[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3649 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3649

 To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
   Liability Act of 1980 to provide assistance for natural disaster 
          response at Superfund sites, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 29, 2012

Mr. Lautenberg introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
   Liability Act of 1980 to provide assistance for natural disaster 
          response at Superfund sites, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Superfund Emergency Response Act of 
2012''.

SEC. 2. DISASTER RESPONSE AT SITES ON THE NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (referred to in 
this section as the ``Administrator'') may carry out any assessment, 
monitoring, remediation, repair, or construction activity that the 
Administrator determines to be necessary at a site that--
            (1) is proposed to be listed on, is listed on, or has been 
        deleted from, the National Priorities List under the 
        Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
        Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.); and
            (2) is located in an area that the President has declared a 
        major disaster in accordance with section 401 of the Robert T. 
        Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
        U.S.C. 5170).
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2013 through 2018.

SEC. 3. DISASTER ASSESSMENTS.

    Title I of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, 
and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following:

``SEC. 129. SITE ASSESSMENTS AFTER A MAJOR DISASTER.

    ``(a) In General.--The Governor or Senator of a State may request 
that the Administrator carry out an assessment and submit a report on 
the impacts, if any, of a major disaster (as defined in section 102 of 
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 5122)) on any site that is--
            ``(1) proposed to be listed on or listed on the National 
        Priorities List; and
            ``(2) located in an area that the President has declared a 
        major disaster in accordance with section 401 of the Robert T. 
        Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
        U.S.C. 5170).
    ``(b) Response.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 15 days after the date on 
        which a request described in subsection (a) is submitted, the 
        Administrator shall--
                    ``(A) determine whether to carry out the 
                assessment; and
                    ``(B) inform the Governor or Senator, as 
                applicable, of the determination.
            ``(2) Preliminary assessment.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If the Administrator determines 
                to carry out an assessment under this section, the 
                assessment shall include--
                            ``(i) an evaluation of whether the major 
                        disaster resulted in the release of any 
                        contaminants into the ambient environment that 
                        threaten public health and the environment;
                            ``(ii) an assessment of any actions 
                        necessary to mitigate a toxic release, repair 
                        any damage, or provide monitoring in response 
                        to damage associated with the major disaster, 
                        along with an estimate of the cost to complete 
                        those actions;
                            ``(iii) a list of any actions already taken 
                        by Administrator, including actions in 
                        coordination with State and local governments, 
                        to prevent, mitigate, or remediate any damage 
                        resulting from the major disaster at the site; 
                        and
                            ``(iv) any information needed to alert the 
                        public to any threat, or potential threat, to 
                        public health and the environment relating to 
                        the release of contaminants at the site as a 
                        result of a major disaster.
                    ``(B) Public notice.--Not later than 30 days after 
                the date on which the Administrator determines to carry 
                out an assessment described in subsection (a), the 
                Administrator shall--
                            ``(i) complete the assessment; and
                            ``(ii) publish the results of the 
                        assessment on a publicly accessible Internet 
                        site.
            ``(3) Amended assessment.--The Administrator may amend or 
        update any assessment carried out under this section during the 
        1-year period following the date on which the Administrator 
        determines to carry out the assessment.''.

SEC. 4. STUDY OF SITES ON THE NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST AND EXTREME 
              WEATHER.

    Title III of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9651 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 313. STUDY ON SITES ON THE NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST AND EXTREME 
              WEATHER.

    ``(a) Definition of Extreme Weather Event.--In this section, the 
term `extreme weather event' means--
            ``(1) severe and unseasonable weather;
            ``(2) heavy precipitation;
            ``(3) a hurricane;
            ``(4) a storm surge;
            ``(5) a tornado or other windstorm, including a derecho;
            ``(6) extreme heat and cold; and
            ``(7) any other event that qualifies as a `major disaster' 
        under section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
        Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).
    ``(b) Study.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
this section, the Administrator shall carry out a study and submit to 
Congress a report that includes--
            ``(1) an assessment of the existing vulnerability of each 
        property that, due to an extreme weather event, is proposed to 
        be listed, listed, or removed from the National Priorities 
        List, particularly in relation to the potential for 
        contaminants to leach or enter into the ambient environment and 
        threaten public health;
            ``(2) an evaluation of the quantity of properties proposed 
        to be listed or listed on the National Priorities List in areas 
        that are prone to flooding as a result of an extreme weather 
        event, including an estimate of the cost necessary to remediate 
        each site so that the site can be removed from the National 
        Priorities List; and
            ``(3) any recommendations of the Administrator relating 
        to--
                    ``(A) emergency response protocols in the event of 
                an extreme weather event to prevent any release of 
                contaminants into the ambient environment, including 
                coordination between the regional office, appropriate 
                State and local officials, and any relevant community 
                advisory groups;
                    ``(B) strategies the Administrator determines 
                necessary to improve the resiliency of assessments, 
                monitoring, or construction carried out on proprieties 
                on the National Priorities List as extreme weather 
                events become more common; and
                    ``(C) additional policies necessary to enhance the 
                resiliency of properties on the National Priorities 
                List as a result of extreme weather events, including 
                any modifications of existing Federal law.''.
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