Proposed Action: Financial Responsibility Requirements Under CERCLA Section 108(b) For Classes of Facilities in the Chemical Manufacturing Industry
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Rule Summary
On February 10, 2020, the EPA Administrator signed a proposed rule to not impose financial responsibility requirements for facilities in the chemical manufacturing industry.
EPA has found that the degree and duration of risk to the federal government posed by this industry does not warrant financial responsibility requirements under Section 108(b) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, or Superfund), as modern industry practices and existing federal and state regulations are effective at preventing risk. The proposal is based on EPA’s interpretation of the statute and its analysis of the record developed for the proposed rulemaking, which is described in the Federal Register notice.
As required by CERCLA Section 108(b), the proposal assesses the need for financial responsibility requirements for the chemical manufacturing industry consistent with the degree and duration of risk associated with the production, transportation, treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous substances.
Comment Period Extended
EPA is extending the comment period on the proposal to not impose financial responsibility requirements for facilities in the chemical manufacturing industry. The notice announcing this proposal was published on February 21, 2020, and the public comment period was scheduled to end on April 21, 2020. However, EPA received requests for additional time to develop and submit comments on the proposal. In response to the request for additional time, EPA is extending the comment period through May 6, 2020.
How to Comment
- Instructions on how to submit public comment are provided in the text of the proposal.
- Public comment period extended: Comments must be received on or before May 6, 2020.
- EPA solicits comments on all aspects of this proposal, including the completeness of our data.
- Comments should be submitted at Regulations.gov, referencing the Docket ID number for the proposal (EPA-HQ-OLEM-2019-0086).
Webinar
A webinar about this proposal was held on March 18, 2020. To learn more and view slides from the webinar, visit the Clu-in website Exit.
Rule History
Section 108(b) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also known as Superfund, provides EPA certain regulatory authorities concerning financial responsibility requirements. It addresses the promulgation of regulations that require classes of facilities to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility consistent with the degree and duration of risk associated with the production, transportation, treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous substances.
In additional to the proposal on the chemical manufacturing industry, on December 4, 2019 EPA announced a proposal for the petroleum and coal products manufacturing industry, and is working towards a court-ordered deadline for a final rulemaking addressing CERCLA 108(b) financial responsibility for the Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution industry.
For more information, visit Superfund Financial Responsbility.