Editors' Summary: In the past few years, many states have enacted legislation that closely parallels the fund and liability provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund).States have been spurred to adopt their own superfund legislation by the financial requirements and response action opportunities presented them by CERCLA as well as by gaps in the federal Act. The author analyzes the role of the states in the federal program, reviews the state superfund legislation, and assesses the relationship between the federal and state programs. The author concludes that some state superfund legislation complements the federal Act, while other state statutes raise preemption issues and doubts about the ability of the states to meet CERCLA matching grant and response authority requirements. On the other hand, several states have gone beyond CERCLA, tackling difficult hazardous waste liability and victim compensation issues and perhaps providing models for future federal legislation.