Mathy Stanislaus, an EPA assistant administrator who manages the program, says Congress has repeatedly failed during the Obama presidency to appropriate funding to collect the fees. Meanwhile, Superfund has dropped from nearly $4 billion gained from funding and excise taxes in 1999 to $1.1 billion in 2013. From 2001 to 2008, the number of sites cleaned fell more than 50%, says a September Government Accountability Office report. Stanislaus said at a Dec. 10 panel discussion in Washington, D.C., that Superfund “should be a dedicated fee-based program.” Every year “there is a backlog of sites because there is no responsible party to help fund the cleanup ... and we simply can’t do it.” Susan Bodine, who held Stanislaus’ position under George W. Bush, said congressional action on reforms is “not on their radar screens this term.”

“Whether a dedicated fund would actually help or not, given the politics and process,” is not clear, says a veteran Superfund contractor. But he points to faster results and better polluter cooperation under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, an accelerated multi-agency cleanup effort begun in 2010. “It’s a better model for Superfund,” he adds. “For larger sites, it appears more effective than what we’ve seen elsewhere.”