There are over 1,300 sites listed on the Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List of contaminated sites that require cleanup, over a hundred of which are located in Pennsylvania. In May, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt promised to get “hands-on” with the Superfund program in order to expedite the cleanup of contaminated sites around the country, with a focus on those NPL sites. As part of Pruitt's strategy, he established a task force to provide recommendations on how to “restructure the cleanup process, realign incentives of all involved parties to remediate sites, encourage private investment in cleanups and sites and promote the revitalization of properties across the country.”

On July 25, Pruitt announced the task force's recommendations. The 42 recommendations are wide-ranging and invite additional follow-up in many instances in the form of guidance and policy documents and the establishment of additional task groups. While the additional detail leaves us guessing for the moment on how Pruitt will execute many of these recommendations, several key themes emerge from the document. First, there is an emphasis on identifying bigger and costlier sites and focusing on expediting cleanups. To start, the EPA will identify a “top 10″ sites to focus on, while also developing efficiencies for speeding up remediation of mega-sites in general. Second, the Task Force's recommendations could be read as an invitation to potentially responsible parties (PRPs), investors, developers and bona fide prospective purchasers to get creative with remediation and the transfer of contaminated properties to third parties. The task force focuses on exploring opportunities for expediting the transfer of contaminated properties to parties focused on returning those properties to a beneficial use. Third, the task force seeks to identify instances where the costs to private parties can be reduced, including through the reduction of oversight costs.

The task force recommendations necessarily mean an increased role for the agency, including increased enforcement, at a time when the agency faces significant cuts. How Pruitt seeks to reconcile those two facts remains to be seen. Further, given the wide-ranging set of recommendations, most of which lack significant detail, we will have to wait for additional details to see whether the agency can execute much of the agenda developed by the task force.