Superfund Expansion and Protection Act of 1985

Superfund Expansion and Protection Act of 1985 - Title I: Provisions Relating Primarily to Response and Liability - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA)(Superfund) to include among hazardous substances subject to such Act any petroleum released from an underground storage tank.

Includes pollutants and contaminants under Superfund, defining them as any substance which after release into the environment causes disease or abnormalities upon exposure or assimilation, either directly or through the food chain. Excludes petroleum and natural gas except as otherwise indicated under such Act.

Redefines "release" to include the abandonment of containers containing hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants.

Requires the President to consider long-range effects when evaluating the cost-effectiveness of offsite remedial actions.

Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish reportable quantities for all noncarcinogenic hazardous substances within six months of this Act's enactment and all other hazardous substances by November 1, 1986.

Requires the Administrator to conduct periodic audits of reported releases and report to the Congress at least annually on such audits.

Increases criminal penalties for failure to notify the Federal Governmentu of a hazardous substance release.

Authorizes the Administrator to undertake any response action when faced with a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance unless the Administrator determines the responsible party will take appropriate action. Requires the Administrator to assess the health effects associated with such release or potential release.

Exempts from liability for the effects of such release any party performing information or engineering services pursuant to an approved response action.

Requires a State to pay 50 percent of the cleanup costs only if the State both owned and operated the polluting facility.

Credits States with cleanup costs already dispersed as specified.

Requires the Administrator to choose remedial actions which are: (1) consistent with the National Contingency Plan (NCP); (2) cost-effective; and (3) permanent whenever possible. Places facilities for which no permanent solution is technologically feasible on an interim National Priorities List (NPL), such list to be reviewed every five years to determine if a permanent solution has become feasible.

Eliminates the requirement that pollutant levels be such as to protect human welfare, leaving the requirement that such levels protect human health and the environment. Requires pollutant levels to comply with the other Federal standards applicable. Specifies under what conditions removal actions must comply with the requirements of the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

Entitles Federal and State environmental officials to access to the information and premises of any person who generates, treats, or disposes of hazardous substances for purposes of determining the need for a response action.

Directs the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to prepare toxicological profiles on the most frequently found or threatening hazardous substances.

Entitles the public to participate in the selection of a plan for remedial action. Authorizes the Administrator to provide grants for technical assistance to groups which may be affected by a release from a facility on the NPL.

Establishes a schedule for the commencement of remedial investigations and feasibility studies for all facilities on the NPL. Provides for the listing of additional facilities at regular intervals. Requires the commencement of remedial actions at a minimum rate of 200 facilities per year by the start of FY 1987. Requires the Administrator to complete preliminary assessments of all facilities on the Emergency and Remedial Response Information System list by the start of 1987. Requires completion of remedial action for facilities currently on the NPL within five years or requires an explanation of nonperformance.

Permits individuals to petition the Administrator for a health effects study where hazardous substances have been removed. Permits Federal authorities to provide the Congress with information on such studies and their conduct without administrative clearance or approval. Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) provide alternative water supplies; (2) relocate individuals; and (3) provide medical care if such studies indicate the necessity of such actions.

Requires the Administrator to revise the NCP, consistent with these provisions. Permits an individual to petition the Administrator for a preliminary assessment of a release. Includes damage to the food chain and the ambient air among the factors determining a facility or site ranking under the NCP.

Authorizes the Administrator to determine whether and how an individual may object to a nonreviewable abatement action.

Includes additional Federal cleanup or abatement activities for which a responsible party would be liable.

Requires each Federal agency which may be a defendant under this Act to provide its own counsel rather than the Attorney General.

Grants Federally-ordered lab tests the presumption of accuracy.

Makes liability strict, joint, and several under this Act for damages and costs resulting from the release and cleanup of hazardous substances. Entitles a defendant to prove such damages are divisible and to seek contribution.

Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 for the Hazardous Substance Superfund, earmarking specified amounts for the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Account.

Repeals the ability of any party to recover for damages to natural resources caused by a release.

Requires an annual audit of the conduct of Superfund, including comparative reports of actions taken in earlier fiscal years.

Establishes a statute of limitations of six years after the completion of the response action, regardless of the date of discovery of the loss.

Permits a State to require contributions for response costs compensated under this Act.

Title II: Federal Cause of Action - Entitles individuals injured by the disposal of a hazardous substance to recover damages from the responsible parties who will be held strictly, jointly, and severally liable. Entitles such individuals to compensation for expenses related to personal injury, economic injury, and limited pain and suffering. States that this Federal cause of action does not preempt State law regarding liability for damages in connection with any hazardous substance.

Establishes a three year statute of limitations, running from the date of knowledge of the injury or the date of enactment of this Act. Prohibits dual recovery through worker's compensation or actions filed in a State court and this Act. Permits additional recovery against the source of the disposal for later manifested injuries.

Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Permits citizen action lawsuits against any party, including the Federal Government, involved with hazardous substances in such a way as may present an imminent and substantial danger to health or the environment or against the President for failure to perform a required duty. Requires potential plaintiffs to give 60 days notice to the appropriate Federal and State officials as well as the alleged violator before commencing an action. Prohibits such action if the Administrator or the State has commenced and is prosecuting a court action already or a settlement has been reached. Permits intervention, as a matter of right. Prohibits citizen actions for the siting or issuance of permit to a hazardous waste disposal facility. Authorizes the Federal district court to award costs to any substantially prevailing party. Permits EPA intervention as a matter of right.

Includes the disposal of a pollutant or contaminant under CERCLA only as specified.

