Superfund Remedial Annual Accomplishments Metrics
Fiscal Year 2023 Report
EPA’s Superfund program tracks the following measures on an annual basis to keep the public and internal and external stakeholders informed of the program’s progress in cleaning up sites and supporting their return to beneficial use.
On this page:
- Protecting communities' health and ecosystems
- Safeguarding communities from imminent threats
- Preparing for future cleanup efforts
- Funding Superfund work
- Conducting construction work
- Completing construction work
- Getting sites ready for redevelopment
- Returning Superfund sites to productive use
- Ensuring long-term protection
- Superfund sites leaving the National Priorities List after successful cleanups
- Optimizing Superfund work to increase efficiency
- EPA funds tribal, state and local government Superfund work
Protecting communities' health and ecosystems
EPA completed actions that brought human exposures under control at an additional 13 Superfund sites, bringing the cumulative total at the end of fiscal year 2023 to 1,533 sites. EPA also controlled the migration of contaminated groundwater through engineered remedies or natural processes at an additional 12 sites, bringing the cumulative total to 1,218 sites.
Safeguarding communities from imminent threats
In fiscal year 2023, EPA completed or provided oversight for 194 removal actions to address contamination that posed imminent and substantial threats to human health and the environment.
Preparing for future cleanup efforts
EPA completed 548 remedial site assessments, for a cumulative total of 99,214. These efforts determine whether a release warrants additional actions by EPA or can be referred to some other authority.
In fiscal year 2023, EPA placed six sites on and proposed eight sites to the National Priorities List.
At the end of fiscal year 2023, the NPL had 41 proposed, 1,336 final and 456 deleted sites.
EPA selected 35 cleanup remedies and updated 50 cleanup plans.
There are currently 47 sites with Superfund alternative approach agreements still in active remediation, and there are 18 sites that have SAA agreements that are construction complete.
Funding Superfund work
Special Accounts
In fiscal year 2023, EPA disbursed or obligated about $377 million, including reclassifications, for site-specific work across Superfund response programs – from Special Accounts established with funds received through potentially responsible party settlements. Cumulatively, as of the end of fiscal year 2023, approximately $5.6 million has been disbursed or obligated for Superfund cleanups from these accounts.
Pre-construction
In fiscal year 2023, EPA obligated over $440 million to conduct and oversee pre-construction site work, such as site assessments and investigations, selection and design of cleanup plans, and support for state, tribal, community involvement and other activities – from congressional appropriations and special accounts.
Construction Funding
In fiscal year 2023, EPA obligated over $1.25 billion for construction and post-construction projects from funds provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, congressional appropriations, states and special accounts. Of that amount, $1 billion was specifically from funds provided by BIL. More information about funding provided by BIL is available here.
Spotlight on Enforcement
EPA’s Superfund enforcement program addresses hazardous waste sites to protect communities by ensuring that the parties responsible for the contamination clean up the sites. The work of the enforcement program supports the agency’s efforts to prioritize cleanup at Superfund sites with environmental justice concerns, addresses liability concerns of parties willing to clean up a site to benefit communities and to promote reuse of contaminated property, and preserves taxpayer dollars to ensure that the Fund is available to focus on truly abandoned and orphaned sites.
In fiscal year 2023, through enforcement instruments, EPA obtained approximately $988.2 million in commitments from PRPs to clean up or pay for future Superfund site work and approximately $98.8 million to reimburse the agency for its past costs associated with cleanup work at Superfund sites. Additionally, EPA billed PRPs approximately $75.5 million for oversight costs associated with cleanup work performed by PRPs at Superfund sites.
More information on Superfund Enforcement annual results for fiscal year 2023 is available here.
Conducting construction work
EPA and other project leads started 104 new remedial construction projects, including 48 government-led projects, 31 PRP-led projects and 25 federal facility-led projects.
EPA and other project leads conducted construction or provided oversight at 499 remedial construction projects started in prior fiscal years.
There were no unfunded sites in fiscal year 2023.
Completing construction work
In fiscal year 2023, EPA and other project leads completed 69 remedial construction projects.
“Construction completion” is a milestone that indicates all physical construction required for the cleanup of the entire site has been completed (even though final cleanup levels may not have been achieved). For example, a groundwater treatment system has been constructed though it may need to operate for a number of years in order for all contaminants to be removed from the groundwater.
In fiscal year 2023, all physical construction required for the cleanup of the entire site was completed at four NPL sites.
Getting sites ready for redevelopment
In fiscal year 2023, Superfund identified 14 additional sites as having all long-term protections in place to meet Superfund’s Sitewide Ready for Anticipated Use measure. To meet SWRAU, a site must have: all aspects of the cleanup in place for any media that may affect future land uses, all land use restrictions or other cleanup controls in place, and be a final or deleted NPL site, or SAA site, that has reached the construction complete milestone. This brings the net total of SWRAU sites to 958 sites.
Redevelopment of Superfund sites, which can start prior to the SWRAU designation, has brought thousands of jobs to communities. Many sites that EPA has designated as ready for reuse in previous years now host parks, business districts, renewable energy facilities, commercial and industrial facilities, and wildlife habitat.
Returning Superfund sites to productive use
Today, more than 1,135 NPL sites and 135 non-NPL Superfund sites support new and ongoing uses. EPA has collected data on more than 10,253 businesses at 671 non-federal facility Superfund sites. In fiscal year 2023, EPA determined that these businesses generated $74.1 billion in sales and employed more than 236,800 people who earned a combined income of more than $18.6 billion in 2022.
Over the last 12 years (2011 to 2022), these businesses’ ongoing operations have generated over $590 billion (inflation adjusted) in sales.
Ensuring long-term protection
EPA conducted 256 five-year reviews, including 31 at federal facility sites, to ensure that remedies built at these sites continue to protect communities.
Superfund sites leaving the National Priorities List after successful cleanups
Deletion from the NPL announces to communities and signals to potential developers and financial institutions that cleanup is complete. Deletion from the NPL helps the community move forward and is necessary for a site to be eligible for Brownfields grants that help revitalize communities and promote economic growth.
In fiscal year 2023, EPA deleted four full sites and parts of 10 more sites. In total, EPA has deleted 456 sites from the NPL and has made 150 partial deletions at 113 NPL sites (some sites have multiple partial deletions).
Optimizing Superfund work to increase efficiency
Through Superfund’s optimization program, teams of independent technical experts identify and support opportunities to improve the effectiveness and cost efficiency of Superfund remedies. In fiscal year 2023, Superfund completed 44 optimization evaluation and support projects, with another 45 underway and continuing into 2024. The optimization program has completed 473 studies at 361 sites since the program’s inception in fiscal year 1999. Often, the optimization of remedies typically yields benefits in terms of cost savings, improved effectiveness and improved completion timelines that greatly exceed the costs of optimization itself.
EPA funds tribal, state and local government Superfund work
Through cooperative agreements, EPA provides states, Tribes and local governments with funding to conduct work under the Superfund program, including site assessment, investigations, remedial action, review of remedy decision documents and enforcement actions. In fiscal year 2023, EPA provided approximately $115 million to states, Tribes and local governments to conduct activities at NPL sites, and to support the Superfund program. States play a significant role in identifying and assessing sites to determine the most appropriate cleanup program to address the sites. In fiscal year 2023, states developed 395 (72%) of the 548 Superfund remedial site assessments across 42 states as well as tribal lands.