CERCLA: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act

The U.S. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) is better known as the “SuperFund Act”. This law was enacted because of the presence of toxic waste dumps such as the one at Love Canal, New York. CERCLA provided liability for those responsible for illegal waste dumping as well as a trust fund to clean up sites when the responsible parties could not be found or determined. After six years, this act was amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA).