[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1179 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1179

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the financing for 
  Superfund for purposes of cleanup activities with respect to those 
 Superfund sites for which removal and remedial action is estimated to 
          cost more than $50,000,000, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 20, 2007

   Mr. Casey introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the financing for 
  Superfund for purposes of cleanup activities with respect to those 
 Superfund sites for which removal and remedial action is estimated to 
          cost more than $50,000,000, 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 Equity and Megasite 
Remediation Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, 
        and Liability Act of 1980 established a Federal Superfund trust 
        fund for the purpose of hazardous substance removal and 
        remediation at sites across the Nation.
            (2) The release of hazardous substances may threaten and 
        impair public health, the local environment, community 
        infrastructure, the economy, and social well being.
            (3) The Environmental Protection Agency has evaluated more 
        than 45,000 sites and has currently listed 1,086 non-Federal 
        sites on the National Priorities List.
            (4) One in 4 Americans lives within 3 miles of a Superfund 
        site.
            (5) The expiration of the Superfund crude oil, chemical 
        feedstock, and corporate taxes in 1995 has contributed to a 
        funding shortfall and has shifted the burden of cleanup to the 
        general public, which has prevented numerous Superfund sites 
        from receiving new construction funding in fiscal years 2004, 
        2005, and 2006 and slowed the pace of existing cleanups.
            (6) Delayed and slowed Superfund cleanup actions magnify 
        public health risks and increase total remediation costs.
            (7) Responsible parties or potentially responsible parties 
        would continue to be liable for hazardous releases under the 
        Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
        Liability Act of 1980 after reestablishment of Superfund taxes.
            (8) Although costs vary from site to site, costs at some 
        sites are substantial and place a greater demand on the 
        Hazardous Substance Superfund resources to clean up 
        contamination.
            (9) The Environmental Protection Agency generally considers 
        Superfund sites where cleanup costs exceed $50,000,000 to be 
        megasites.
            (10) Megasites typically are among the larger, more 
        complex, and more severely contaminated of sites, presenting 
        the greatest cleanup challenges. As such, megasites are a 
        substantial factor driving future funding needs to clean up 
        hazardous substances under the Superfund program.
            (11) The Environmental Protection Agency commits a large 
        percentage of annual Superfund obligations for long-term 
        ongoing cleanup work at only a few sites. These megasites 
        siphon funding from other Superfund sites and result in 
        construction delays. In fiscal year 2006, 45 percent of funds 
        for Superfund construction and post-construction activities 
        went to only 14 sites.
            (12) As more megasites move beyond the analysis and design 
        phase into actual construction, funding needs for these sites 
        will increase. The average annual cost per megasite is 
        projected to be at least $140,000,000.
            (13) Megasites differ from non-megasites in that they 
        require more resources over the long term to address 
        complexities associated with developing remedies and cleaning 
        up contamination that can cover many square miles and may 
        involve multiple communities, responsible parties, Indian 
        Tribes, or States.
            (14) For some megasites there is no ascertainable final 
        remedy because remediation may involve decades of sequential 
        actions, and institutional controls may be required in 
        perpetuity. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 
        more than half of the mining sites currently listed on the 
        National Priorities List will require operation and maintenance 
        in perpetuity.
            (15) Responsible parties may not be able to fund megasite 
        remediation activities that are anticipated to last for decades 
        or longer. The lack of a dedicated revenue stream raises 
        serious concerns about how a remediation program expected to 
        last for decades, if not centuries, can be successfully 
        implemented.
            (16) At megasites with no viable responsible parties, the 
        Federal Government pays 90 percent of the construction costs, 
        with the State paying the other 10 percent. Once construction 
        is completed, the State is solely responsible for paying all 
        operation and maintenance costs, a time frame that for many 
        megasites may extend in perpetuity.

