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Washington, D.C. - Just three days before the 25th anniversary of the Superfund program, the nation's hazardous waste site cleanup initiative, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Congressman Christopher Shays (R-CT), along with a group of 24 other House members, today unveiled legislation that would reinstate the polluter fees that once funded the Superfund program. The Hinchey-Shays measure, entitled the Superfund for Hurricane Accountability and Recovery Act (SHARA) of 2005, would also temporarily increase those polluter fees for three years to help cleanup hazardous sites in the Gulf Coast that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita created or exacerbated.
"It is time to once again make the polluters pay for the bulk of hazardous waste cleanups across the United States instead of the taxpayers," Hinchey said. "Superfund has been an enormously successful program, but without polluter fees it is being shortchanged and important cleanups that will improve the health and safety of millions of Americans are being ignored. Additionally, with the potential for toxic sites sprouting up in the Gulf Coast as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, additional revenue is needed to pay for that cleanup. By temporarily increasing these polluter fees by 50 percent for three years, we are providing a funding source for toxic cleanup in the Gulf Coast that can offset congressional spending for hurricane recovery efforts."
The primary source of Superfund funding used to come from fees levied on polluting corporations that used, produced, disposed or benefited from toxic chemicals, but those fees expired in 1995. Since that time, the $3.8 billion surplus held in the Superfund trust has been depleted and the trust now survives on insufficient annual appropriations from taxpayer general revenues. Without the polluter fees, the burden borne by taxpayers to fund Superfund cleanups has climbed from $300 million to $1.2 billion per year, an increase of 400 percent. Additionally, with taxpayer money now the only source of funding for Superfund, spending for cleanups has drastically declined and the program has suffered funding shortfalls the past three consecutive years. These shortfalls prevent Superfund sites from receiving necessary funds and delay critical cleanup actions.
Shays said, "During my visit to New Orleans, I was struck by the sheer enormity of the challenge we have in the clean up of the Gulf Coast. The Superfund will help us address those needs, providing funds to remove toxic and hazardous substances and make the region safer for residents to move back and resume their lives."
The Hinchey-Shays bill would reinstate the polluter fees to the same level they were when they expired on December 31, 1995. Specifically, the fees would be: 9.7 cents per barrel on crude oil used by U.S. refineries, including imported petroleum products, but excluding oil exported from the United States; various amounts ranging from $0.22 per ton to $4.87 per ton on certain chemicals manufactured or sold in, or imported into, the United States; and 0.12 percent of corporate taxable income in excess of $2 million.
To address the toxic pollution problems associated with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Hinchey-Shays bill would temporarily increase the Superfund tax rates by 50 percent and require the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit revenues generated from the tax rate increase into a Gulf Hurricanes Cleanup Account. “Base” revenues would be deposited into the Hazardous Substance Superfund Account for cleanup at any National Priorities List (NPL) site across the country. Funding deposited into this new account would be reserved for responding to releases and threatened releases of hazardous substances that Hurricanes Katrina or Rita have caused or exacerbated. The temporary tax rate increase would be in effect for three years or until EPA determines by rule that the response to toxic cleanups resulting from the hurricanes is complete. Amounts available from the Gulf Hurricanes Cleanup Account for response activities would be subject to annual appropriations by Congress.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused extensive damage to heavily populated and industrialized areas. High winds, storm surges and flooding resulted in the release of potentially toxic substances. These uncontrolled releases present a grave threat to public health and the environment and must be contained and cleaned before efforts begin to rebuild areas devastated in this year's hurricanes. Due to the magnitude and diffuse area of toxic contamination, cleanup efforts are likely to last for years and cost billions of dollars.
Additionally today, U.S. PIRG released a new report, "Empty Pockets: Facing Hurricane Katrina’s Cleanup With a Bankrupt Superfund," describing the impact of persistent funding shortfalls on the ability of Superfund to protect public health in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters. The Sierra Club also presented its list of the worst hazardous sites nationwide posing imminent public health threats that the Superfund has yet to cleanup, largely because of a lack of funding. For more information click here. |
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