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104-565: On March 31, 1989, LAAP was listed as a Superfund site on the National Priorities List . The United States Environmental Protection Agency found that the ground water was contaminated by explosive wastes including cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) and trinitrotoluene (TNT). On August 24, 2006, an explosion of the Explo Systems, Inc., site leased at Camp Minden, where bombs were disassembled and recycled led to

208-537: A consent decree subject to public comment (section 122). This was to address sweetheart deals between industry and the Reagan-era EPA that Congress had discovered. In 1994 President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order 12898, which called for federal agencies to make achieving environmental justice a requirement by addressing low income populations and minority populations that have experienced disproportionate adverse health and environmental effects as

312-663: A $ 100 discount on tablets, laptops and desktops for them. The program ran out of funds on April 30, 2024. The law also requires the FCC to return consumer broadband labels it developed in 2016 to statute, to revise its public comment process and to issue rules and model policies for combating digital deployment discrimination, with the United States Attorney General 's cooperation, and the Government Accountability Office to deliver

416-641: A $ 547 billion plan, called the INVEST in America Act, which would address parts of the American Jobs Plan. On July 1, the House passed an amended $ 715 billion infrastructure bill focused on land transportation and water. On May 27, Republican senator Shelley Moore Capito presented a $ 928 billion plan, and on June 4, increased it by about $ 50 billion; this was quickly rejected by

520-464: A Superfund site. In 1978, residents of the rural black community of Triana, Alabama were found to be contaminated with DDT and PCB , some of whom had the highest levels of DDT ever recorded in human history. The DDT was found in high levels in Indian Creek, which many residents relied on for sustenance fishing. Although this major health threat to residents of Triana was discovered in 1978,

624-507: A breath-based and a touch-based sensor that stops the car if the driver is above the legal blood alcohol content , and will be open-sourced to automobile manufacturers. Under the law, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) will be required to develop regulations for a system that can detect distracted, fatigued, or impaired drivers. The NHTSA has recommended implementing a camera-based warning system for

728-633: A broad remit over transportation research akin to DARPA , HSARPA , IARPA , ARPA-E , and ARPA-H , with the first appropriations of $ 3.22 million being made in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 . Lastly, it broadens the powers of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, to provide faster conflict resolution among agencies, in speeding up infrastructure design approvals. An October 2021 report written by

832-460: A contribution action under the CERCLA. CERCLA liability has generally been judicially established as joint and several among PRPs to the government for cleanup costs (i.e., each PRP is hypothetically responsible for all costs subject to contribution), but CERCLA liability is allocable among PRPs in contribution based on comparative fault. An "orphan share" is the share of costs at a Superfund site that

936-423: A deal caused a late September House vote to be postponed. On October 2, Pelosi set a new deadline of October 31. By October 28, Jayapal and other progressive leaders indicated that they were willing to vote on the bill separately, but Sanders and others opposed this. On October 31, a majority of progressives signaled that they would support both bills. Votes on both bills were considered on November 5, but

1040-477: A lesser chance of successful listing and cleanup than areas with higher income levels. After the executive order had been put in place, there persisted a discrepancy between the demographics of the communities living near toxic waste sites and their listing as Superfund sites, which would otherwise grant them federally funded cleanup projects. Communities with both increased minority and low-income populations were found to have lowered their chances of site listing after

1144-510: A new Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) office specializing in cybersecurity . The infrastructure law created the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program with $ 350 million in funding over five years. This is a competitive grant program that funds planning and construction projects that prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions and improve the connectivity of animal habitats. The law also allocated $ 1 billion to create

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1248-579: A new All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP). This program is designed to improve the accessibility of rail system stations that were built before the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). At the time of the infrastructure law's passage, over 900 transit stations were not fully ADA-compliant. The law includes $ 1 billion over five years for Reconnecting Communities planning and construction grants intended to build marginalized community-recommended projects removing or capping highways and railroads,

1352-568: A reconciliation bill costing $ 3.5 trillion, breaking the stalemate and allowing the bipartisan bill to move forward. That day, the Senate voted 67–32 to advance the bill, and on July 30, voted 66–28 to proceed to its consideration. The legislation text was completed and substituted into the bill on August 1. On August 5, Schumer moved to truncate debate on the legislation, setting up a procedural vote on August 7, which passed 67–27. Fifteen or more amendments were expected to receive votes through

1456-530: A report on updating broadband thresholds by November 2022. To support safe drinking water programs, the law provides: For surface water programs, such as watershed management and pollution control , the law provides: The Act provides $ 8 billion for helping Western states deal with the Southwestern North American megadrought . Spending for many related projects is included under the category "Western Water Infrastructure". Prior to

