[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 555 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 555

   To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require that at least 85 
 percent of funds appropriated to the Environmental Protection Agency 
from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund be distributed to 
 States to carry out cooperative agreements for undertaking corrective 
         action and for enforcement of subtitle I of that Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 10, 1997

  Mr. Allard introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require that at least 85 
 percent of funds appropriated to the Environmental Protection Agency 
from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund be distributed to 
 States to carry out cooperative agreements for undertaking corrective 
         action and for enforcement of subtitle I of that Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Leaking Underground Storage Tank 
Trust Fund Amendments Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. LEAKING UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS.

    (a) Trust Fund Distribution.--Section 9004 of the Solid Waste 
Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6991c) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(f) Trust Fund Distribution to States.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Amount and permitted use of distribution.--
                The Administrator shall distribute to States at least 
                85 percent of the funds appropriated to the 
                Environmental Protection Agency from the Leaking 
                Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund established by 
                section 9508 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
                (referred to in this subsection as the `Trust Fund') 
                for each fiscal year for use in paying the reasonable 
                costs, incurred under cooperative agreements entered 
                into with the Administrator, of--
                    ``(i) actions taken by a State under section 
                9003(h)(7)(A);
                    ``(ii) necessary administrative expenses directly 
                related to corrective action and compensation programs 
                under subsection (c)(1);
                    ``(iii) enforcement of a State or local program 
                approved under this section or enforcement of this 
                subtitle or similar State or local provisions by a 
                State or local government;
                    ``(iv) State or local corrective actions pursuant 
                to regulations promulgated under section 9003(c)(4); or
                    ``(v) corrective action and compensation programs 
                under subsection (c)(1) for releases from underground 
                storage tanks regulated under this subtitle if, as 
                determined by the State, the financial resources of an 
                owner or operator (excluding resources provided by 
                programs under subsection (c)(1)) are not adequate to 
                pay for the cost of a corrective action without 
                significantly impairing the ability of the owner or 
                operator to continue in business.
            ``(B) Nonpermitted uses.--Funds provided by the 
        Administrator under subparagraph (A) shall not be used by a 
        State to provide financial assistance to an owner or operator 
        to meet the requirements respecting underground storage tanks 
        contained in section 280.21 of title 40, Code of Federal 
        Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this 
        subsection), or similar requirements in State programs approved 
        under this section or similar State or local provisions.
            ``(2) Allocation.--
                    ``(A) Process.--Subject to subparagraph (B), in the 
                case of a State with which the Administrator has 
                entered into a cooperative agreement under section 
                9003(h)(7)(A), the Administrator shall distribute funds 
                from the Trust Fund to the State using the allocation 
                process developed by the Administrator for such 
                cooperative agreements.
                    ``(B) Revisions to process.--The Administrator may 
                revise the allocation process only after--
                            ``(i) consulting with State agencies 
                        responsible for overseeing corrective action 
                        for releases from underground storage tanks and 
                        with representatives of owners and operators; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) taking into consideration, at a 
                        minimum--
                                    ``(I) the total revenue received 
                                from each State into the Trust Fund;
                                    ``(II) the number of confirmed 
                                releases from leaking underground 
                                storage tanks in each State;
                                    ``(III) the number of notified 
                                petroleum storage tanks in each State; 
                                and
                                    ``(IV) the percentage of the 
                                population of each State using 
                                groundwater for any beneficial purpose.
            ``(3) Distributions to state agencies.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Distributions from the Trust 
                Fund under this subsection shall be made directly to 
                the State agency entering into a cooperative agreement 
                or enforcing the State program.
                    ``(B) Administrative expenses.--A State agency that 
                receives funds under this subsection shall limit the 
                proportion of those funds that are used to pay 
                administrative expenses to a percentage that the State 
                may establish by law.
            ``(4) Cost recovery prohibition.--Funds provided to States 
        from the Trust Fund to owners or operators for programs under 
        section 9004(c)(1) for releases from underground storage tanks 
        are not subject to cost recovery by the Administrator under 
        section 9003(h)(6).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 9508(c)(1) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting before the period at the 
end the following: ``and to carry out section 9004(f) of that Act''.
    (c) Technical Amendments.--
            (1) Section 9001(3)(A) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 
        U.S.C. 6991(3)(A)) is amended by striking ``sustances'' and 
        inserting ``substances''.
            (2) Section 9003(f)(1) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 
        U.S.C. 6991b(f)(1)) is amended by striking ``subsection (c) and 
        (d)'' and inserting ``subsections (c) and (d)''.
            (3) Section 9004(a) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 
        U.S.C. 6991c(a)) is amended by striking ``in 9001(2)(A)'' and 
        inserting ``in section 9001(2)(A)''.
            (4) Section 9005 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 
        6991d) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``study taking'' 
                and inserting ``study, taking'';
                    (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``relevent'' 
                and inserting ``relevant''; and
                    (C) in subsection (b)(4), by striking 
                ``Evironmental'' and inserting ``Environmental''.
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