In July 1981, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services assigned implementation of the Superfund Act to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).  The U.S. Congress enacted CERCLA to address the environmental and health risks created by industrial pollution after the discovery of several highly contaminated sites in the 1970s.

The CERCLA, codified in 42 U.S.C. Chapter 103, is a large piece of legislation passed in 1980 that gives the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the ability to intervene in managing land contaminated with high levels of hazardous materials.