1560-487: A result of their programs, policies, and activities. The EPA regional offices had to apply required guidelines for its Superfund managers to take into consideration data analysis, managed public participation, and economic opportunity when considering the geography of toxic waste site remediation. Some environmentalists and industry lobbyists saw the Clinton administration's environmental justice policy as an improvement, but

1664-585: A site for the NPL is intended primarily to guide the EPA in: Despite the name, the Superfund trust fund has lacked sufficient funds to clean up even a small number of the sites on the NPL. As a result, the EPA typically negotiates consent orders with PRPs to study sites and develop cleanup alternatives, subject to EPA oversight and approval of all such activities. The EPA then issues a Proposed Plans for remedial action for

1768-418: A site on which it takes public comment, after which it makes a cleanup decision in a Record of Decision (ROD). RODs are typically implemented under consent decrees by PRPs or under unilateral orders if consent cannot be reached. If a party fails to comply with such an order, it may be fined up to $ 37,500 for each day that non-compliance continues. A party that spends money to clean up a site may sue other PRPs in

1872-671: A state judge to throw out charges, because M6 was not classified as explosive in Louisiana. The Army intended to dispose of the explosives through "open burns". Eventually a private facility in Colfax, Louisiana 95 miles south, operated by Clean Harbors was chosen. It is "the only commercial facility in the nation allowed to burn explosives and munitions waste with no environmental emissions controls." 32°33′31″N 93°23′54″W  /  32.55861°N 93.39833°W  / 32.55861; -93.39833 Superfund Superfund

1976-555: A third of all IIJA funding, was allocated to more than 40,000 projects related to infrastructure , transport , and sustainability . By May 2024, the law's halfway mark, the numbers had increased to $ 454 billion (38 percent of the Act's funds) for more than 56,000 projects, and by the third anniversary in November 2024, they had increased to $ 568 billion (47 percent) to 68,000 projects, leaving 53 percent of IIJA funds unallocated but showing

2080-581: A total of $ 65 billion in advancing the U.S. quest for broadband universal service . Of this $ 65 billion, the law invests $ 42.45 billion in a new infrastructure grant program by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration called the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program , with highest priority going to communities with Internet speeds below 25 downstream and 3 upstream Mbps . $ 2 billion will go to

2184-605: Is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 ( CERCLA ). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The program is designed to investigate and clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances. Sites managed under this program are referred to as Superfund sites . Of all

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2288-523: Is a possible polluter who may eventually be held liable under CERCLA for the contamination or misuse of a particular property or resource . Four classes of PRPs may be liable for contamination at a Superfund site: The liability scheme of CERCLA changed commercial and industrial real estate, making sellers liable for contamination from past activities, meaning they can't pass liability onto unknowing buyers without any responsibility. Buyers also have to be aware of future liabilities. The CERCLA also required

2392-449: Is attributable to a PRP that is either unidentifiable or insolvent. The EPA tries to treat all PRPs equitably and fairly. Budgetary cuts and constraints can make more equitable treatment of PRPs more difficult. Upon notification of a potentially hazardous waste site, the EPA conducts a Preliminary Assessment/Site Inspection (PA/SI), which involves records reviews, interviews, visual inspections, and limited field sampling. Information from

2496-422: Is guaranteed a minimum of $ 45 million per year from this program. At least 15% of each state's funds must be spent on off-system bridges (i.e., public bridges that are not on federal-aid highways), and 3% is set aside each year for bridges on tribal lands. Off-system and tribal bridge projects may be funded with a 100% federal share (as opposed to the standard 80% federal share). With $ 12.5 billion over five years,

2600-596: Is implemented through the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail program, which will receive $ 36 billion in advance appropriations and $ 7.5 billion in fully authorized funds. The Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program will receive $ 5 billion in advance appropriations and $ 5 billion in fully authorized funds, while programs for grade separation replacing level crossings will receive $ 3 billion in advance appropriations and $ 2.5 billion in fully authorized funds, and

2704-411: Is often pointed to as the roots of the environmental justice movement. PCBs were illegally dumped into the community and then it eventually became a PCB landfill . Community leaders pressed the state for the site to be cleaned up for an entire decade until it was finally detoxified. However, this decontamination did not return the site to its pre-1982 conditions. There has been a call for reparations to

2808-740: Is presented in a Proposed Plan for public review and comment, followed by a selected alternative in a ROD. The site then enters into a Remedial Design phase and then the Remedial Action phase. Many sites include long-term monitoring. Once the Remedial Action has been completed, reviews are required every five years, whenever hazardous substances are left onsite above levels safe for unrestricted use. As of December 9, 2021 , there were 1,322 sites listed; an additional 447 had been delisted, and 51 new sites have been proposed. Historically about 70 percent of Superfund cleanup activities have been paid for by potentially responsible party (PRPs). When

