[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 124 (Thursday, August 25, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                NEED TO PASS SUPERFUND REFORM THIS YEAR

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, the Senate will recess today until 
September 12. When we come back, we will have a very full agenda to 
complete before we adjourn for the year. If we adjourn in early 
October, as planned, we will have only 20 legislative days remaining. I 
urge the Senate to move forward quickly at that time to reform the 
Superfund program by enacting the Superfund Reform Act of 1994, S. 
1834.
  A year and a half ago, the Senate Superfund subcommittee, which I 
chair, began a series of hearings on necessary reforms to make this 
program work better. We heard from over 80 witnesses from every sector 
affected by this legislation: businesses, environmental groups, 
community groups, and government officials from the Federal, State, and 
local levels. EPA reported that, after a troubled start, the Superfund 
program has successfully completed the cleanup of approximately 240 of 
the 1300 National Priority List sites, and cleanup is well underway at 
the remaining sites. Emergency removals have been undertaken at over 
2,400 sites. The Federal Government has succeeded in obtaining cleanup 
commitments worth over $8.3 billion from responsible parties, saving 
the taxpayers from this burden. The enforcement program has produced 
nine dollars of cleanup from responsible parties for every dollar of 
government enforcement expenditure.
  But, of course there are many problems with the current program. Too 
much money is going to lawyers and not enough to cleanup. Cleanups are 
taking longer than they should, and may not be as cost-effective as 
they can be. Small businesses and municipalities are being harrassed 
with frivolous lawsuits by the real polluters, who are trying to spread 
the costs of cleanup to other, innocent parties or to taxpayers. 
Economic development is stifled, as lenders and prospective property 
purchasers are scared off by the fear of acquiring Superfund liability. 
Communities are being shut out of the cleanup process.
  Over the past 18 months, an unprecedented consensus has grown up 
around a single package of reform measures--embodied in the bill which 
Senator Baucus and I introduced last February. The Administration 
estimates that this bill will slash private litigation costs in half, 
speed up cleanups by 20-25 percent, reduce the cost of cleanups by 20 
percent, and give communities a much greater say in how the sites in 
their neighborhood should be cleaned up.
  The reform package will also create jobs. Tens of thousands of jobs 
and hundreds of millions of dollars of economic redevelopment will be 
stimulated by promoting voluntary cleanups of contaminated sites. These 
provisions stem from separate legislation that I introduced last year, 
the Voluntary Environmental Cleanup and Economic Redevelopment Act, S. 
773. In addition, the Superfund reform bill will shield municipalities 
and small businesses from the harrassing lawsuits and disproportionate 
litigation expenditures encountered under the current law. Qualified 
States, with experience in cleaning up contaminated properties, will be 
given a much greater role in overseeing the cleanup of sites within 
their borders, erasing the duplication between State and Federal 
Governments which has slowed down cleanup in the past.

  These are just a few of the sweeping reforms the Superfund bill 
contains. An unprecedented coalition comprised of traditional 
adversaries have worked together and support this bill. This coalition 
includes environmentalists, community groups, the small business 
community, local officials, lenders, and even the insurance industry. 
All of them want to fix Superfund and reform the program. I ask 
unanimous consent to include in the Record a list of the groups which 
support the improvements to the law embodied in my bill.
  The importance of reforming Superfund, one of the Federal 
Government's largest and most complex environmental programs, is 
reflected in congressional action taken to date. The House Energy and 
Commerce Committee reported the counterpart bill by a vote of 44-0. The 
House Public Works and Transportation Committee reported the bill 
unanimously, as did the House Ways and Means Committee. The Senate 
Environment and Public Works Committee approved the bill by a 13-4, 
bipartisan vote.
  Mr. President, we have made significant progress in getting a reform 
measure approved by Congress during this session. But time is short. 
Because of the inevitable crunch of business at the end of the Session, 
the enemies of Superfund reform hope to run out the clock and kill the 
bill by simply declining to act expeditiously.
  Mr. President, we have seen gridlock on bill after bill this year. 
We've seen partisanship and rancor destroy important legislation. For 
there will be a price to letting the philosophy of gridlock that we 
have seen too much of this year spill over onto Superfund. If the bill 
is not passed this year, we'll have more litigation, slower cleanups, 
higher local tax bills, and the public will lose. The communities who 
stand to benefit from reform will only twist in the wind for another 2 
years--or more--simply because a few key Senators declined to act 
expeditiously.
  Mr. President, I hope we can work in a bipartisan fashion to get this 
bill enacted into law in the very short time we have left. The Senate 
should not lose this opportunity and allow the politics of gridlock to 
kill a package of reforms that can bring economic and environmental 
benefits to our citizens. The 73 million Americans who live near a 
Superfund site are counting on us.

