Analyzing Superfund

Analyzing Superfund brings together some of the most important theoretical and empirical work from the research community on four issues central to the evaluation of Superfund: cleanup standards, the liability regime, transaction costs, and natural resource damages. Three empirical studies examine the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's cleanup decisions, paying particular regard to the role of cost-benefit considerations. Liability issues are assessed in two chapters, one a theoretical analysis of the relative merits of joint-and-several liability as compared with nonjoint liability, the other an examination of the likely financial impact of three alternative liability schemes upon various sectors of the national economy. One chapter summarizes and analyzes empirical research conducted by RAND on Superfund transaction costs; a second chapter explores EPA's use of de minimis settlements - a legal arrangement for achieving quick settlement with parties responsible for only a small share of the liability at a given site. The final chapter of Analyzing Superfund presents one view of significant conceptual, legal, and practical difficulties with the natural resources damages regime,