Since 2008, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has added 17 new hazardous waste sites to the National Priorities List (NPL) and proposed adding 21 other sites to the list. To date, there have been 1,587 sites listed on the NPL. The USEPA uses a variety of mechanisms to place a site on the NPL. These mechanisms may include the ranking system established by EPA's Hazard Ranking System, designation by states or territories of top-priority sites, or based on an assessment of whether the site poses a significant health risk to the public.

NPL Sites:

The following 17 sites have been added to the NPL since the beginning of 2008:

	Iron King Mine – Humboldt Smelter (Dewey-Humboldt, AZ)
	Nelson Tunnel/Commodore Waste Rock (Creede, CO)
	Flash Cleaners (Pompano Beach, FL)
	Aberdeen Contaminated Ground Water (Aberdeen, NC)
	East Troy Contaminated Aquifer (Troy, OH)
	Old Esco Manufacturing (Greenville, TX)
	B.F Goodrich (Rialto, CA)
	Lane Street Groundwater Contamination (Elkhart, IN)
	Southwest Jefferson County Mine (Jefferson County, MO)
	Flat Creek IMM (Superior, MT)
	Ore Knob Mine (Ashe County, NC)
	GMH Electronics (Roxboro, NC)
	Curtis Specialty Papers, Inc. (Milford, NJ)
	Little Scioto River (Marion County, OH)
	Salford Quarry (Lower Salford Township, PA)
	Papelera Puertorriquena, Inc. (Utuado, Puerto Rico)
	Amcast Industrial Corporation (Cedarburg, WI)

Of note from this list are several mining sites, which historically have been difficult to identify financially-viable potentially responsible parties (PRPs). It will be interesting to monitor how the USEPA intends to pursue PRPs and allocate liability in light of the recent US Supreme Court ruling on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) matter where the joint and several liability approach was given a significant blow.

EPA Superfund Spending

In a report issued in July 2008, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) presented its observations on trends in USEPA spending over the past 8 years. The report noted that, for fiscal years 1999 through 2007, EPA spent 77 percent of its Superfund monies on remedial and removal activities and almost all of the rest on enforcement and administration activities. During this period, overall program expenditures declined nearly 30 percent in constant dollars, from $1.8 billion in fiscal year 1999 to $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2007, mostly due to a decline in expenditures for remedial activities.
The complete free copy of the report can be downloaded from the GAO website.

The 2009 and requested 2010 Superfund budgets appear to be in line with the 2007 spending. It is yet to be seen how the Obama Administration will allocate funds among various USEPA programs. With more emphasis on climate change-related issues and water infrastructure, Superfund may not receive significant additional support or funding.