[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 23 (Monday, February 6, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     SUPERFUND LIABILITY MORATORIUM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 1995, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Canady] is recognized 
during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CANADY of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer an avenue 
of relief to small businesses and individuals throughout the country 
who have done nothing wrong, but are nonetheless being held liable for 
the expensive task of Superfund site clean up.
  As you know, Mr. Speaker, Congress passed the Superfund law in 1980 
to clean up the country's most polluted waste sites. The merits of the 
Superfund effort are without question. Superfund sites are 
environmental disaster areas which have a clear potential for impact on 
public health and safety. Superfund sites must be cleaned up.
  But while the Superfund law may have a noble purpose, the details are 
a nightmare. The framers of Superfund, adhering to the concept of 
``polluter pays,'' created a scheme of joint and several and 
retroactive liability. This wrongheaded provision has forced many 
individuals and small businesses to pay a portion of the clean up costs 
although they are not in fact responsible for the pollution.
  Mr. Speaker, this structure has resulted in a notorious tangle of 
litigation and enforcement, and it has wreaked havoc on the lives of 
innocent citizens while accomplishing very little in the way of actual 
clean up.
  These innocent individuals had no knowledge of the release of 
hazardous substances into the environment. They were simply trying to 
do the right thing by contracting with a third party for proper 
disposal. Now they are liable, under Superfund, for the cleanup of 
environmental disasters they did not create.
  Such liability without culpability is patently unfair. It runs 
contrary to common sense and the fundamental requirements of justice. 
Further, it can be financially devastating to innocent individuals who 
are caught in the Superfund trap.
  There is general agreement, in this body and elsewhere, that the 
Superfund liability structure must be changed. I am aware that the 
appropriate committees and subcommittees in both Houses of Congress are 
working on a comprehensive reform effort. I support this effort.
  However, as Congress debates the shape and scope of reform, 
individuals in my district and elsewhere continue to be pursued and 
persecuted for something they did not do. This is not right, Mr. 
Speaker. We must stop this injustice and prevent this law from further 
disrupting the lives of innocent individuals.
  It is for this reason that I introduced H.R. 795 last week to provide 
relief for innocent parties while we proceed with comprehensive reform 
of the law. My bill instructs the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency [EPA] to cease all agency actions against the 
nonpolluters. It also places a moratorium on the authority for 
contribution actions under the statute.
  It is important, Mr. Speaker, to explain what my bill does not do. It 
does not abolish the Superfund Program, it does not repeal Superfund 
funding authority and it does not stop the clean up of Superfund sites. 
It allows the EPA to continue its enforcement actions against the true 
polluters--the culpable owners and operators of the contaminated sites 
and all others who had prior knowledge of illegal or environmentally 
harmful disposal activities.
  H.R. 795 simply suspends the practice of financing Superfund clean 
ups on the backs of innocent people who had no knowledge of wrongdoing 
and no intent to harm the environment.
  This legislation is needed to provide relief to the innocent 
individuals caught in the Superfund liability trap. The Superfund 
nightmare has gone on far too long. We should stop the injustice 
without further delay. I encourage my colleagues to join me in this 
effort.


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