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  4. Industries Worry about New Superfund Financial Rules

Industries Worry about New Superfund Financial Rules

Date: April 19, 2010

Source: News Room

A wide range of industry groups are concerned that EPA could require them to acquire financial assurance (clean-up insurance) against their facilities becoming Superfund sites, arguing the rules would be redundant and possibly illegal. EPA announced late last year that it intends to develop the rules for the chemical, petroleum and coal industries along with electric power generators, mining companies and solid waste landfills. It was primarily a response to a lawsuit filed by environmentalists that argued EPA is required to develop such rules under section 108(b) of the Superfund law.

Solid waste facilities would conceivably have to acquire financial assurance under Superfund that would be in addition to current requirements and despite their not managing any hazardous wastes. Last week, The National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) filed comments opposing the proposal. They argued that EPA should narrow any new responsibilities "to those facilities that are not already covered by RCRA financial assurance requirements. In addition, because [municipal solid waste] facilities (i.e., landfills, transfer stations, and recycling operations) no longer accept or manage hazardous waste, these facilities should not be required to acquire [Superfund] financial assurance."

If EPA does proceed with new rules, industry officials say they should be as flexible as possible and applicable to only facilities that generate significant volumes of hazardous substances.

The Utility Solid Waste Activities Group (USWAG) says in similar comments that EPA should also not base new financial requirements on "worst case scenarios. EPA uses an example of an electric power industry site cleanup the recent Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston spill in which expected costs of cleanup range from $933 million to $1.2 billion," USWAG notes. "While admittedly this is a recent and catastrophic release, EPA's own assessments of the structural integrity of surface impoundments used to contain coal combustion residuals conducted in the wake of the TVA spill showed that no other electric power industry impoundment posed immediate safety threats."

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