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.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 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 the Superfund 
        Equity and Megasite Remediation Act of 2007 or if later, the 
        date which is 30 days after the last day of any calendar 
        quarter for which the Secretary estimates that, as of the close 
        of that quarter, the unobligated balance in the Hazardous 
        Substance Superfund is less than $5,700,000,000.
            ``(2) No tax if unobligated balance in fund exceeds 
        $5,700,000,000.--The Hazardous Substance Superfund financing 
        rate shall not apply during a calendar quarter if the Secretary 
        estimates that, as of the close of the preceding calendar 
        quarter, the unobligated balance in the Hazardous Substance 
        Superfund exceeds $5,700,000,000.''.
            (2) Corporate environmental income tax.--Section 59A(e) of 
        such Code is amended to read as follows:
    ``(e) Application of Tax.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 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 the Superfund Equity and Megasite Remediation Act of 2007 or 
        if later, the date which is 30 days after the last day of any 
        calendar quarter for which the Secretary estimates that, as of 
        the close of that quarter, the unobligated balance in the 
        Hazardous Substance Superfund is less than $5,700,000,000.
            ``(2) No tax if unobligated balance in fund exceeds 
        $5,700,000,000.--The tax imposed by this section shall not 
        apply during a calendar quarter if the Secretary estimates 
        that, as of the close of the preceding calendar quarter, the 
        unobligated balance in the Hazardous Substance Superfund 
        exceeds $5,700,000,000.''.
            (3) Technical amendments.--
                    (A) Section 4611(b) of such Code 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 of Certain Superfund 
Sites.--
            (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 cleanup of certain 
        superfund sites.--During the period beginning on January 1, 
        2008, and ending on December 31, 2012, 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:
    ``(d) Temporary Increase To Fund Cleanup of Certain Superfund 
Sites.--During the period beginning on January 1, 2008, and ending on 
December 31, 2012, 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 cleanup of certain superfund sites.--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, 
        2008, and ending on or before December 31, 2012, 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 Megasites and High Risk Sites Cleanup 
Account.--
            ``(1) Creation of account.--There is established in the 
        Hazardous Substance Superfund a separate account to be known as 
        the `Megasites and High Risk Sites Cleanup Account' consisting 
        of such amounts as may be transferred or credited to the 
        Megasites and High Risk Sites Cleanup Account as provided in 
        this subsection or section 9602(b).
            ``(2) Transfers to account.--The Secretary shall transfer 
        to the Megasites and High Risk Sites 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 (d) thereof, and
                    ``(D) the increase in the tax imposed under section 
                4671 by reason of the increase in tax under section 
                4661(d).
            ``(3) Expenditures from account.--Amounts in the Megasites 
        and High Risk Sites Cleanup Account shall be available, as 
        provided by appropriation Acts, for making expenditures in 
        accordance with section 4 of the Superfund Equity and Megasite 
        Remediation Act of 2007.
            ``(4) Reversion of unexpended funds.--Amounts remaining in 
        the Megasites and High Risk Sites Cleanup Account shall revert 
        to the Hazardous Substance Superfund on the date which is the 
        later of--
                    ``(A) December 31, 2013, 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 Megasites Cleanup and High Risk Sites Account 
established under section 9507(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
shall be used only for making expenditures in accordance with such 
section 9507(f) with respect to any site on the National Priorities 
List under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act of 1980 (``Superfund'')--
            (1) at which response is cumulatively estimated by the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to cost 
        more than $50,000,000, or
            (2) the Administrator has designated as presenting high 
        health risks, including sites where hazardous substance 
        exposure to humans remains uncontrolled,
until such time as the Administrator 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. ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency shall submit to the Congress each year, not later than 45 days 
after the date on which the President submits to the Congress the 
budget for a fiscal year, a report on the progress of response actions 
funded by the Hazardous Substance Superfund with respect to each non-
Federal site placed on the National Priorities List.
    (b) Contents of Report.--Each such report shall include, with 
respect to response actions at each site, the following:
    (1) A statement of the number of sites at which a hazardous 
substance has been identified.
    (2) A statement of the status of response actions proposed for or 
initiated at each site.
    (3) A statement of the total cost estimated for such response 
actions at each site.
    (4) A statement of the amount of funds obligated by the 
Administrator for such response actions at each site, and the progress 
made in implementing the response actions at each site during the 
fiscal year preceding the year in which the report is submitted, 
including an explanation of--
            (A) any cost overruns for such response actions, if the 
        amount of funds obligated for those response actions exceeds 
        the estimated cost for those response actions by the greater of 
        15 percent of the estimated cost or $10,000,000; and
            (B) any deviation in the schedule of more than 180 days for 
        such response actions at each site.
    (5) A statement of the amount of funds allocated by the 
Administrator for, and the anticipated progress in implementing, such 
response actions during the fiscal year in which the report is 
submitted.
    (6) A statement of the amount of funds requested for such response 
actions for the 5 fiscal years following the fiscal year in which the 
report is submitted, and the anticipated progress in implementing such 
response actions for the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted.
    (7) A statement of the total costs incurred for such response 
actions as of the date of the submission of the report.
    (8) A statement of the estimated cost of completing all response 
actions required with respect to each site, including, where relevant, 
the estimated cost of such activities in each of the 5 fiscal years 
following the fiscal year in which the report is submitted.
    (9) A statement of the estimated schedule for completing all 
response actions at each site.
    (10) A statement of the activities, if any, including expenditures 
for grants awarded to communities for technical assistance.
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