42 U.S.C. § 9611 : US Code - Section 9611: Uses of Fund

Search 42 U.S.C. § 9611 : US Code - Section 9611: Uses of Fund

(a) In general
For the purposes specified in this section there is authorized to
be appropriated from the Hazardous Substance Superfund established
under subchapter A of chapter 98 of title 26 not more than
$8,500,000,000 for the 5-year period beginning on October 17, 1986,
and not more than $5,100,000,000 for the period commencing October
1, 1991, and ending September 30, 1994, and such sums shall remain
available until expended. The preceding sentence constitutes a
specific authorization for the funds appropriated under title II of
Public Law 99-160 (relating to payment to the Hazardous Substances
Trust Fund). The President shall use the money in the Fund for the
following purposes:
(1) Payment of governmental response costs incurred pursuant to
section 9604 of this title, including costs incurred pursuant to
the Intervention on the High Seas Act [33 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.].
(2) Payment of any claim for necessary response costs incurred
by any other person as a result of carrying out the national
contingency plan established under section 1321(c) (!1) of title
33 and amended by section 9605 of this title: Provided, however,
That such costs must be approved under said plan and certified by
the responsible Federal official.
(3) Payment of any claim authorized by subsection (b) of this
section and finally decided pursuant to section 9612 of this
title, including those costs set out in subsection 9612(c)(3) of
this title.
(4) Payment of costs specified under subsection (c) of this
section.
(5) Grants for technical assistance. - The cost of grants under
section 9617(e) of this title (relating to public participation
grants for technical assistance).
(6) Lead contaminated soil. - Payment of not to exceed
$15,000,000 for the costs of a pilot program for removal,
decontamination, or other action with respect to lead-
contaminated soil in one to three different metropolitan areas.
The President shall not pay for any administrative costs or
expenses out of the Fund unless such costs and expenses are
reasonably necessary for and incidental to the implementation of
this subchapter.
(b) Additional authorized purposes
(1) In general
Claims asserted and compensable but unsatisfied under
provisions of section 1321 of title 33, which are modified by
section 304 of this Act may be asserted against the Fund under
this subchapter; and other claims resulting from a release or
threat of release of a hazardous substance from a vessel or a
facility may be asserted against the Fund under this subchapter
for injury to, or destruction or loss of, natural resources,
including cost for damage assessment: Provided, however, That any
such claim may be asserted only by the President, as trustee, for
natural resources over which the United States has sovereign
rights, or natural resources within the territory or the fishery
conservation zone of the United States to the extent they are
managed or protected by the United States, or by any State for
natural resources within the boundary of that State belonging to,
managed by, controlled by, or appertaining to the State, or by
any Indian tribe or by the United States acting on behalf of any
Indian tribe for natural resources belonging to, managed by,
controlled by, or appertaining to such tribe, or held in trust
for the benefit of such tribe, or belonging to a member of such
tribe if such resources are subject to a trust restriction on
alienation.
(2) Limitation on payment of natural resource claims
(A) General requirements
No natural resource claim may be paid from the Fund unless
the President determines that the claimant has exhausted all
administrative and judicial remedies to recover the amount of
such claim from persons who may be liable under section 9607 of
this title.
(B) Definition
As used in this paragraph, the term "natural resource claim"
means any claim for injury to, or destruction or loss of,
natural resources. The term does not include any claim for the
costs of natural resource damage assessment.
(c) Peripheral matters and limitations
Uses of the Fund under subsection (a) of this section include -
(1) The costs of assessing both short-term and long-term injury
to, destruction of, or loss of any natural resources resulting
from a release of a hazardous substance.
(2) The costs of Federal or State or Indian tribe efforts in
the restoration, rehabilitation, or replacement or acquiring the
equivalent of any natural resources injured, destroyed, or lost
as a result of a release of a hazardous substance.
(3) Subject to such amounts as are provided in appropriation
Acts, the costs of a program to identify, investigate, and take
enforcement and abatement action against releases of hazardous
substances.
