The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C.A. § 9601, known as CERCLA or the Superfund law, was enacted in 1980 during the final days of the Carter administration. It was intended to provide the Environmental Protection Agency with funds and enforcement tools to address past industrial practices that resulted in releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances into the environment.

New York’s Love Canal, Kentucky’s Valley of the Drums, and California’s Stringfellow Acid Pits prompted widespread and bipartisan support for the initial Superfund law.

Originally published in Westlaw's Practitioner Insights: Energy & Environment - November 7, 2018.