2912-657: Is the Church Rock uranium mill spill on the Navajo Nation. It was the largest radioactive spill in the US but received a long delay in government response and cleanup after being placed as a lower priority site. Two sets of five-year cleanup plans have been put in place by US Congress, but contamination from the Church Rock incident has still not been completely cleaned up. Today, uranium contamination from mining during

3016-767: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law ( BIL ), ( H.R. 3684 ) is a United States federal statute enacted by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021. It was introduced in the House as the INVEST in America Act and nicknamed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. The act was initially a $ 547–715 billion infrastructure package that included provisions related to federal highway aid, transit, highway safety , motor carrier, research, hazardous materials and rail programs of

3120-588: The Department of Transportation . After congressional negotiations, it was amended and renamed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to add funding for broadband access , clean water and electric grid renewal in addition to the transportation and road proposals of the original House bill. This amended version included approximately $ 1.2 trillion in spending, with $ 550 billion newly authorized spending on top of what Congress

3224-735: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act reauthorized an excise tax on chemical manufacturers, for ten years starting in July 2022. The EPA and state agencies use the Hazard Ranking System (HRS) to calculate a site score (ranging from 0 to 100) based on the actual or potential release of hazardous substances from a site. A score of 28.5 places a site on the National Priorities List, eligible for long-term, remedial action (i.e., cleanup) under

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3328-417: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act . The new chemical excise tax is effective July 1, 2022, and is double the rate of the previous Superfund tax. The 2021 law also authorized $ 3.5 billion in emergency appropriations from the U.S. government general fund for hazardous site cleanups in the immediate future. CERCLA authorizes two kinds of response actions: A potentially responsible party (PRP)

3432-730: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to develop a safety mechanism to prevent drunk driving , which causes about 10,000 deaths each year in the United States as of 2021, which will be rolled out in phases for retroactive fitting, and will become mandatory for all new vehicles in 2027. The technology, which is being developed by NHTSA in cooperation with the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety and Swedish automobile safety company Autoliv , consists of

3536-703: The USDA $ 5.5 billion of the $ 65 billion total to deliver broadband to rural communities smaller than 20,000 people, $ 5 million of which is obligated to utility cooperatives . The law invests $ 14.2 billion of the total in the Federal Communications Commission 's Affordable Connectivity Program , the successor to the American Rescue Plan's broadband subsidies. It gives a $ 30 monthly discount on internet services to qualifying low-income families ($ 75 on tribal lands), and provides

3640-504: The 1971 creation of Amtrak (which under the law will receive $ 22 billion in advance appropriations and $ 19 billion in fully authorized funds). It directly appropriated $ 66 billion for rail over a five-year period (including the Amtrak appropriations), of which at least $ 18 billion is designated for expanding passenger rail service to new corridors, and it authorized an additional $ 36 billion. Most of this funding for new passenger rail lines

3744-483: The BIP is a competitive grant program to replace, rehabilitate, preserve, or make resiliency improvements to bridges. Half of the funding is reserved for large bridge projects, which are defined as projects that cost over $ 100 million. Large projects are funded at a maximum 50% federal share, while other projects are funded at a maximum 80% federal share. The infrastructure law is the largest investment in passenger rail since

3848-496: The Biden administration. On June 8, the administration shifted its focus to a bipartisan group of 20 senators, which had been working on a package tentatively priced around $ 900 billion. On June 10, a bipartisan group of 10 senators reached a deal costing $ 974 billion over five years; or about $ 1.2 trillion if stretched over eight years. On June 16, the plan was endorsed by a bipartisan group of 21 senators. On June 24,

3952-591: The Cold War era remains throughout the Navajo Nation, posing health risks to the Navajo community. The data in the Superfund Program are available to the public. While the simple and relatively easy sites have been cleaned up, EPA is now addressing a residual number of difficult and massive sites such as large-area mining and sediment sites, which is tying up a significant amount of funding. Also, while

4056-666: The Corridor. To help plan and guide the expansion of passenger rail service beyond the Northeast Corridor , the infrastructure law also created a $ 1.8 billion Corridor Identification and Development Program . The law also expands eligibility for a potential $ 23 billion in transit funding to these corridors and changes the allocation methods for state government-supported passenger rail shorter than 750 miles, to encourage states to implement more such service. The law established and authorized $ 1.75 billion over five years for

4160-653: The Explo Systems site leading to evacuations from nearby Doyline . After materials had been relocated into buildings within Camp Minden, Explo Systems, Inc. filed bankruptcy, and in August 2013 abandoned the materials In October, 2014 EPA, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the Army agreed to dispose of explosive M6 propellant by "open burn", in "prepared trays containing a shallow layer of

