[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4481 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4481

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the financing for 
Superfund for purposes of cleanup activities with respect to Hurricanes 
               Katrina and Rita, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 8, 2005

Mr. Hinchey (for himself, Mr. Shays, Mr. Engel, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Holt, 
Ms. McKinney, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Evans, Mr. Sanders, Mr. 
 Markey, Mr. Payne, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Levin, Mr. McDermott, 
     Mr. Nadler, Mr. Towns, Mr. Farr, Mr. Rangel, Ms. Schwartz of 
  Pennsylvania, Mr. Owens, Mrs. Maloney, Mrs. Lowey, Ms. Carson, Ms. 
  Woolsey, and Mr. McNulty) introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the 
       Committees on Energy and Commerce and 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 amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the financing for 
Superfund for purposes of cleanup activities with respect to Hurricanes 
               Katrina and Rita, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Superfund for Hurricane 
Accountability and Recovery Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, 
        and Liability Act of 1980 established a Federal Superfund trust 
        fund for the purpose of hazardous substance remediation at 
        sites across the Nation;
            (2) the release of hazardous substances threatens and 
        impairs public health, community infrastructure, the economy, 
        and social well being;
            (3) the Environmental Protection Agency has evaluated more 
        than 45,900 sites and placed 1,540 Superfund sites on the 
        National Priorities List;
            (4) more than 70,000,000 Americans live within 4 miles of a 
        Superfund site;
            (5) the expiration of the crude oil, chemical feedstock, 
        and corporate taxes in 1995 has contributed to a funding 
        shortfall that prevented numerous Superfund sites from 
        receiving new construction funding in fiscal years 2004 and 
        2005 and slowed the pace of existing cleanups;
            (6) delayed and slowed Superfund cleanup actions magnify 
        public health risks and increase total remediation costs;
            (7) the reestablishment of the Superfund tax would have no 
        effect on the liability under the Comprehensive Environmental 
        Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 of 
        responsible parties or potentially responsible parties for 
        hazardous substance releases;
            (8) Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused unprecedented 
        environmental damage in the Gulf Coast States of Alabama, 
        Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas;
            (9) Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused significant new 
        releases of hazardous substances and also damaged, threatened, 
        or otherwise impaired the integrity of 54 sites listed on the 
        National Priorities List and other facilities producing, 
        manufacturing, storing, or releasing hazardous substances;
            (10) released hazardous substances must be removed, 
        remediated, and otherwise cleaned up to mitigate environmental 
        damage and to protect public health;
            (11) the current and future removal, remediation, and 
        cleanup efforts in Hurricane-affected areas will incur 
        significant costs; and
            (12) the costs incurred to remove, remediate, and otherwise 
        clean up hazardous substances, in the Hurricane-impacted areas 
        of the Gulf Coast and nationwide, are most equitably borne by 
        the parties responsible for the manufacture, production, use, 
        storage, and release of such substances.

SEC. 3. SUPERFUND TAXES.

