2024 Superfund Annual Accomplishments Metrics

2024 Superfund Remedial Annual Accomplishments

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.

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Protecting communities' health and ecosystems

In 2024, EPA completed actions that brought human exposures under control at 14 Superfund sites, bringing the cumulative total at the end of Fiscal Year 2024 to 1,512 sites since program inception. EPA also controlled the migration of contaminated groundwater through engineered remedies or natural processes at 2 sites in 2024, bringing the cumulative total to 1,208 sites since program inception.

Safeguarding communities from imminent threats

In Fiscal Year 2024, EPA completed or provided oversight for 203 removal actions to address contamination that posed imminent and substantial threats to human health and the environment.

Preparing for Future Cleanups

EPA completed 498 remedial site assessments in Fiscal Year 2024, for a cumulative total of 99,770. These efforts determine whether a release warrants additional actions by EPA or can be referred to some other authority.

In Fiscal Year 2024, EPA placed six sites on and proposed seven sites to the National Priorities List.

Currently, the NPL has 42 proposed, 1,340 final and 458 deleted sites.

In Fiscal Year 2024, EPA selected 39 cleanup remedies and updated 44 cleanup plans.

There are currently 47 sites with Superfund alternative approach agreements still in active remediation, and there are 18 sites that have Superfund alternative approach agreements that are construction complete.

Funding Superfund work

Special Accounts

In Fiscal Year 2024, EPA disbursed or obligated about $288.0 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 2024, approximately $5.9 billion was disbursed or obligated for Superfund cleanups from these accounts.

Pre-construction

In Fiscal Year 2024, EPA obligated over $417 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 2024, EPA obligated over $1.3 billion for construction and post-construction projects from funds provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, congressional appropriations, states, and special accounts. Of that amount, $1.12 billion was specifically from funds provided by BIL. More information about funding provided by BIL can be found 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 Superfund tax dollars to ensure that funds are available to focus on truly abandoned and orphaned sites.

In FY 2024 through enforcement instruments, EPA obtained more than $1.1 billion in private party commitments to clean up Superfund sites and approximately $28.5 million to reimburse the Agency for its past costs associated with cleanup work at Superfund sites. Additionally, EPA billed Potentially Responsible Parties approximately $81.0 million for oversight costs associated with cleanup work performed by PRPs at Superfund sites. With the addition of this fiscal year’s accomplishments, the Superfund enforcement program has, since its inception, obtained approximately $51.5 billion in PRP commitments for site cleanup and reimbursement of EPA’s costs spent in cleaning up sites, saving taxpayer dollars.

Superfund Community Involvement

Superfund community involvement is the process of engaging with communities affected by Superfund sites as key partners in the cleanup decision-making process. Superfund community involvement provides opportunities for the affected community to work directly with the EPA to ensure that cleanup decisions are considerate of the community’s needs and priorities.

In FY 2024, EPA Superfund site teams reached more than 380,000 people through outreach efforts, held or attended nearly 650 public meetings, conducted 450 interviews with community members living near Superfund sites, and distributed 700 fact sheets, mailings, postcards, advertisements, and newsletters.

Conducting construction work

EPA and other project leads started 86 new remedial construction projects, including 49 government-led projects, 21 federal facility-led projects and 16 PRP-led projects.

EPA and other project leads conducted construction or provided oversight at 550-remedial construction projects started in prior fiscal years.

Due to the significant investments from the BIL, EPA was able to fund construction work at all sites in Fiscal Year 2024.

Completing construction work

In Fiscal Year 2024, EPA and other project leads completed 73 remedial action construction projects. Many NPL sites have multiple remedial actions before they achieve construction completion for the entire site.

“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 many years to remove all contaminants from the groundwater.

In Fiscal Year 2024, all physical construction required for the cleanup of the entire site was completed at four NPL sites. Since the inception of Superfund, the physical construction milestone has been achieved at 1,246 NPL sites.

Getting Sites Ready for Redevelopment

In Fiscal Year 2024, Superfund identified 10 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 950 sites since program inception.

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, nearly 1,200 federal and non-federal Superfund sites support new and ongoing uses. EPA has collected data on more than 10,620 businesses at 718 non-federal Superfund sites. In Fiscal Year 2024, these businesses generated $71.8 billion in sales and employed more than 242,000 people who earned a combined income of more than $20.3 billion. Over the last 14 years (2011-2024), these businesses’ ongoing operations have generated at least $757 billion (inflation adjusted) in sales.

Ensuring long-term protection

Five-year reviews provide an opportunity to evaluate the implementation and performance of a remedy to determine whether it remains protective of human health and the environment. EPA conducted 261 five-year reviews, including 40 five-year reviews at federal facility sites, to ensure that remedies built at these sites continue to protect communities.

Superfund Sites deleted from 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 2024, EPA deleted two full sites and parts of six more sites. In total, EPA has deleted 458 sites from the NPL and has made 156 partial deletions at 116 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 2024, Superfund completed 39 optimization evaluation and support projects, with another 34 underway and continuing into 2025. The optimization program has completed 514 studies at 365 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 timelines of completion that greatly exceed the costs of optimization itself.

EPA Funded State, Tribal 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 2024, EPA provided approximately $111 million to states, tribes and local governments to conduct activities at Superfund sites, and to support the Superfund program. States and tribes play a significant role in identifying and assessing sites to determine the most appropriate cleanup program to address the site. In Fiscal Year 2024, states developed 319 (64 percent) of the 498 Superfund remedial site assessments across 39 states and tribes completed 13 (3 percent) of the 498 assessments at sites located on tribal lands.