EPA entered into two proposed administrative settlements under CERCLA concerning the U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery, Inc. site in East Chicago, Indiana, that require the purchaser to perform remedial action on a portion of the site and the respondents to pay $18,000,000 in past response costs. 

United States v. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., No. 22-cv-02101 (E.D.N.Y. Apr. 12, 2022). Settling CERCLA defendants must pay $35,000,000 to address historical operations at the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Bethpage, New York, and adjacent former facilities owned and operated by the defendants' predecessors. 

United States v. Northern Indiana Public Service Co., LLC, No. 2:22-cv-48 (N.D. Ind. Mar. 3, 2022). A settling CERCLA defendant that released hazardous substances at the Town of Pines Superfund site in Porter County, Indiana, must pay $619,632.16 of the United State's response costs already incurred, pay future costs incurred by the United States and Indiana, and perform the remedial action EPA selected at the site at an estimated cost of $11.8 million.

EPA entered into a proposed settlement agreement under CERCLA that resolves the settling parties' liability at the Former C-Brite Metal Finishing Facility site in Harbor City, California, in exchange for a lump-sum payment of $100,000 that will be used to fund response actions at the site.

EPA entered into a proposed administrative settlement agreement under CERCLA that requires a prospective lessee and purchaser of the Former C-Brite Metal Finishing Facility site in Harbor City, California, to perform a portion of the removal work at the site and to pay $80,000 for the Agency's oversight costs.

EPA proposed to amend the Standards and Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries to reference ASTM International's E1527-21 "Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process" and allow for its use to satisfy the requirements for conducting all appropriate inquiries under CERCLA.

EPA amended the Standards and Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries to reference ASTM International's E1527-21 "Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process" and allow for its use to satisfy the requirements for conducting all appropriate inquiries under CERCLA. 

EPA Region 8 announced a proposed bona fide prospective purchaser settlement agreement that provides for the purchaser to perform a removal action and pay certain response costs incurred by the United States in connection with the Vasquez Boulevard and Interstate 70 Superfund site.

EPA proposed to enter into an administrative settlement agreement under CERCLA that addresses the recovery of costs for cleanup actions at the Welch Group Environmental Fair Play Superfund site in Fair Play, South Carolina.

United States v. Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor LLC, No. 22-CV-26 (N.D. Ind. Feb. 14, 2022). Settling defendants that exceeded discharge pollution limits for cyanide and ammonia, failed to report those cyanide and ammonia releases under EPCRA and CERCLA, and violated other CWA and permit terms must complete two environmentally beneficial projects in Indiana, pay a civil penalty of $3 million, and take a number of measures to come into compliance with the law, including operating ammonia and cyanide treatment systems and improving pollution control system reliability.