    (a) Permanent Extension.--
            (1) Excise taxes.--Section 4611(e) of the Internal Revenue 
        Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
    ``(e) Application of Hazardous Substance Superfund Financing 
Rate.--The Hazardous Substance Superfund financing rate under this 
section shall apply after December 31, 1986, and before January 1, 
1996, and after the date of the enactment of this subsection.''.
            (2) Corporate environmental income tax.--Section 59A(e) of 
        the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as 
        follows:
    ``(e) Application of Tax.--The tax imposed by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1986, and before 
January 1, 1996, and to taxable years beginning after the date of the 
enactment of this subsection.''.
            (3) Technical amendments.--
                    (A) Section 4611(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
                1986 is amended--
                            (i) by striking ``or exported from'' in 
                        paragraph (1)(A),
                            (ii) by striking ``or exportation'' in 
                        paragraph (1)(B), and
                            (iii) by striking ``and Exportation'' in 
                        the heading.
                    (B) Section 4611(d)(3) of such Code is amended--
                            (i) by striking ``or exporting the crude 
                        oil, as the case may be'' in the text and 
                        inserting ``the crude oil'', and
                            (ii) by striking ``or exports'' in the 
                        heading.
    (b) Temporary Tax Increase for Cleanup Required by Reason of 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.--
            (1) In general.--Subsection (c) of section 4611 of such 
        Code is amended by adding at the end the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(3) Temporary rate increase to fund hurricanes katrina 
        and rita toxic waste cleanup.--During the period beginning on 
        January 1, 2006, and ending on December 31, 2008, the rate of 
        tax specified by subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) shall be 
        increased by the amount equal to 50 percent of such rate.''.
            (2) Certain chemicals and imported substances.--Section 
        4661 of such Code (relating to imposition of tax on certain 
        chemicals) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Temporary Increase to Fund Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Toxic 
Waste Cleanup.--During the period beginning on January 1, 2006, and 
ending on December 31, 2008, each amount of tax per ton with respect to 
a substance specified in subsection (b) shall be increased by an amount 
equal to 50 percent of such amount.''.
            (3) Temporary increase in corporate environmental income 
        tax to fund hurricanes katrina and rita toxic waste cleanup.--
        Subsection (a) of section 59A of such Code (relating to 
        imposition of tax) is amended by adding at the end the 
        following flush sentence: ``In the case of taxable years 
        beginning on or after January 1, 2006, and ending on or before 
        December 31, 2008, the preceding sentence shall be applied by 
        substituting `0.18 percent' for `0.12 percent'.''.
            (4) Separate accounting for cleanup funds.--Section 9507 of 
        such Code (relating to Hazardous Substance Superfund) is 
        amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(f) Establishment of Gulf Hurricanes Cleanup Account.--
            ``(1) Creation of account.--There is established in the 
        Hazardous Substance Superfund a separate account to be known as 
        the `Gulf Hurricanes Cleanup Account' consisting of such 
        amounts as may be transferred or credited to the Gulf 
        Hurricanes Cleanup Account as provided in this subsection or 
        section 9602(b).
            ``(2) Transfers to account.--The Secretary shall transfer 
        to the Gulf Hurricanes Cleanup Account from the amounts 
        appropriated to Superfund under subsection (b) amounts equal 
        to--
                    ``(A) the increase in the tax imposed under section 
                59A by reason of the last sentence of subsection (a) 
                thereof,
                    ``(B) the increase in the tax imposed under section 
                4611(c) by reason of paragraph (3) thereof,
                    ``(C) the increase in the tax imposed under section 
                4661 by reason of subsection (c) thereof, and
                    ``(D) the increase in the tax imposed under section 
                4671 by reason of the increase in tax under section 
                4661(c).
            ``(3) Expenditures from account.--Amounts in the Gulf 
        Hurricanes Cleanup Account shall be available, as provided by 
        appropriation Acts, for making expenditures in accordance with 
        section 4 of the Superfund for Hurricane Accountability and 
        Recovery Act of 2005.
            ``(4) Reversion of unexpended funds.--Amounts remaining in 
        the Gulf Hurricanes Cleanup Account shall revert to the 
        Hazardous Substance Superfund on the date which is the later 
        of--
                    ``(A) December 31, 2009, or
                    ``(B) the date as of which the Administrator of the 
                Environmental Protection Agency makes the determination 
                under section 4 of such Act.''.
    (c) Effective Dates.--
            (1) Excise taxes.--The amendments made by subsections (a) 
        (other than paragraph (2) thereof) and (b) (other than 
        paragraph (3) thereof shall take effect on the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
            (2) Income tax.--The amendments made by subsections (a)(2) 
        and (b)(3) shall apply to taxable years beginning after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. EXPENDITURES FROM TRUST FUND.

    Amounts in the Gulf Hurricanes Cleanup Account established under 
subsection (f) of section 9507 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
shall be used only for making expenditures in accordance with 
subsection (c) of such section with respect to sites where hazardous 
substance releases or threatened releases have been caused or 
exacerbated by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita until such time as 
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines by 
rule that no response actions are necessary to protect human health and 
the environment with respect to such sites. Before initiating a 
rulemaking under this section, the Administrator shall notify the 
Congress of the intention to initiate the rulemaking.

SEC. 5. CLEANUP REPORTS.

    (a) Requirement.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency shall transmit to Congress a report on 
the progress of cleanup activities with respect to Hurricanes Katrina 
and Rita.
    (b) Contents of Report.--Each report required by subsection (a) 
shall specify the following:
            (1) The number of full-time equivalent personnel of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency allocated to such cleanup 
        activities.
            (2) The persons to whom major contracts are awarded for 
        such cleanup activities and the amount of such contracts.
            (3) The number and location of contaminated sites that have 
        been identified.
            (4) The number of sites with the following stages of the 
        cleanup process complete: site identification and 
        investigation, remedial investigation/feasibility study, 
        remedial selection, remedial design, and remedial construction.
            (5) For each identified site referred to in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) the type of contaminants discovered;
                    (B) the extent of contamination in soil, surface 
                water, and groundwater;
                    (C) the number of emergency removals conducted;
                    (D) the number of long-term remedial actions 
                implemented or planned;
                    (E) the annual expenditure of funds for all 
                necessary response actions;
                    (F) the estimated costs of completing all necessary 
                response actions; and
                    (G) the estimated date of completion of all 
                necessary response actions.
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