Abstract |
CASHOUT determines in current year dollars what all the future clean-up costs of a Superfund site will be. Since those costs could be a much as 50 years in the future, this allows the enforcement professionals in the Superfund program to quickly determine what the total current cost of a clean-up would be. Then they can use that number to 'cash out' of the case the small contributors. The small contributors just pay an appropriate portion of the CASHOUT number, and then they are out of the case. The other contributors usually are responsible for the site for a substantial amount of time. Version 1.6 updates the standard values for inflation and discount rate. EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) has developed a series of computer models to support its penalty assessment and cost recovery responsibilities. The models are also used in most states. The models deal with four different financial issues that frequently arise in enforcement cases: calculating the violator's economic savings noncompliance (BEN model); evaluating the validity of a violator's claim that it cannot afford compliance costs (ABEL and INDIPAY models), clean-up costs and civil penalties; determining the present year value of Superfund clean-up (CASHOUT model); and determining the real cost of proposed extra compliance project (PROJECT model). |