EPA’s New Guidance Mandate Leaves Superfund Cleanup Less Certain

The EPA’s newly finalized changes to guidance documents could make for less predictable decisions over Superfund cleanups, attorneys said.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund cleanups rely heavily on guidance to keep the agency’s decisions consistent across 1,300 unique sites.

The agency released a final rule this week (RIN:2010-AA13) that requires a public comment period for some new guidance, and allows the public to petition for published guidance to be withdrawn. The changes are “intended to increase the transparency of the EPA’s guidance practices,” it stated in the rule.

Attorneys involved with Superfund sites were concerned ...