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 community relocation and business and employment protection costs within removal costs.

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.

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 for all other hazardous substances by October 1, 1986.

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

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

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.

Directs the Administrator to publish a cleanup schedule, granting priority to releases affecting principal drinking water sources, for releases or threatened releases for which no cleanup agreement with responsible parties has been reached.

Requires a State to pay at least 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 (ATSDR) to prepare toxicological profiles on the most frequently found or threatening hazardous substances. Permits individuals to petition the Administrator for a health effects study where hazardous substances have been removed if warranted by a preliminary assessment.

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 starting at the rate of 200 facilities per year within three years of enactment. 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 an explanation of nonperformance.

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.

Makes abatement action decisions nonreviewable. Prohibits subsequent storage or treatment of hazardous waste at a facility where an abatement action has been taken involving the relocation of individuals, a specified density of population, and other factors.

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

Makes liability strict, joint, and several under this Act for damages and costs resulting from the release and cleanup of hazardous substances. Exempts State and local officials from liability for nonnegligent emergency response actions.

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

Entitles a defendant to prove damages are divisible and to seek contribution.

Sets forth authorized uses of Superfund, including emergency relief, health studies, toxicological profiles, and petition-prompted investigations. Earmarks funds for FY 1986 through 1990 for petroleum released from an underground storage tank.

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.

Requires each Federal agency and department to notify the Administrator, within six months of this Act's enactment, of any hazardous substance treated, stored, or disposed of at Federal facilities under its control. Requires such agencies and departments to make annual reports to the Administrator on all facilities not on the initial notice. Requires such initial notice to describe the location, nature, toxicity, contamination, response actions, and cleanup techniques for the hazardous substances.

Directs the Administrator to establish a public Federal Agency Hazardous Waste Compliance Docket (Compliance Docket) to record each listed facility and subsequent actions taken.

Requires preliminary assessment of each facility for possible evaluation under the NCP and inclusion on the NPL.

Requires Federal agencies or departments responsible for facilities placed on the NPL to commence a remedial investigation and feasibility study for such facility and enter into an interagency agreement with the Administrator to conduct remedial action. Requires continuous, substantial onsite response within six months of the agreement. Requires that such agreements: (1) review alternative remedial actions and construction design selection by the Administrator; (2) schedule completion of remedial actions; and (3) arrange for long-term operation and maintenance of the facility.

Requires completion of remedial actions within two years of the agreement to the extent practicable. Requires explanations of noncompletion to be included on the Compliance Docket and in the agency's or department's annual report to the Congress on its progress on reaching and implementing interagency agreements. Requires such annual report to also include cost information and public comments.

Makes Federal facility cleanup actions ineligible for Superfund monies.

Provides that the Administrator shall retain the authority to enforce this Act.

Includes Federal facilities within CERCLA guidelines for preliminary assessments, NCP evaluations, and inclusion on the NPL.

Permits the Administrator to bring an action under CERCLA against any Federal agency or department and prohibits the Attorney General from representing such agencies or departments in such actions.

Authorizes a State to require a solid waste disposal facility to charge more for disposal or storage of out-of-State waste than the State of origin would have charged.

Exempts response action contractors from liability for nonnegligent response activities.

Permits the Administrator to enter into a consent agreement with a responsible party who will properly carryout cleanup activities.

Authorizes $250,000,000 for each of FY 1986 through 1990 plus additional amounts as specified for the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund (Superfund).

Title II: Miscellaneous Provisions - Permits citizen action lawsuits against any party, including the 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 Administrator 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 Federal intervention as a matter of right.

Requires the Department of Transportation to promulgate regulations requiring shippers to notify transporters whenever hazardous substances are offered for transportation.

Requires Federal agencies to notify buyers or transferees of Federal land where hazardous substances were disposed of or stored.

Title III: Community Right to Know and Emergency Planning - Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act by adding a new title II concerning communities' right-to-know and emergency planning. Requires each covered manufacturer or processor 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 Administrator to establish a toll-free hotline for such information.

Requires the releaser 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 releaser. Requires the Administrator 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 releasers to maintain records of information required by this Act. Requires manufacturers or processors to transmit fact sheets to covered distributors or users upon shipping of a covered hazardous substance.

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 for any covered hazardous substance not otherwise required to be labeled. Requires the label to indicate the appropriate response to a release.

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.

Title IV: Internal Revenue Code Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase and extend through FY 1990 the environmental excise taxes sufficient to reach $1,770,000,000 per year.

Title V: 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 workers' compensation or actions filed in a State court and this Act. Permits additional recovery against the source of the disposal for later manifested injuries.