4264-470: The House would not vote on the physical infrastructure bill until the larger bill passes in the Senate, despite the fact that reconciliation overrides much of the obstructive power of the filibuster . White House officials stated on July 7 that legislative text was nearing completion. On July 14, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced an energy bill expected to be included in

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4368-743: The IIJA invests $ 45 billion in innovation and industrial policy for key emerging technologies in energy; $ 430 million –$ 21 billion in new demonstration projects at the DOE; and nearly $ 24 billion in onshoring, supply chain resilience , and bolstering U.S.-held competitive advantages in energy; the latter amount will be divided into an $ 8.6 billion investment in carbon capture and storage , $ 3 billion in battery material reprocessing, $ 3 billion in battery recycling , $ 1 billion in rare-earth minerals stockpiling, and $ 8 billion in new research hubs for green hydrogen . The DOE has imposed grant requirements on $ 7 billion of

4472-446: The IIJA's battery and transportation spending, which are meant to promote community benefits agreements , social justice , and formation of trade unions . It created the $ 225 million Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation program for cities, tribes and counties to revise building codes for electrical and heating work. Finally, the law gives $ 4.7 billion to cap orphan wells abandoned by oil and gas companies. The law invests

4576-440: The IIJA, CaSA, and IRA together catalyzed over $ 988 billion in private investment (including $ 446 billion in electronics and semiconductors, $ 180 billion in electric vehicles and batteries, $ 184 billion in clean power, $ 84 billion in clean energy tech manufacturing and infrastructure, and $ 48 billion in heavy industry) and over $ 696.3 billion in public infrastructure spending (including $ 96.8 billion in energy aside from tax credits in

4680-498: The IRA). In September 2023, White House data revealed that 60 percent of the Act's energy and transmission funding (up to that point, totaling $ 12.31 billion) had been awarded to states that voted majority Republican in the 2020 election cycle. Of the Act's top ten recipients, seven states had voted majority Republican, with Wyoming ($ 1.95 billion) and Texas ($ 1.71 billion) in the lead. The largest single energy project to receive Act funds

4784-536: The IRS portion of the funding had reportedly been scrapped. Biden stipulated that a separate "human infrastructure" bill (notably child care , home care , and climate change ) – later known as the Build Back Better Act  – must also pass, whether through bipartisanship or reconciliation , but later walked back this position. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi similarly stated that

4888-563: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Georgetown Climate Center tried to estimate how the $ 599 billion investment for surface transportation in the law can impact emissions from transportation. It created two scenarios: "high emissions" and "low emissions". In the first scenario, from the money dedicated to highways, more money will go to building new highways, while in the second, more will go to repairing existing highways. The other spending areas characteristics are not so different. The first scenario sees increased cumulative emissions over

4992-466: The NTIA's Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, $ 1 billion to a new middle mile infrastructure program, $ 1.44 billion in formula grants to state and territorial digital equity plan implementation, $ 60 million in formula grants to new digital equity plan development, and $ 1.25 billion in discretionary grants to "specific types of political subdivisions to implement digital equity projects". The law gives

5096-523: The National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration Grant program to improve the passage of anadromous fish such as salmon . Biden's infrastructure advisor and the staffer in charge of implementing the law has been identified as Mitch Landrieu . Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has been identified as the staffer in charge of ensuring the law does not conflict with American foreign policy interests. To support

5200-551: The Oil Pollution Act. CERCLA created the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). The primary goal of a Superfund cleanup is to reduce the risks to human health through a combination of cleanup, engineered controls like caps and site restrictions such as groundwater use restrictions. A secondary goal is to return the site to productive use as a business, recreation or as a natural ecosystem. Identifying

5304-528: The PA/SI is used by the EPA to develop a Hazard Ranking System (HRS) score to determine the CERCLA status of the site. Sites that score high enough to be listed typically proceed to a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS). The RI includes an extensive sampling program and risk assessment that defines the nature and extent of the site contamination and risks. The FS is used to develop and evaluate various remediation alternatives. The preferred alternative

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5408-758: The REPEAT Project, a partnership between the Evolved Energy Research firm and Princeton University 's ZERO Lab, said the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act alone will make only a small reduction in emissions, but as they say: We lack modeling capabilities to reflect the net effect of surface transportation investments in highways (which tend to increase on-road vehicle and freight miles traveled) and rail and public transit (which tend to reduce on-road vehicle and freight miles traveled). These significant programs are therefore not modeled in this analysis, an important limitation of our assessment of

5512-493: The Restoration and Enhancement Grant program intended to revive discontinued passenger rail services will receive $ 250 million in advance appropriations and $ 250 million in fully authorized funds. Per the law's requirements, at least $ 12 billion is available and $ 3.4–4.1 billion authorized for expanding service outside of the Northeast Corridor , and $ 24 billion is available and $ 3.4–4.1 billion authorized to partially rebuild

