the program is still costly and ineffective, and Congress is responding through a reauthorization process to change the law once again. Because the law and modifications to it can affect company operations and revenues, industries want to know the potential consequences of such changes. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) recently developed a baseline for one economic sector -- the US energy industry -- against which impacts of proposed changes to CERCLA could be measured. Difficulties encountered in locating and interpreting the data for developing that baseline suggest that legislation should not only provide for meeting its stated goals (e.g., protection of human health and the environment) but also allow for its efficient evaluation over time. This lesson can be applied to any nation contemplating hazardous waste cleanup laws and policies