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Superfund is the common name for the United States environmental policy officially known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, 42 U.S.C.&_160;§&_160;9601–9675), enacted by the United States Congress on December 11, 1980 in response to the Love Canal disaster.[1] The Superfund law was created to protect people, families, communities and others from heavily contaminated toxic waste sites that have been abandoned.[2] After its initial passage, the Reagan administration appointed Rita Lavelle, a former hazardous waste-producing company employee, as Superfund's administrator. Due to delays introduced by her industry-favorable policies[citation needed], and a dramatic shortage of necessary funds, very little was accomplished in hazardous waste regulation until her resignation, the resignation of EPA administrator Anne Burford, and the passage of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act in 1986. These amendments increased the funding of Superfund to $9 billion and provided for studies and the use of new technologies. Superfund provides broad federal authority to clean up releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment. There are currently 1,240 sites listed on the Superfund National Priority List, an additional 317 have been delisted, and 61 new sites have been proposed.[3] Approximately 70% of Superfund cleanup activities historically have been paid for by parties responsible (PRPs) for the cleanup of contamination. The only time cleanup costs are not borne by the responsible party is when that party either can not be found or is unable to pay for the cleanup. For those sites, the Superfund law originally paid for toxic waste cleanups through a tax on petroleum and chemical industries. The chemical and petroleum fees were intended to provide incentives to use less toxic substances. Over five years, $1.6 billion was collected, and the tax went to a trust fund for cleaning up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. The last full fiscal year in which the Department of the Treasury collected the tax was FY1995. At the end of FY1996, the invested trust fund balance was $6.0 billion. This fund was exhausted by the end of FY2003; since that time funding for these orphan shares has been appropriated by Congress out of general revenues.[4]
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