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These same disasters can make it difficult to contain these events once they occur. Also, natural disasters can limit access to the spill, waterlines for fire suppression may be broken, and response personnel and resources may be limited. Flooding and high winds can quickly spread the contaminant, threatening agriculture, the water supply and air. HazMat releases pose short and long term threats to people, wildlife, vegetation, and the environment. HazMat materials can be absorbed through inhalation, ingestion, or direct contact with the skin. b. In previous years, wastes were dumped on the ground, in rivers, or left out in the open. As a result, thousands of uncontrolled or abandoned waste sites were created. Some common hazardous waste sites include abandoned warehouses, manufacturing facilities, processing plants and landfills. In response to growing concern over health and environmental risks posed by hazardous waste.sites, Congress established the Superfund Program in 1980 to clean up these sites. The Superfund Program is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in cooperation with individual sites throughout the United States. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) is the official repository for site and nOn-site specific Superfund data in support of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). It contains information on hazardous waste site assessment and remediation from 1983 to the present. c. North Carolina maintains it's own list of hazardous waste sites. The North Carolina Inactive Hazardous Sites Response Act of 1987 (N.C.G.S. 130A~310 et seq) was enacted to establish a program to manage uncontrolled and unregulated hazardous wastes sites, administered by the Inactive Hazardous Sites Branch (]I-ISB). The IHSB can address any site where hazardous substance and/or hazardous waste contamination exists with the following exceptions: (1) RCRA permitted or interim status facilities; and (2) any site where the Environmental Management Commission, the Commissioner of Agriculture or the Pesticide Board has assumed jurisdiction. IHSB has the authority to do the following: - Provide leadership and approval in voluntary remedial actions. - Enforce 'assessment and remediation orders at priority sites. - Reducing public health threats. - Administering the Registered Environmental Consultant (REC) Program. - ReCord notices of contamination on property deeds. - Compile, maintain and prioritize sites that require investigation. Just because a hazardous waste site is not listed on the CERCLIS, that does not mean that it has been removed from the NC Inactive' Hazardous Site list as well. d. Additional Hazardous Waste data is contained in the Resources Conservation and Recovery Information System (RCRIS) in support of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). RCRA requires that businesses or individuals that generate, transport, treat, store, and dispose of hazardous waste provide information concerning their activities to state environmental agencies. These agencies then provide the information to regional and national U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offices. RCRIS is used by the EPA to support its irnplementation of RCRA, as amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (I-ISWA). The system is primarily used to track handler permit or closure status, compliant with Federal and State regulations, and cleanup activities. Other uses of the data include program Draft Annex A v. 3.1 A-9 1 July 2002