(4) Any costs incurred in accordance with subsection (m) of
this section (relating to ATSDR) and section 9604(i) of this
title, including the costs of epidemiologic and laboratory
studies, health assessments, preparation of toxicologic profiles,
development and maintenance of a registry of persons exposed to
hazardous substances to allow long-term health effect studies,
and diagnostic services not otherwise available to determine
whether persons in populations exposed to hazardous substances in
connection with a release or a suspected release are suffering
from long-latency diseases.
(5) Subject to such amounts as are provided in appropriation
Acts, the costs of providing equipment and similar overhead,
related to the purposes of this chapter and section 1321 of title
33, and needed to supplement equipment and services available
through contractors or other non-Federal entities, and of
establishing and maintaining damage assessment capability, for
any Federal agency involved in strike forces, emergency task
forces, or other response teams under the national contingency
plan.
(6) Subject to such amounts as are provided in appropriation
Acts, the costs of a program to protect the health and safety of
employees involved in response to hazardous substance releases.
Such program shall be developed jointly by the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, and the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health and shall include, but not be limited to,
measures for identifying and assessing hazards to which persons
engaged in removal, remedy, or other response to hazardous
substances may be exposed, methods to protect workers from such
hazards, and necessary regulatory and enforcement measures to
assure adequate protection of such employees.
(7) Evaluation costs under petition provisions of section
9605(d). - Costs incurred by the President in evaluating
facilities pursuant to petitions under section 9605(d) of this
title (relating to petitions for assessment of release).
(8) Contract costs under section 9604(a)(1). - The costs of
contracts or arrangements entered into under section 9604(a)(1)
of this title to oversee and review the conduct of remedial
investigations and feasibility studies undertaken by persons
other than the President and the costs of appropriate Federal and
State oversight of remedial activities at National Priorities
List sites resulting from consent orders or settlement
agreements.
(9) Acquisition costs under section 9604(j). - The costs
incurred by the President in acquiring real estate or interests
in real estate under section 9604(j) of this title (relating to
acquisition of property).
(10) Research, development, and demonstration costs under
section 9660. - The cost of carrying out section 9660 of this
title (relating to research, development, and demonstration),
except that the amounts available for such purposes shall not
exceed the amounts specified in subsection (n) of this section.
(11) Local government reimbursement. - Reimbursements to local
governments under section 9623 of this title, except that during
the 8-fiscal year period beginning October 1, 1986, not more than
0.1 percent of the total amount appropriated from the Fund may be
used for such reimbursements.
(12) Worker training and education grants. - The costs of
grants under section 9660a of this title for training and
education of workers to the extent that such costs do not exceed
$20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990,
1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994.
(13) Awards under section 9609. - The costs of any awards
granted under section 9609(d) of this title.
(14) Lead poisoning study. - The cost of carrying out the study
under subsection (f) of section 118 of the Superfund Amendments
and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (relating to lead poisoning in
children).
(d) Additional limitations
(1) No money in the Fund may be used under subsection (c)(1) and
(2) of this section, nor for the payment of any claim under
subsection (b) of this section, where the injury, destruction, or
loss of natural resources and the release of a hazardous substance
from which such damages resulted have occurred wholly before
December 11, 1980.
(2) No money in the Fund may be used for the payment of any claim
under subsection (b) of this section where such expenses are
associated with injury or loss resulting from long-term exposure to
ambient concentrations of air pollutants from multiple or diffuse
sources.
(e) Funding requirements respecting moneys in Fund; limitation on
certain claims; Fund use outside Federal property boundaries
(1) Claims against or presented to the Fund shall not be valid or
paid in excess of the total money in the Fund at any one time. Such
claims become valid only when additional money is collected,
appropriated, or otherwise added to the Fund. Should the total
claims outstanding at any time exceed the current balance of the
Fund, the President shall pay such claims, to the extent authorized
under this section, in full in the order in which they were finally
determined.
(2) In any fiscal year, 85 percent of the money credited to the
Fund under subchapter II (!2) of this chapter shall be available
only for the purposes specified in paragraphs (1), (2), and (4) of
subsection (a) of this section. No money in the Fund may be used
for the payment of any claim under subsection (a)(3) or subsection
(b) of this section in any fiscal year for which the President
determines that all of the Fund is needed for response to threats
to public health from releases or threatened releases of hazardous
substances.
