CERCLA primary purpose?

• A. It is a state-level program with no federal involvement.
• B. Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act - 1980 Superfund, places the burden on current owners and attempts to recover from polluters.
• C. It only provides emergency response funds for natural disasters.
• D. It regulates corporate taxation.

Answer: (B)

CERCLA’s main aim is to get hazardous waste sites cleaned up and to make those responsible pay for the cleanup. When it was enacted in 1980, it created the Superfund to finance cleanups and established liability rules that place the cleanup burden on those connected to the pollution—typically current owners and operators of a site, and in many cases past owners, generators, and transporters—so that the government can recover cleanup costs from the responsible parties. This framework ensures cleanup funding and accountability without relying on taxpayers alone, rather than limiting the scope to emergency disaster response, state-only programs, or tax regulation.