Section 123 of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) authorizes EPA to reimburse local governments for up to $25,000 of their expenses in carrying out temporary emergency measures in response to hazardous substance releases. The final regulations implementing this provision of the law became effective on October 14, 1992.

The intent of the reimbursement program is to help local governments pay for expenses they incur in responding to a hazardous substance release. For example, during such a release a local government might be called upon to erect security fencing to limit access to the spill site, pay the costs of responding to fires and explosions, or take other similar actions. EPA will distribute reimbursement money to those applicants who demonstrate the greatest financial burden, based on the criteria described below.

Does This Program Apply to Your Community?

Any general purpose unit of local government that has incurred expenses from taking emergency measures in response to releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants may apply to EPA for reimbursement. Only local governments (e.g., a county, parish, city, municipality, township, or federally recognized Indian tribe) are eligible.

Actions Your Community Should Be Taking

To be eligible for reimbursement, you must apply directly to the EPA. Only one request for reimbursement will be accepted for each hazardous substance release. If more than one local government agency participated in responding to a release, those agencies must determine which single agency will submit the request on behalf of them all. Keep in mind, however, that since funds for this program are limited, EPA may not be able to reimburse all local governments for all responses that may qualify.

What Costs Are Reimbursable?

A local government can only be reimbursed for responses that are consistent with the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), and federal cost principles outlined by the Office of Management and Budget.

In general, EPA will consider reimbursement for the costs of such items as: disposable materials and supplies used during a specific response; rental or leasing of equipment used for a specific response; special technical services and laboratory costs; and, services and supplies purchased for a specific evacuation. Bear in mind, however, that your government will not be reimbursed for expenses it would normally incur in an emergency -- the reimbursement program is only intended to cover extraordinary response costs, which are defined as those the government could not have anticipated when it developed its annual operating budget.

All reimbursement applications must be accompanied by cost documentation such as invoices, sales receipts or leasing agreements. This supporting documentation is essential. No reimbursements will be made unless the request also includes evidence of efforts to recover costs from parties responsible for the release (local governments often must respond to releases created by private facilities within the community).

How Will Reimbursement Requests Be Evaluated?

EPA has developed a formula for determining the amount of money for which you may be eligible. This formula is based on the ratio of eligible response costs to the per capita income of the applicant's locality, adjusted for population. However, EPA also may consider other relevant financial information provided by a local government, so if you think that your government has special circumstances, be sure to include this in your application.

After receiving completed applications from local governments, EPA will screen each application for compliance with basic reimbursement criteria and filing procedures. Requests for reimbursement must demonstrate that responses complied with federal law, the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan and, where applicable, the local comprehensive emergency response plan completed under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986. If you do not know whether you meet these criteria, call the RCRA Hotline or the Local Governments Reimbursement Program Project officer, listed under the "Additional Information" section below.

Each application will be evaluated on its own merit, based on the formula described above, and compared to the financial burden demonstrated by other requests. Based on the financial burden ranking for each request and the total amount of funds available for reimbursement, a request may be reimbursed, denied, or held over for reconsideration. A request may be reconsidered during a subsequent review period if it represents a significant financial burden but scores lower than other requests during a particular review period.

Reimbursement is limited by law to $25,000 per single response. If you think that you qualify for a reimbursement, you can get an application package by contacting the RCRA Superfund Hotline at EPA Headquarters. The application package contains detailed, line-by-line instructions for completing the application.

Timetable

Reimbursement requests must be received by EPA within one year of the date of completion of the response action for which reimbursement is being requested. If, however, a cost recovery action is still pending at the end of one year, EPA may waive this deadline. EPA recommends that you submit your application as soon as possible after completion of the response action, since the collection of response information and reconstruction of records becomes more difficult as time progresses.

Additional Information

The Reimbursement to Local Governments for Emergency Response to Hazardous Substance Releases regulations are published at 40 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 310.

To obtain a reimbursement application package, contact the RCRA Superfund Hotline. Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. EST, Monday-Friday.
Telephone: 1/800/424-9346
TDD (hearing impaired): 1/800/553-7672
Washington metro area: 1/703/920-9810
TDD: 1/703/486-3323

For specific information on the Local Governments Reimbursement Program, contact:

Local Governments Reimbursement Program
Project Officer
Emergency Response Division (S202G)
U.S. EPA
401 M Street, SW.
Washington, DC 20460