Central Hazardous Material Fund

Map of Central Hazardous Materials Fund Locations 
(Fiscal Year 2001)

In 1995, the Congress created the Central Hazardous Materials Fund (CHF) to allow the Department to better deal with those contaminated sites requiring medium to long-term cleanup under the Superfund law. The Department is prohibited by statute from using the Superfund.

In 2001, the Department's 34 active projects were spread among five bureaus:
BLM - 14 projects
NPS - 13 projects
FWS - 4 projects
BIA - 3 projects
USGS - 1 project.

Additionally, the CHF supports the Department's efforts to recover or to share costs from polluters and funds the preparation of project cost estimates by the Bureau of Reclamation.

Management Goals of CHF

The objectives of the CHF are to achieve greater consistency and oversight of site cleanups; promote cost-effective cleanup; conduct cleanup consistent with the National Contingency Plan and bureau land use plans; and pursue cost recovery or cost sharing from parties responsible for the contamination.

CHF Accountability

Decisions regarding the operation of the CHF, including the disbursement and allocation of funds to specific sites is vested in the Department's Deputy Assistant Secretaries' Advisory Group on Environmental Policy and Compliance. Nominated projects are evaluated by the Technical Review Committee (TRC), an inter-bureau committee of technical, legal and budget specialists chaired by the Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance. The TRC reviews each project at the beginning of the fiscal year and at mid-year and monitors cleanup progress. BLM is the administrative bureau for the CHF appropriation.

CHF Funding

Funding in FY 2002 was approximately $10 million. The CHF has received $87.4 million in appropriated funds. Cost sharing or cost recovery has added another $84 million.

The Department's priorities for remediation are driven by five criteria: 1) risk to human health and the environment, 2) National Priorities List status, 3) involvement of PRPs, 4) legal risk, and 5) innovative or accelerated cleanup approaches.

The primary focus of CHF support is on the ground work such as cleanup related studies and implementation of the remedy, identification of parties who may be responsible for the contamination, and long-term operating and monitoring of the cleanup.

Additionally, some complex projects need full time project management oversight. To meet that need, the CHF can support the detail or term appointment of experienced project managers from other agencies.

Effective consultation and cooperative studies with other Federal agencies and State and local governments, combined with the involvement of responsible parties has proven to be the most cost effective way to control CHF costs at contaminated sites.

To that end, all projects are required to use their best efforts to work with other regulatory agencies, State and local governments and to pursue those parties responsible for the contamination of our lands and facilities wherever feasible.