Environmental Law Question (Superfund)?

Let's say the state passes a law that requires more protective cleanup for a particular facility than the federal superfund standards. (assume the facility is a US-EPA listed superfund site).

Can the state come in and say "we like EPA's cleanup requirements, but we want even stronger ones for this facility in our state?"

Any legal authority for me? A tough one, I know, but thanks.

States and lower jurisdictions can do just that. In fact, that's the whole point about federal standards; states, counties and such cannot have lower standards because it violates federal law.

So that's the bad side about lower jurisdictions stepping in, they often adopt tougher measures and often without scientific basis for it.

I personally don't believe in tougher standards just because some one's hand can wave and it can be so. It's all about a "feel good" number or level. Most administrators have not done the kinds of clean-up work they are dictating and they don't know how the business is done.

EPA can allow this, but they have the final say, and can turn it down. The problem for the state is that anything beyond EPA level, they would have to pay for, and if they try this, EPA may just let the state pay for the whole thing. That is never going to happen in current state budgets. The states can not make EPA do anything. It gets even more complicated in that most of these sites are not cleaned up by EPA but the US Army Corps of Engineers.