(3) No money in the Fund shall be available for remedial action,
other than actions specified in subsection (c) of this section,
with respect to federally owned facilities; except that money in
the Fund shall be available for the provision of alternative water
supplies (including the reimbursement of costs incurred by a
municipality) in any case involving groundwater contamination
outside the boundaries of a federally owned facility in which the
federally owned facility is not the only potentially responsible
party.
(4) Paragraphs (1) and (4) of subsection (a) of this section
shall in the aggregate be subject to such amounts as are provided
in appropriation Acts.
(f) Obligation of moneys by Federal officials; obligation of moneys
or settlement of claims by State officials or Indian tribe
The President is authorized to promulgate regulations designating
one or more Federal officials who may obligate money in the Fund in
accordance with this section or portions thereof. The President is
also authorized to delegate authority to obligate money in the Fund
or to settle claims to officials of a State or Indian tribe
operating under a contract or cooperative agreement with the
Federal Government pursuant to section 9604(d) of this title.
(g) Notice to potential injured parties by owner and operator of
vessel or facility causing release of substance; rules and
regulations
The President shall provide for the promulgation of rules and
regulations with respect to the notice to be provided to potential
injured parties by an owner and operator of any vessel, or facility
from which a hazardous substance has been released. Such rules and
regulations shall consider the scope and form of the notice which
would be appropriate to carry out the purposes of this subchapter.
Upon promulgation of such rules and regulations, the owner and
operator of any vessel or facility from which a hazardous substance
has been released shall provide notice in accordance with such
rules and regulations. With respect to releases from public
vessels, the President shall provide such notification as is
appropriate to potential injured parties. Until the promulgation of
such rules and regulations, the owner and operator of any vessel or
facility from which a hazardous substance has been released shall
provide reasonable notice to potential injured parties by
publication in local newspapers serving the affected area.
(h) Repealed. Pub. L. 99-499, title I, Sec. 111(c)(2), Oct. 17,
1986, 100 Stat. 1643
(i) Restoration, etc., of natural resources
Except in a situation requiring action to avoid an irreversible
loss of natural resources or to prevent or reduce any continuing
danger to natural resources or similar need for emergency action,
funds may not be used under this chapter for the restoration,
rehabilitation, or replacement or acquisition of the equivalent of
any natural resources until a plan for the use of such funds for
such purposes has been developed and adopted by affected Federal
agencies and the Governor or Governors of any State having
sustained damage to natural resources within its borders, belonging
to, managed by or appertaining to such State, and by the governing
body of any Indian tribe having sustained damage to natural
resources belonging to, managed by, controlled by, or appertaining
to such tribe, or held in trust for the benefit of such tribe, or
belonging to a member of such tribe if such resources are subject
to a trust restriction on alienation, after adequate public notice
and opportunity for hearing and consideration of all public
comment.
(j) Use of Post-closure Liability Fund
The President shall use the money in the Post-closure Liability
Fund for any of the purposes specified in subsection (a) of this
section with respect to a hazardous waste disposal facility for
which liability has transferred to such fund under section 9607(k)
of this title, and, in addition, for payment of any claim or
appropriate request for costs of response, damages, or other
compensation for injury or loss under section 9607 of this title or
any other State or Federal law, resulting from a release of a
hazardous substance from such a facility.
(k) Inspector General
In each fiscal year, the Inspector General of each department,
agency, or instrumentality of the United States which is carrying
out any authority of this chapter shall conduct an annual audit of
all payments, obligations, reimbursements, or other uses of the
Fund in the prior fiscal year, to assure that the Fund is being
properly administered and that claims are being appropriately and
expeditiously considered. The audit shall include an examination of
a sample of agreements with States (in accordance with the
provisions of the Single Audit Act [31 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.])
carrying out response actions under this subchapter and an
examination of remedial investigations and feasibility studies
prepared for remedial actions. The Inspector General shall submit
to the Congress an annual report regarding the audit report
required under this subsection. The report shall contain such
recommendations as the Inspector General deems appropriate. Each
department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States shall
cooperate with its inspector general in carrying out this
subsection.
