What types of abandoned hard rock mines are the focus of EPAs administrative CERCLA tools?
EPA anticipates that Good Samaritan cleanups will take place at abandoned, inactive mine or primary metal processing mill sites for which, despite reasonable efforts, no financially viable party (except, for purposes of these tools, the owner of the site who did not cause, contribute to, or exacerbate the contamination) is potentially liable to perform or pay for, or has been required to perform or pay for, environmental cleanup actions under applicable law. EPA anticipates that Good Samaritan cleanups will take place at sites that are not of federal interest. Thus, EPA does not expect that sites listed (or proposed for listing) on the National Priorities List and sites that are the subject of ongoing or planned removal actions, would be eligible for Good Samaritan cleanups under this Initiative.
