CERCLA Hazardous Substances Defined

CERCLA section 103 release reporting requirements apply to "hazardous substances." How are CERCLA hazardous substances defined?

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) defines "hazardous substance" by reference to the following authorities:

• Clean Water Act (CWA) section 311 (“CWA Hazardous Substances”),
• CWA section 307(a) (“CWA Toxic Pollutants”),
• Clean Air Act (CAA) section 112 (“CAA Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs)”),
• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) section 3001 (“RCRA Hazardous Wastes”), and
• Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) section 7 (currently no substances are designated under this authority).

CERCLA section 102(a) also gives EPA authority to designate additional hazardous substances not listed under the statutory provisions cited above.

There are currently about 800 CERCLA hazardous substances. In addition, there are approximately 1,500 known radionuclides, approximately 760 of which are listed individually. The CERCLA list of hazardous substances can be found at 40 CFR part 302.4 in Table 302.4 “List of Hazardous Substances and Reportable Quantities”.

The CERCLA list of hazardous substances is currently comprised of the following lists:

• CWA Hazardous Substances per CWA section 311(b)(2) [40 CFR 116.4; 33 U.S.C. 1321(b)(2)]
• CWA Toxic Pollutants per CWA section 307(a) [40 CFR 401.15, 40 CFR part 423 Appendix A, and 40 CFR 131.36; 33 U.S.C. 1317(a)]
• CAA Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) per CAA section 112(b) [33 U.S.C. 7412(b); P.L. 102-187 December 4, 1991; 70 FR 75047, December 19, 2005; 69 FR 69320, November 29, 2004; 61 FR 30816, June 18, 1996; 65 FR 47342, August 2, 2000, and 87 FR 393, January 5, 2022]
• RCRA Hazardous Wastes per RCRA section 3001 [40 CFR part 261 Subpart D – Lists of Hazardous Wastes; 42 U.S.C. 6921]