United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1998-11-30 monographic deposited born digital 81 p. GA 1.13:RCED-99-8 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-8 P0b002ee180382045 f:rc99008 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-8 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-8 RCED-99-8 Federal/state relations Hazardous substances Industrial wastes Pollution control Environmental policies Environmental monitoring Surveys Waste disposal Health hazards Liability (legal) EPA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System EPA National Priorities List Superfund Program Letter Report RCED Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO surveyed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regions, other federal agencies, and states to: (1) determine the number of sites classified as awaiting a National Priorities List (NPL) decision that remain potentially eligible for the list; (2) describe the characteristics of these sites, including their health and environmental risks; (3) determine the status of any actions to clean up these sites; and (4) collect the opinions of EPA and other federal and state officials on the likely final disposition of these sites, including the number of sites that are expected to be added to the NPL.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) on the basis of surveys of EPA regions, other federal agencies, and states, GAO has determined that 1,789 of the 3,036 sites that EPA's database classified as awaiting a NPL decision in October 1997 are still potentially eligible for placement on the list; (2) GAO considered the 1,234 other sites as unlikely to become eligible for various reasons; (3) the other sites do not require cleanup in the view of the responding officials, have already been cleaned up, or have final cleanup activities under way; (4) officials of EPA, other federal agencies, and states said that many of the potentially eligible sites present risks to human health and the environment; (5) the potentially eligible sites are generally located in populated areas; (6) officials of EPA, other federal agencies, and states said that about 17 percent of the potentially eligible sites currently pose high human health and environmental risks and that another 10 percent could also pose high risks in the future if they are not cleaned up; (7) however, these officials were unsure about the severity of risks for a large proportion of the sites; (8) responding officials said that some cleanup actions have taken place at 686 of the potentially eligible sites; (9) no cleanup activities beyond initial site assessments or investigations have been conducted, or no information is available on any such actions, at the other 1,103 potentially eligible sites; (10) many of the potentially eligible sites have been in states' and EPA's inventories of hazardous sites for extended periods; (11) 73 percent have been in EPA's inventory for more than a decade; (12) no cleanup progress was reported at the majority of the sites that have been known for 10 years or more; (13) responding officials did not indicate whether or how more than half of the potentially eligible sites would be cleaned up; (14) collectively, EPA and state officials believed that 232 of the potentially eligible sites might be placed on the NPL in the future; (15) however, EPA and the states agreed on the listing prospects of only a small number of specific sites; (16) officials estimated that almost one third of the potentially eligible sites are likely to be cleaned up under state programs but usually could not give a date for the start of cleanup activities; (17) officials of about 20 percent of the states said that their state's enforcement capacity to compel responsible parties to clean up potentially eligible sites is fair to very poor; and (18) officials of about half of the states told GAO that their state's financial capability to clean up potentially eligible sites is poor or very poor. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-8/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-8.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-8/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-8.pdf GAO/RCED-99-8 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-8 Letter Report GAO/RCED-99-8; Hazardous Waste: Unaddressed Risks at Many Potential Superfund Sites; Federal/state relations Hazardous substances Industrial wastes Pollution control Environmental policies Environmental monitoring Surveys Waste disposal Health hazards Liability (legal) EPA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System EPA National Priorities List Superfund Program