5616-629: The Squad ") in supporting the legislation. The six Democrats who voted 'No' stated that their opposition was because the legislation had been decoupled from the social-safety net provisions of the Build Back Better bill. Biden signed the bill into law at a signing ceremony on November 15. The following is the bill summary authorized by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) for the INVEST in America Act,

5720-444: The Superfund balance had decreased to about $ 4 billion, Congress chose not to reauthorize collection of the tax, and by 2003 the fund was empty. Since 2001, most of the funding for cleanups of hazardous waste sites has come from taxpayers. State governments pay 10 percent of cleanup costs in general, and at least 50 percent of cleanup costs if the state operated the facility responsible for contamination. By 2013 federal funding for

5824-479: The Superfund program each year. Consequently, less than half the number of sites were cleaned up from 2001 to 2008, compared to before. The decrease continued during the Obama administration , and since under the direction of EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy Superfund cleanups decreased even more from 20 in 2009 to a mere 8 in 2014. In November 2021, Congress reauthorized an excise tax on chemical manufacturers, under

5928-481: The Superfund program, the EPA and state agencies use the HRS to calculate a site score (ranging from 0 to 100) based on the actual or potential release of hazardous substances from a site through air , surface water or groundwater . A score of 28.5 places the site on the National Priorities List, making the site eligible for long-term remedial action (i.e., cleanup) under the Superfund program. Federal actions to address

6032-516: The Superfund program. As of March 23, 2022 , there were 1,333 sites listed; an additional 448 had been delisted, and 43 new sites have been proposed. Superfund also authorizes natural resource trustees, which may be federal, state, and/or tribal, to perform a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA). Natural resource trustees determine and quantify injuries caused to natural resources through either releases of hazardous substances or cleanup actions and then seek to restore ecosystem services to

6136-723: The administration had been accelerating funding approvals. Public attention has remained relatively low, due in part to slow implementation of projects. The White House offers a "Map of Progress" which tracks all spending that resulted from the act. According to the New Democrat -linked think tank Center for American Progress , the IIJA, the CHIPS and Science Act , and the Inflation Reduction Act have together catalyzed over 35,000 public and private investments. Economists Noah Smith and Joseph Politano credited

6240-401: The bipartisan group met with the president and reached a compromise deal costing $ 1.2 trillion over eight years, which focuses on physical infrastructure (notably roads, bridges, railways, water, sewage, broadband, electric vehicles). This was planned to be paid for through reinforced Internal Revenue Service (IRS) collection, unspent COVID-19 relief funds, and other sources. By July 2021,

6344-488: The bipartisan package. On July 21, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer put forward a "shell bill" for a vote to kick off debate in the Senate, intending to add the bipartisan text via an amendment. On July 25, Republican senator Rob Portman stated that an agreement was "about 90%" complete, with mass transit being one remaining point of contention. On July 30, Portman stated that this had been resolved. On July 28, Senator Kyrsten Sinema stated that she did not support

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6448-415: The cleanup of the lead-contaminated hot spots. It wasn't until 1993 that the site was declared a Superfund site, and at the time it was one of the largest ones. However, it was not until 2004 when the EPA completed the clean-up efforts and eliminated the lead pollutant sources from the site. The Afton community of Warren County, North Carolina is one of the most prominent environmental injustice cases and

6552-523: The cleanup operations. Through the 1980s, most of the funding came from an excise tax on petroleum and chemical manufacturers. However, in 1995, Congress chose not to renew this tax and the burden of the cost was shifted to taxpayers in the general public. Since 2001, most of the cleanup of hazardous waste sites has been funded through taxpayers generally. Despite its name, the program suffered from under-funding, and by 2014 Superfund NPL cleanups had decreased to only 8 sites, out of over 1,200. In November 2021,

6656-644: The community which has not yet been met. Bayview-Hunters Point, San Francisco , a historically African American community, has faced persistent environmental discrimination due to the poor remediation efforts of the San Francisco Naval Shipyard , a federally declared Superfund site. The negligence of multiple agencies to adequately clean this site has led Bayview residents to be subject to high rates of pollution and has been tied to high rates of cancer, asthma, and overall higher health hazards than other regions of San Francisco. One example

6760-519: The competitive portion would award $ 8.8 million to 12 communities on October 12, 2023, with the next award applications due in April (later changed to October) 2024. By June 28, 2024, the seventh tranche of funding had been awarded from the EECBG program, totaling about $ 150 million for 175 communities, with that date's instance seeing $ 18.5 million awarded to four states and 20 communities. In April 2023,

