ENV-05-182 Financial Assurance for RCRA Corrective Action

Description:

In RCRA, financial assurance is a term used when the owner of a contaminated site demonstrates to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), or an authorized State Regulatory Agency, that the funds to clean up their site will be available when the remedy is implemented. This process ensures that the clean up costs for the contaminated site will be internalized by the owner and are not passed on to the public in the event that the owner dissolves that company. Financial assurance that is required for the closure and post-closure of interim status and permitted RCRA treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs) such as containers, containment buildings, drip pads, land treatment units, landfills, surface impoundments, tanks, or waste piles are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The methods of achieving financial assurance for corrective action remain the same as in the TSDF regulations. The flexibility represented in this Guidance will be extremely important for smaller companies unable to afford the required financial assurance or that may lose significant credit rating or borrowing capacity by tying up funds for financial assurance. This is even more of a hardship if demonstration of financial assurance must occur concurrently with performing the corrective actions. This paper will present a case study of how a small but expanding company found its way into the center of this controversy.