Superfund:

Clean Air Act of 1970:  The Clean Air Act is the comprehensive Federal law that regulates air emissions from area, stationary, and mobile sources. This law authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and the environment.

Clean Water Act:  The Act established the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States. It gave EPA the authority to implement pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. The Clean Water Act also continued requirements to set water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters. The Act made it unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions. It also funded the construction of sewage treatment plants under the construction grants program and recognized the need for planning to address the critical problems posed by nonpoint source pollution.

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act:  Established prohibitions and requirements concerning closed and abandoned hazardous waste sites; provided for liability of persons responsible for releases of hazardous waste at these sites; and established a trust fund to provide for cleanup when no responsible party could be identified.  The law authorizes two kinds of response actions: Short-term removals, where actions may be taken to address releases or threatened releases requiring prompt response; and long-term remedial response actions, that permanently and significantly reduce the dangers associated with releases or threats of releases of hazardous substances that are serious, but not immediately life threatening.

The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA):  Amended the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) on October 17, 1986. SARA reflected EPA's experience in administering the complex Superfund program during its first six years and made several important changes and additions to the program. SARA. These include: Stressed the importance of permanent remedies and innovative treatment technologies in cleaning up hazardous waste sites; required Superfund actions to consider the standards and requirements found in other State and Federal environmental laws and regulations; provided new enforcement authorities and settlement tools; increased State involvement in every phase of the Superfund program; increased the focus on human health problems posed by hazardous waste sites; encouraged greater citizen participation in making decisions on how sites should be cleaned up; and increased the size of the trust fund to $8.5 billion.
**These Laws are from the Environmental Protection Agency website:  http://www.epa.gov/epahome/laws.htm

Brownfields:

Brownfields Law:  Also known as the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act.  Expands potential federal financial assistance for brownfields  revitalization, including grants for assessment, cleanup, and job training.  The law also limits the liability of certain contiguous property owners and prospective purchasers of brownfields properties, and clarifies innocent land owner defenses to encourage revitalization and reuse of brownfields sites.  (The authority to provide grants in the Brownfields Law is codified at §104(k) of CERCLA. 

Brownfields Site Assessment Grant Program is regulated under the Wisconsin Administrative Code, Chapter NR 168.