6864-427: The disproportionate health and environmental disparities that minority and low-income populations face through Executive Order 12898 required federal agencies to make environmental justice central to their programs and policies. Superfund sites have been shown to impact minority communities the most. Despite legislation specifically designed to ensure equity in Superfund listing, marginalized populations still experience

6968-551: The enactment of the infrastructure law in 2021, no dedicated federal bridge funding had existed since fiscal year 2013. The law created two new programs specifically to fund bridge projects: With $ 27.5 billion over five years, the BFP distributes funds to every state, the District of Columbia , and Puerto Rico based on a formula that accounts for each state's cost to replace or rehabilitate its poor or fair condition bridges. Each state

7072-521: The end of FY 2003. Since that time Superfund sites for which the PRPs could not pay have been paid for from the general fund. Under the 2021 authorization by Congress, collection of excise taxes from chemical manufacturers will resume in 2022. The Hazard Ranking System is a scoring system used to evaluate potential relative risks to public health and the environment from releases or threatened releases of hazardous wastes at uncontrolled waste sites. Under

7176-494: The energy policy of the United States. The Boston Consulting Group projects $ 41 billion of the Act will be germane to climate action in energy. $ 11 billion of the $ 73 billion amount will be invested in the electrical grid 's adjustment to renewable energy , with some of the money going to new loans for electric power transmission lines and required studies for future transmission needs. $ 6 billion of that $ 73 billion will go to domestic nuclear power . Also of that $ 73 billion,

7280-444: The evacuation of six hundred pupils nearby but caused no injuries or fatalities. In October 2012, a large explosion of 15 million pounds of M6 propellant , of the Explo Systems, Inc. site, rocked Camp Minden. The explosion shattered windows 4 miles away and created a 7,000-foot mushroom cloud contaminating the area. In December 2012, police began to remove 2,700 tons of explosives haphazardly stashed in warehouses and in open air from

7384-401: The executive order, while on the other hand, increases in income led to greater chances of site listing. Of the populations living within 1 mile radius of a Superfund site, 44% of those are minorities despite only being around 37% of the nation's population. As of January 2021, more than 9,000 federally subsidized properties, including ones with hundreds of dwellings, were less than a mile from

7488-456: The federal government did not act until 5 years later after the mayor of Triana filed a class-action lawsuit in 1980. In West Dallas, Texas , a mostly African American and Latino community, a lead smelter poisoned the surrounding neighborhood, elementary school, and day cares for more than five decades. Dallas city officials were informed in 1972 that children in the proximity of the smelter were being exposed to lead contamination. The city sued

7592-459: The federal government has reserved funding for cleanup of federal facility sites, this clean-up is going much more slowly. The delay is due to a number of reasons, including EPA's limited ability to require performance, difficulty of dealing with Department of Energy radioactive wastes, and the sheer number of federal facility sites. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ( IIJA ), also known as

7696-408: The fifth smallest state in the U.S., is the location of about ten percent of the priority Superfund sites, a disproportionate amount. The EPA seeks to identify parties responsible for hazardous substances released to the environment (polluters) and either compel them to clean up the sites, or it may undertake the cleanup on its own using the Superfund (a trust fund) and seek to recover those costs from

7800-745: The final bill, de-emphasized these incentives. The final version restores the Superfund excise tax on certain chemicals which expired in 1995. According to NPR , the version which passed the Senate on July 28 was set to include: The law would also make the Minority Business Development Agency a permanent agency. It authorizes the DOT to create an organization called the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Infrastructure (ARPA–I), with

7904-925: The first $ 185 million of which were awarded to 45 projects on February 28, 2023. The program was later combined with the Neighborhood Equity and Access program from the Inflation Reduction Act for efficiency reasons, before the next 132 projects were given $ 3.3 billion in awards on March 13, 2024. The Act creates the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program within the Department of Energy. It provides funding of up to $ 4.155 billion to state governments for up to 80 percent of eligible project costs, to add substantial open-access electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure along major highway corridors. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires

8008-706: The former, similar to a technology mandated by the European Union in July 2022. The law also requires the NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program to test collision avoidance systems in preparation for new federal regulations; new DOT reporting requirements for statistical data on crashes involving motorized scooters and electric bicycles ; new federal regulations on headlamps; research directives on technology to protect pedestrians and cyclists, advanced driver-assistance systems , federal hood and bumper regulations, smart city infrastructure, and self-driving cars ; and

8112-567: The framework for implementing the program came from the oil and hazardous substances National Contingency Plan. The EPA published the first Hazard Ranking System in 1981, and the first National Priorities List in 1983. Implementation of the program in early years, during the Ronald Reagan administration , was ineffective, with only 16 of the 799 Superfund sites cleaned up and only $ 40 million of $ 700 million in recoverable funds from responsible parties collected. The mismanagement of

