NEW YORK’S Environmental Quality Bond Act[1]� (EQBA) was enacted in 1986, in part, to “assist financially strapped towns meet their obligations under the New York State Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) in responding to the threats posed by inactive hazardous waste sites owned and/or operated by towns.”[2]� This financial assistance comes in the form of reimbursement from New York for 75 percent of the town’s cost to properly close its landfill.
Recently the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York Attorney General have been attempting to recoup EQBA funds disbursed to municipalities by filing cost recovery actions under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)[3]� against companies that used the landfills. These actions have blurred the distinction between inactive hazardous waste sites and traditional municipal landfills that were never used for disposal of hazardous wastes. This has occurred due to a dichotomy between the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)[4]� and CERCLA.
