Agenda

In 1980, the Environmental Protection Agency launched its Superfund program. Although modified in 1986, the Superfund effort is a major target of congressional reform efforts. Policymakers and analysts have two main sources of dissatisfaction. First, cleanups of hazardous wastes are expensive, averaging $25.7 million per site. Estimates of the total cleanup costs incurred since the program's inception range from $20 billion to $30 billion, about half of which private parties have borne. Second, analysts contend that those cleanup expenditures have not delivered much reduction in risk. James T. Hamilton and W. Kip Viscusi examine the EPA's efforts and discuss what reforms policymakers should implement to create a more effective and efficient Superfund.