8216-635: The hesitation of several moderates to pass the reconciliation bill before it could be scored by the Congressional Budget Office made passing the bipartisan bill unlikely. Negotiations between centrist and progressive Democrats concluded with the centrists committing to passing the Build Back Better Act. The bill ultimately went to a vote, as did a rule to vote on the larger bill once it was scored, passing 228–206; 13 Republicans joined all but six Democrats (members of "

8320-404: The implementation of the Act, Biden issued Executive Order 14052, which establishes a task force comprising most of his Cabinet. Biden appointed Landrieu and then- United States National Economic Council chief Brian Deese as the task force co-chairs. In May 2022, the Biden administration published a manual on the use of the law, aimed mainly at local authorities. The manual briefly describes

8424-707: The intended reuse early in the cleanup often results in faster and less expensive cleanups. EPA's Superfund Redevelopment Program provides tools and support for site redevelopment. CERCLA was enacted by Congress in 1980 in response to the threat of hazardous waste sites, typified by the Love Canal disaster in New York , and the Valley of the Drums in Kentucky . It was recognized that funding would be difficult, since

8528-830: The largest federal investment in public transit in history. The law includes spending figures of $ 105 billion in public transport. It also spends $ 110 billion on fixing roads and bridges and includes measures for climate change mitigation and improving access for cyclists and pedestrians . Increasing use of public transport and related transit-oriented development can reduce transportation emissions in human settlements by 78% and overall US emissions by 15%. The law includes spending: New or improved, affordable transportation options to increase safe mobility and connectivity for all, including for people with disabilities, through lower-carbon travel like walking, cycling, rolling, and transit that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote active travel. $ 73 billion will be spent on overhauling

8632-444: The lead smelters in 1974, then reduced its lead regulations in 1976. It wasn't until 1981 that the EPA commissioned a study on the lead contamination in this neighborhood and found the same results that had been found a decade earlier. In 1983, the surrounding day cares had to close due to the lead exposure while the lead smelter remained operating. It was later revealed that EPA Deputy Administrator John Hernandez had deliberately stalled

8736-462: The material, [as] has been used in other cleanups." In May 2015, EPA in conjunction with a Citizens' Advisory Group announced, that a contained burn system in the form of an incinerator would be used. The plan was to dismantle the incinerator and remove it after burns would be finished. To oversee the cleanup, the EPA charged about $ 8 million on top of $ 1.2 million which the state of Louisiana had already paid. In June 2015, Explo systems executives asked

8840-413: The nation's economy". The detailed plan aimed to create millions of jobs, bolster labor unions , expand labor protections, and address climate change . In mid-April 2021, Republican lawmakers offered a $ 568 billion counterproposal to the American Jobs Plan. On May 9, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said it should cost no more than $ 800 billion. On May 21, the administration reduced

8944-490: The natural resource trustees appointed by state's governors. Federally recognized Tribes may act as trustees for natural resources, including natural resources related to Tribal subsistence, cultural uses, spiritual values, and uses that are preserved by treaties. Tribal natural resource trustees are appointed by tribal governments. Some states have their own versions of a state Superfund law and may perform NRDA either through state laws or through other federal authorities such as

9048-438: The order did not receive bipartisan support. The newly elected Republican Congress made numerous unsuccessful efforts to significantly weaken the program. The Clinton administration then adopted some industry favored reforms as policy and blocked most major changes. Until the mid-1990s, most of the funding came from an excise tax on the petroleum and chemical industries, reflecting the polluter pays principle. Even though by 1995

9152-685: The original version which passed the House on July 1, 2021: The specific amounts in surface transportation spending were $ 343 billion for roads, highways, bridges and motor safety, $ 109 billion for transit, and $ 95 billion for rail. Provisions of the bill incentivized prioritizing maintenance and repair spending over spending on new infrastructure, holistically planning for all modes of transport when considering how to connect job centers to housing (including collecting data on reductions in vehicle miles traveled through transit-oriented development ), and lowering speed limits to increase road safety and encourage building complete streets . The Senate version, and

9256-459: The over 350 programs included in the law. Each description includes the aim of the program, its funding and possible recipients, its period of availability, and more. The programs are grouped into four categories: "Transportation", "Climate, Energy and the Environment", "Broadband", and "Other Programs". By the law's second anniversary in November 2023, around $ 400 billion from the law, about

9360-459: The party either cannot be found or is unable to pay for the cleanup, the Superfund law originally paid for site cleanups through an excise tax on petroleum and chemical manufacturers. The last full fiscal year (FY) in which the Department of the Treasury collected the excise tax was 1995. At the end of FY 1996, the invested trust fund balance was $ 6.0 billion. This fund was exhausted by