Directs the Administrator to commence the drilling fluids study required by the Solid Waste Disposal Act within six months of this Act's enactment.

Directs the Administrator to select ten to 20 areas to establish and operate for three to five years a victim assistance demonstration program for individuals injured through exposure to hazardous substances. Sets forth application and program criteria and conditions for such grants. Requires such programs to include group insurance benefits for medical treatment and disability. Requires the President to report annually to the Congress on the effectiveness of these programs. Requires participating States to report on such as well.

Title IV: Community Right to Know and Emergency Planning - Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act by adding a new title II concerning the communities' right-to-know, emergency planning, and liability. Requires each covered manufacturer, distributor, user, and importer of a covered hazardous substance (potential release) to prepare and update a fact sheet for such substance for distribution to local police, fire, and health officials. Requires the fact sheet to include the name, physical properties of, and hazards posed by the substance, including potential routes of human exposure to such substance, symptoms of such exposure, and appropriate emergency and first aid procedures.

Requires status sheets on the same basis as fact sheets, with each status sheet to include the maximum inventory and method of storage of the substance, the quantity of its emission into the environment, and the quantity and method for disposal.

Requires the releasor of a covered hazardous substance in an emergency situation to provide an emergency bulletin to the State and local police and other local officials. Requires the bulletin to identify the name and amount of the substance released and the response actions taken. Requires fact and status sheets and emergency bulletins to be made available for public inspection with public notice of such availability at the facility of the potential releasor. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to publish a uniform format for fact and status sheets.

Authorizes a State's Governor to identify local officials to receive covered hazardous substance release information, with the Administrator doing so in the absence of the Governor's identification.

Requires the potential releasors to maintain records of information required by this Act. Requires manufacturers or importers to transmit fact sheets to covered distributors or users upon shipping of a covered hazardous substance.

Excludes certain small businesses and research, medical, and household uses from coverage under this Act.

Provides protection for trade secrets while continuing to make necessary information available to the appropriate persons. Excludes listed or possible carcinogens from such protection. Sets forth application and substantiation procedures for trade secret claims. Permits affected citizens or government officials to compel disclosure of nonsubstantiated trade secrets through the Federal courts.

Authorizes the Administrator to grant exemptions from the basic notification requirements of this Act through specified procedures open to the public, based upon a cost-benefits analysis where there is no reasonable likelihood of harm.

Directs each covered major manufacturer to develop within two years of enactment of this Act a comprehensive evacuation and emergency response plan which addresses the health and safety issues applicable to such manufacturer's particular situation. Requires the plan to include designations of the appropriate government officials to be notified, mitigation measures, evacuation routes, notification plans, and evaluation of community support services.

Authorizes each Governor to designate emergency response districts within 18 months of enactment of this Act or the Administrator will do so. Permits each Governor to appoint an Emergency Response Committee per district or the Administrator will be treated as such Committee. Requires such Committees to review the manufacturers' plans, revising them where necessary.

Directs the Administrator within 18 months of enactment of this Act to develop uniform national mandatory labeling requirements for pipes, storage tanks, or containers not otherwise required to be labeled which would reasonably be presumed to release a covered hazardous substance. Requires the label to indicate the appropriate response to a release.

Directs the Administrator to designate covered major manufacturers for emergency response purposes within one year of enactment of this Act. Limits the designation to those whose substances would pose an imminent and substantial danger to health and the environment if released in significant quantities. Includes all persons covered under this Act in lieu of such designations. Includes Federal departments as potential covered major manufacturers. Exempts those whose emergency activities are sufficiently covered under other Federal or State law.

Renders the manufacturer or processor strictly liable for damages caused by accidental or abnormal releases, excluding act of God or war. Covers medical, burial, and economic losses as well as pain and suffering (to a limited extent). Includes specified analysis and scientific evidence and studies among the evidence which may be introduced to establish causation. Establishes a three-year statute of limitations from the date of enactment or the date of realization of injury for causes of action for injury from the release of a covered hazardous substance, whichever is later.

Provides that this Act does not preempt State or other law in the area of liability for damages.

Requires entitled individuals to receive compensation for injuries sustained from a hazardous substance release from workers' compensation rather than under this Act.

Sets forth categories of substances to be considered covered hazardous substances and procedures for adding additional substances. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to compile and update a digest of all such substances. Exempts certain substances for this Act's purposes, based upon the form, amount, and other regulation of such substances.

Establishes civil and criminal penalties, limiting criminal penalties to the knowing violation of emergency requirements. Authorizes citizens' suits to enforce this Act.

Permits States to adopt more stringent right-to-know standards in the workplace context and emergency response requirements. Permits State and local governments to impose fees upon potential releasors to cover administrative costs.

Title V: Amendments of the Internal Revenue Code to 1954 - Superfund Revenue Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase and extend through FY 1990 the environmental excise taxes on petroleum and specified chemicals. Includes an inflation adjustment for computing the tax on chemicals. Exempts exported chemicals from tax liability. Adjusts special rules for certain chemicals.

Imposes a waste end tax on: (1) the receipt of hazardous waste at a qualified hazardous waste management unit; (2) the ocean dumping of such waste; and (3) the export of such waste. Sets increasing, per-ton tax rates on the disposal of such wastes. Sets forth reporting requirements and penalties for violations.

Establishes in the Treasury the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund. Establishes within Superfund a separate Leaking Underground Storage Tank Account.

Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to study the economic impact of the environmental taxes on specified chemicals and report to the Congress on the results by April 1, 1986.