(l) Foreign claimants
To the extent that the provisions of this chapter permit, a
foreign claimant may assert a claim to the same extent that a
United States claimant may assert a claim if -
(1) the release of a hazardous substance occurred (A) in the
navigable waters or (B) in or on the territorial sea or adjacent
shoreline of a foreign country of which the claimant is a
resident;
(2) the claimant is not otherwise compensated for his loss;
(3) the hazardous substance was released from a facility or
from a vessel located adjacent to or within the navigable waters
or was discharged in connection with activities conducted under
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331
et seq.) or the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended (33 U.S.C.
1501 et seq.); and
(4) recovery is authorized by a treaty or an executive
agreement between the United States and foreign country involved,
or if the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney
General and other appropriate officials, certifies that such
country provides a comparable remedy for United States claimants.
(m) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
There shall be directly available to the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry to be used for the purpose of
carrying out activities described in subsection (c)(4) of this
section and section 9604(i) of this title not less than $50,000,000
per fiscal year for each of fiscal years 1987 and 1988, not less
than $55,000,000 for fiscal year 1989, and not less than
$60,000,000 per fiscal year for each of fiscal years 1990, 1991,
1992, 1993, and 1994. Any funds so made available which are not
obligated by the end of the fiscal year in which made available
shall be returned to the Fund.
(n) Limitations on research, development, and demonstration program
(1) Section 9660(b)
For each of the fiscal years 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991,
1992, 1993, and 1994, not more than $20,000,000 of the amounts
available in the Fund may be used for the purposes of carrying
out the applied research, development, and demonstration program
for alternative or innovative technologies and training program
authorized under section 9660(b) of this title (relating to
research, development, and demonstration) other than basic
research. Such amounts shall remain available until expended.
(2) Section 9660(a)
From the amounts available in the Fund, not more than the
following amounts may be used for the purposes of section 9660(a)
of this title (relating to hazardous substance research,
demonstration, and training activities):
(A) For the fiscal year 1987, $3,000,000.
(B) For the fiscal year 1988, $10,000,000.
(C) For the fiscal year 1989, $20,000,000.
(D) For the fiscal year 1990, $30,000,000.
(E) For each of the fiscal years 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994,
$35,000,000.
No more than 10 percent of such amounts shall be used for
training under section 9660(a) of this title in any fiscal year.
(3) Section 9660(d)
For each of the fiscal years 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991,
1992, 1993, and 1994, not more than $5,000,000 of the amounts
available in the Fund may be used for the purposes of section
9660(d) of this title (relating to university hazardous substance
research centers).
(o) Notification procedures for limitations on certain payments
Not later than 90 days after October 17, 1986, the President
shall develop and implement procedures to adequately notify, as
soon as practicable after a site is included on the National
Priorities List, concerned local and State officials and other
concerned persons of the limitations, set forth in subsection
(a)(2) of this section, on the payment of claims for necessary
response costs incurred with respect to such site.
(p) General revenue share of Superfund
(1) In general
The following sums are authorized to be appropriated, out of
any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to the
Hazardous Substance Superfund:
(A) For fiscal year 1987, $212,500,000.
(B) For fiscal year 1988, $212,500,000.
(C) For fiscal year 1989, $212,500,000.
(D) For fiscal year 1990, $212,500,000.
(E) For fiscal year 1991, $212,500,000.
(F) For fiscal year 1992, $212,500,000.
(G) For fiscal year 1993, $212,500,000.
(H) For fiscal year 1994, $212,500,000.
In addition there is authorized to be appropriated to the
Hazardous Substance Superfund for each fiscal year an amount
equal to so much of the aggregate amount authorized to be
appropriated under this subsection (and paragraph (2) of section
9631(b) (!3) of this title) as has not been appropriated before
the beginning of the fiscal year involved.
(2) Computation
The amounts authorized to be appropriated under paragraph (1)
of this subsection in a given fiscal year shall be available only
to the extent that such amount exceeds the amount determined by
the Secretary under section 9507(b)(2) of title 26 for the prior
fiscal year.