9464-480: The price tag to $ 1.7 trillion, which was quickly rejected by Republicans. A day later, a bipartisan group within the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee announced that they had reached a deal for $ 304 billion in U.S. highway funding. This was approved unanimously by the committee on May 26. On June 4, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio announced

9568-445: The program had decreased from $ 2 billion in 1999 to less than $ 1.1 billion (in constant dollars). In 2001, the EPA used funds from the Superfund program to institute the cleanup of anthrax on Capitol Hill after the 2001 anthrax attacks . It was the first time the agency dealt with a biological release rather than a chemical or oil spill. From 2000 to 2015, Congress allocated about $ 1.26 billion of general revenue to

9672-468: The program under Anne Gorsuch Burford , Reagan's first chosen Administrator of the agency, led to a congressional investigation and the reauthorization of the program in 1986 through an act amending CERCLA. The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) added minimum cleanup requirements in Section 121 and required that most cleanup agreements with polluters be entered in federal court as

9776-475: The public through conservation, restoration, and/or acquisition of equivalent habitat. Responsible parties are assessed damages for the cost of the assessment and the restoration of ecosystem services. For the federal government, EPA, US Fish and Wildlife Service, or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration may act as natural resource trustees. The US Department of Interior keeps a list of

9880-460: The reconciliation resolution until there was a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. While both Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had reversed earlier positions to support passing the bipartisan bill separately, progressives including Congressional Progressive Caucus chairwoman Pramila Jayapal and Senator Bernie Sanders maintained that it be utilized as leverage to pass the most expensive reconciliation bill possible. The lack of

9984-400: The responsible parties through settlements or other legal means. Approximately 70% of Superfund cleanup activities historically have been paid for by the potentially responsible parties (PRPs), reflecting the polluter pays principle . However, 30% of the time the responsible party either cannot be found or is unable to pay for the cleanup. In these circumstances, taxpayers had been paying for

10088-499: The responsible parties were not easily found, and so the Superfund was established to provide funding through a taxing mechanism on certain industries and to create a comprehensive liability framework to be able to hold a broader range of parties responsible. The initial Superfund trust fund to clean up sites where a polluter could not be identified, could not or would not pay (bankruptcy or refusal), consisted of about $ 1.6 billion and then increased to $ 8.5 billion. Initially,

10192-555: The revision of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan 9605(a)(NCP). The NCP guides how to respond to releases and threatened releases of hazardous substances , pollutants, or contaminants. The NCP established the National Priorities List, which appears as Appendix B to the NCP, and serves as EPA's information and management tool. The NPL is updated periodically by federal rulemaking. The identification of

10296-408: The sites selected for possible action under this program (and there are tens of thousands across the U.S.), 1178 (as of 2024) remain on the National Priorities List (NPL) that makes them eligible for cleanup under the Superfund program. Sites on the NPL are considered the most highly contaminated and undergo longer-term remedial investigation and remedial action (cleanups). The state of New Jersey ,

10400-427: The three acts together for spurring booms in factory construction and utility jobs, as well as limiting geographic concentrations of key industries to ensure more dispersed job creation nationwide, though they raised issues of whether the three would serve to limit project delays and significantly increase labor productivity in the long term. The Biden administration itself claimed that as of November 15, 2024 ,

10504-437: The weekend. On August 10, the bill was passed by the Senate 69–30. It sets aside $ 550 billion in new spending. A procedural vote on a House rule concerning passing both bills passed along party lines on August 24. In early August, nine moderate Democrats called for an immediate House vote on the bill, citing a desire not to lose the momentum from the Senate passage of the bill. They committed to voting against taking up

10608-560: The years 2022–2040 by more than 200 million tons, while the second decreases them by around 250 million tons. In August 2022, the Boston Consulting Group analyzed the Act and found $ 41 billion of it would be spent on energy projects germane to climate action, $ 18 billion on similarly germane transportation projects, $ 18 billion on "clean tech" intended to cut hard-to-abate emissions, $ 0 on manufacturing, and $ 34 billion on other climate action provisions. The law includes

10712-592: Was a Generation IV reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming by the nuclear fission startup TerraPower . In November 2022, the Biden administration announced it would furnish $ 550 million for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program for clean energy generators for low-income and minority communities, the first such appropriation since the Recovery Act in 2009. The administration announced

10816-668: Was planning to authorize regularly. The amended bill was passed 69–30 by the Senate on August 10, 2021. On November 5, it was passed 228–206 by the House , and ten days later was signed into law by President Biden. On March 31, 2021, President Joe Biden unveiled his $ 2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan (which, when combined with the American Families Plan , amounted to $ 4 trillion in infrastructure spending), pitched by him as "a transformative effort to overhaul

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