The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi announced on June 3 the agency’s forward-looking Superfund Solutions initiative to accelerate cleanups of contaminated sites nationwide, including the more than 1340 Superfund sites on the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL).
Superfund cleanup is a bedrock EPA program that protects human health and the environment by identifying and remediating sites contaminated with hazardous substances. The cleanup and revitalization of contaminated land reinvigorates sites into productive community spaces like parks and sports fields, wildlife areas, or new homes or businesses. Over the past 15 years, these renewed sites have generated over $868 billion for local economies and employed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
“Many communities have waited long enough for the EPA and responsible parties to get a shovel in the ground, and the new Superfund Solutions initiative is a monumental step in getting these vital clean ups back on track,” said Fotouhi.
“Our talented career staff have been hard at work on this initiative, and over the coming months, the EPA will take concrete steps to cut red tape, expedite analysis and decision-making, identify common-sense solutions, and work with our partners to deliver on communities’ needs."
Since January 2025, more than 290 Superfund site cleanups have been completed, more than 59 million cubic yards of contaminated soil and water have been cleaned up, and $864 million from responsible parties have been recovered. The current administration's EPA work has cut two years off the cleanup timeline at the West Lake Landfill site in Missouri and shaved 15 years off the cleanup timeline for the PCE Southeast Contamination site in Nebraska, proving that the EPA can deliver tangible results faster.
The new initiative will build on this progress and streamline the agency’s approach to clean ups through three key areas:
Enhance Project Management
- Expedite ongoing investigations at more than 500 Superfund sites to move more quickly from the evaluation phase into the cleanup phase, reducing human health and environmental risks faster
- Increase targeted water, soil, and air sampling, as well as conduct more timely inspections of facilities and land to get site teams into communities sooner, ensure long-term human health protections, and support reuse opportunities that can bring economic benefits to communities
- Accelerate the selection of the best cleanup approach through the more rapid development of remedial investigations, feasibility studies, and records of decision
- Modernize site management practices so that the EPA can reach decisions faster and can concentrate on sites that need the most attention
- Streamline EPA’s use of licensed contractors to reduce cleanup timelines by up to a year.
Deploy Tools and Authorities Earlier
- Simultaneously evaluate all options for a site under Superfund, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act hazardous waste cleanup program, and the Brownfields program
- Start work on short-term projects to provide immediate protections at a site, while comprehensive site cleanup approaches are finalized
- Expand cooperation and provide more training and capacity-building tools to enhance state capacity to manage cleanups and reduce unnecessary federal involvement
- Standardize approaches so federal, state, and local partners do not reinvent the wheel for every cleanup action.
Apply Smarter Science for Smarter Outcomes
- Align risk assessment approaches with gold-standard science and ensure they address site-specific risks while anticipating the community’s future use of the site
- For residential lead cleanup sites, use a single target blood lead level for Superfund decisions, as announced in the Trump EPA’s October 2025 Residential Lead Directive
- Use the latest innovations to assess the potential for critical minerals recovery at legacy hard rock mining sites.
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