                          Support for the Bill

       As of early August, the following groups have indicated 
     their support of improvements and added fairness embodied in 
     the Superfund Reform Act of 1994:
       Aetna Life and Casualty.
       AgriBank.
       Allied Signal Inc.
       American Automobile Manufacturers Association.
       American Bankers Association.
       American Baptist Foundation.
       American Bible Society.
       American Communities for Cleanup Equity.
       American Council on Gift Annuities.
       American Insurance Association.
       American International Group.
       American Land Title Association.
       American Leprosy Missions, Inc.
       American Planning Association.
       Ameican Public Works Association.
       Amoco Corporation.
       Andrews University.
       ARCO.
       Ashland Oil, Inc.
       Associated Builders & Contractors.
       Association of American Railroads.
       AT&T.
       BancOne.
       Bank of America.
       The Bankers Roundtable.
       Bankers Trust Company.
       Baptist Foundation of Texas.
       Barnett Banks, Inc.
       The Boeing Company.
       B P America, Inc.
       Browning-Ferris Industries.
       California Bankers Association.
       Chemical Manufacturers Association.
       Chemical Specialities Manufacturers Association.
       Chevron Corporation.
       Childrens Medical Foundation of Texas.
       Chrysler Corporation.
       The Chubb Corporation.
       Ciba Geigy.
       Clean Sites.
       Commission on Development, United Church of Christ.
       The Dow Chemical Company.
       DuPont.
       ELCA Foundation, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.
       Environmental Capital Corporation.
       Environmental Defense Fund.
       Equipment Leasing Association.
       Farm Credit Bank.
       Farm Credit Bank of Baltimore.
       Farm Credit Council.
       Financial Commissioner, State of Montana.
       First Chicago Corporation.
       FMC Corporation.
       General Board of Discipleship, United Methodist Church.
       General Conference of 7th Day Adventists.
       General Motors.
       Good Shepard Foundation.
       Hercules Incorporated.
       Hummelstein Iron & Metal, Inc.
       Independent Bankers Association of America.
       Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries.
       Lloyd's of London.
       Loma Linda University.
       Ludy Bible Institute.
       Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.
       The Mennonite Foundation.
       Monsanto Company.
       Mortgage Bankers Association.
       Mt. Holyoke College.
       The Municipal Waste Management Association.
       The National Association of Counties.
       National Association of Surety Bond Producers.
       National Association of Towns and Townships.
       National Committee on Planned Giving.
       National Federation of Independent Business.
       The National Paint and Coatings Association.
       National Realty Committee.
       National School Boards Association.
       Natural Resources Defense Council.
       New Butte Mining, Plc.
       Northwestern University.
       Olin.
       Printing Industries of America.
       Rohm and Haas Company.
       Salvation Army.
       Savings & Community Bankers of America.
       Sierra Club.
       Smith College.
       Sparten Iron & Metal Corporation.
       Trail Chemical Corporation.
       Union Pacific Corporation.
       The United States Conference of Mayors.
       United Way of America.
       WMX Technologies.

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