Authorities of the NCP, cont.

In general, the purpose of these laws is to address releases or threatened releases into the environment of oil and other hazardous substances in order to protect public health, welfare, and the environment. The CWA/OPA addresses authorities with regard to oil, while CERCLA addresses authorities with regard to hazardous substances, excluding oil. CWA/OPA also covers certain hazardous substances, but in practice, CERCLA is usually used to address those substances. CERCLA is broader than OPA in that it addresses releases to the environment in general, which would include land, water, and air. CERCLA allows a federal response to other “pollutants and contaminants” that are not specifically listed in federal regulations, but the threshold for responding to these substances is higher – there must be an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health/welfare. Both laws give the Federal Government enforcement authorities over the parties responsible for spills and require polluters to pay for cleanup. Both laws have planning and preparedness components, and established Trust Funds that can pay for federal responses (and some other costs) when needed. CERCLA established two programs to clean up hazardous waste sites – a “removal” program which allows quick response, and a “remedial” program targeted at longer-term, often more complex, cleanups. The implementing regulations for these statutes are found in the NCP.