The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA)

• stressed the importance of permanent remedies and innovative treatment technologies in cleaning up hazardous waste sites

• required Superfund actions to consider the standards and requirements found in other State and Federal environmental laws and regulations

• provided new enforcement authorities and settlement tools

• increased State involvement in every phase of the Superfund program increased the focus on human health problems posed by hazardous waste sites

• encouraged greater citizen participation in making decisions on how sites should be cleaned up

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TCSA)

• ability to track the 75,000 industrial chemicals currently produced or imported into the United States

• repeatedly screens these chemicals and can require reporting or testing of those that may pose an environmental or human-health hazard

• ban the manufacturing and importing of those chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk

• mechanisms in place to track the thousands of new chemicals that industry develops each year with either unknown or dangerous characteristics.

Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978

• provides for the cleanup and disposal of mill tailings at abandoned sites and the disposal of tailings at licensed sites after cessation of operations

• implemented by DOE, NRC, and some states through agreements with NRC

• combination of active and passive controls to clean up contaminated ground water as well as tailings that have been misused at off-site locations, and to dispose of tailings in a manner that will prevent misuse, limit radon emissions, and protect ground water.

WIPP Land Withdrawal Act

• reviews and approves of the DOE's plans for testing and retrieving waste at the WIPP

• responsibility for implementing its radioactive waste disposal standards

• helps ensure that the wastes will be disposed of in a manner that limits the release of radioactive materials.