[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5387 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5387

 To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
  provide remedial actions and other assistance to affected residents 
           near the Wauconda Sand and Gravel Superfund Site.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 18, 2004

  Mr. Crane introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
  Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
  provide remedial actions and other assistance to affected residents 
           near the Wauconda Sand and Gravel Superfund Site.

    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 ``Wauconda Technical and Environmental 
Remediation Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

     Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Wauconda Sand and Gravel Superfund site, included 
        on the National Priorities List (September, 1983) by the EPA, 
        is a former sand and gravel operation in Lake County, Illinois.
            (2) In 1941, the Wauconda Sand and Gravel Pit in the 
        Village of Wauconda in Lake County, Illinois, began operation 
        as a landfill.
            (3) According to a health consultation report released by 
        the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, this 
        landfill accepted an estimated 5.4 million cubic yards of waste 
        that included residential garbage, construction debris, and 
        industrial waste and sludge until it closed in July, 1978.
            (4) The site consists of roughly 74 acres, which includes a 
        47-acre non-permitted landfill and a 6-acre landfill permitted 
        by the Illinois environmental protection agency.
            (5) After receiving information concerning the dumping of 
        large quantities of polychlorinated biphenyl, the EPA and the 
        Illinois environmental protection agency started investigations 
        into the possibility of chemicals leaking from the site.
            (6) The EPA, after receiving the results from those 
        investigations, placed the Wauconda Sand and Gravel pit on the 
        National Priorities List in September, 1983.
            (7) On September 15, 2003, the Lake County Health 
        Department, Illinois, started sampling 17 residential wells 
        east of the site. The results of the testing of these wells 
        showed vinyl chloride contamination in 7 wells, with the 
        highest level of contamination being 3.6 micrograms per liter.
            (8) On January 13, 2004, the Lake County Health Department 
        held a public meeting to discuss these results with local 
        residents. The EPA started negotiating with potentially 
        responsible parties, named the Wauconda Task Group, to provide 
        for the testing of 121 additional wells in the Hillcrest 
        subdivision in Wauconda and to provide bottled drinking water 
        to Wauconda residents.
            (9) After completion of the testing in March, 2004, 81 of 
        the 121 residential wells tested showed vinyl chloride 
        contamination.
            (10) The results were discussed with local residents and 
        the Wauconda Task Group provided bottled drinking water to 
        Wauconda residents whose wells tested above 1 microgram of 
        vinyl chloride per liter.
            (11) The Wauconda Task Group, under the oversight of the 
        EPA, was also given the opportunity to expand testing sites.

SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Immediate Assistance.--The Administrator of the EPA shall--
            (1) provide bottled drinking water to Wauconda residents 
        served by residential wells with any contamination of vinyl 
        chloride; and
            (2) increase the testing and monitoring of wells of 
        Wauconda residents.
    (b) Continuing Responsibility.--Nothing in this Act may be 
construed to relieve the Administrator, any other head of a Federal 
agency, or a potentially liable party of any legal liability with 
respect to the cleanup of the Wauconda Sand and Gravel Superfund site.
    (c) Remedial Assistance.--The Administrator shall--
            (1) conduct a study to examine possible long term solutions 
        to remediate the Wauconda Sand and Gravel Superfund site and to 
        provide a clean drinking water source for Wauconda residents; 
        and
            (2) make recommendations and implement a long term solution 
        based on such recommendation to provide a clean drinking water 
        source for such residents.
    (d) Comprehensive Resolution.--The Administrator shall work with 
the heads of other appropriate Federal and State agencies to seek a 
comprehensive resolution to both the short term and long term 
environmental and health problems related to the Wauconda Sand and 
Gravel Superfund site.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $6,000,000 from the Hazardous 
Substance Superfund established under section 9507 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Wauconda resident.--The term ``Wauconda resident'' 
        means an individual living within a 1.5-mile radius of the 
        Wauconda Sand and Gravel Superfund site.
            (2) EPA.--The term ``EPA'' means the Environmental 
        Protection Agency.
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