LEGISLATION TO SHIFT BURDEN OF FUNDING SUPERFUND FROM TAXPAYERS TO POLLUTERS

Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced legislation to renew support for the Superfund Trust Fund by reinstating fees to ensure that polluters provide a dedicated revenue source to fund the cleanup of the most contaminated toxic waste sites across the country. The Bush Administration shifted the burden of funding the Superfund from polluters to taxpayers when it allowed the trust fund to go bankrupt five years ago. As a result, the number of cleanups has dropped dramatically. Senators Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Barack Obama (D-IL), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) joined as cosponsors of the legislation.

“New Jersey has more Superfund sites than any other state in the nation. Right now, the Superfund Trust Fund has run dry, stalling the clean-up of toxic chemicals in our communities,” Senator Lautenberg said. “It's critical we get these sites cleaned up and we need to make the polluters – and not taxpayers – foot the bill.”

“This administration has cared more about shielding polluters than protecting Americans from harmful toxic waste. Without a dedicated revenue source, the Superfund simply cannot effectively complete its important cleanup missions. This legislation will put the responsibility for cleaning up toxic sites back on polluters and off of the American taxpayers,” Senator Clinton said.

Senator Boxer said, “I am proud to join Senator Clinton and my other colleagues to ensure that polluters pay to clean up the most contaminated toxic waste sites.”

Originally signed into law in 1980, Superfund is the federal program for the clean-up of hazardous waste sites. At the heart of the law is the commitment to ensure that the polluters responsible for the contamination, and not the general public, pay for the cleanup.
In the mid and late 1990s, Superfund cleaned up an average of 86 sites per year, but this number fell dramatically under the Bush Administration. One important reason for the decline in cleanups is that President Bush has failed to support reinstating the fees on polluters that had long supported the Superfund. The Superfund Trust Fund ran out of money five years ago, and since then the program has been funded completely with general revenue.

Since losing that source of funding, the Superfund program has seen dramatic reductions in the number of cleanups of hazardous sites completed nationwide. The Environmental Protection Agency completed construction on only 24 sites in fiscal year 2007, far less than the 87 achieved in the final year of the Clinton Administration. More than 1250 toxic waste sites on the Superfund National Priority List still await cleanup, while more wait to even be listed for Superfund cleanup. New York has 86 sites on the Superfund list.

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