ABSTRACT
The remediation of contaminated soil has had a short, but tumultuous history in the United States of America. The remediation business is almost entirely regulation driven; the important sets of regulations include the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), which governs the Superfund programme. A myriad of other legislative acts and sets of regulations impact remediation activities. Most of these regulations were written and are enforced by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Superfund programme involves the largest and most important remediation projects in the US and is heavily publicized. As this chapter was being written, the CERCLA legislation had expired. While remediations in progress were continued, this brought to a standstill much of the planning for future projects. In allowing the CERCLA to expire, the legislative branch of the federal government expressed a sentiment shared by many that the Superfund programme is too expensive and is not sufficiently effective. The legislative and executive branches of the federal government agree that reform is needed, but to date have not reached agreement on the nature of that reform. Other remediation programmes, including RCRA corrective action and underground storage tank clean-ups, are in place and are being continued.
