There are over 1,300 sites listed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List of contaminated sites that require cleanup, over a hundred of which are located in Pennsylvania. In May, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt promised to get “hands-on” with the Superfund program in order to expedite the cleanup of contaminated sites around the country, with a focus on those NPL sites. As part of Pruitt’s strategy, he established a task force to provide recommendations on how to “restructure the cleanup process, realign incentives of all involved parties to remediate sites, encourage private investment in cleanups and sites and promote the revitalization of properties across the country.”

On July 25, Pruitt announced the task force’s recommendations. The 42 recommendations are wide-ranging and invite additional follow-up in many instances in the form of guidance and policy documents and the establishment of additional task groups. While the additional detail leaves us guessing for the moment on how Pruitt will execute many of these recommendations, several key themes emerge from the document.

Read more from my article in The Legal Intelligencer supplement, PA Law Weekly, by clicking here.