The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, specifies statutory requirement for selection of the most 'cost-effective' remedial alternative at Superfund sites. Cost effectiveness, as outlined in section 300.68, subpart F. of the National Contingency Plan, does not mean that public health concerns should be subordinated; but rather that the least cost alternative should be selected from among adequately effective options. However, carrying out this mandate for cost-effective remedies requires first, that accurate cost information be available for estimating the relative costs of remedial alternatives; and second, that this information be used to implement the remedial alternative as efficiently as possible through effective planning and management. To help provide this information to the EPA, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) performed detailed case studies on remedial actions at 23 hazardous waste sites across the United States. These studies are a comprehensive compilation of actual expenditure data for remedial actions. This paper summarizes the findings on the costs, and the planning and management of the clean-up at these sites.

"Cooperative Agreement CR 809392." "May 1984."