[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 137 (Saturday, September 28, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S11754]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   LEAKING UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS

 Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, earlier this week, the House passed 
H.R. 3391, a bill to amend the Leaking Underground Storage Tank 
Program.
  Given the press of time, the Senate will not be able to address and 
resolve several potential problems in the legislation before the end of 
this session. I am sorry this is the case. However, I wanted to call 
this bill to the attention of my colleagues and point out that the 
issues raised by H.R. 3391 are serious and deserve the attention of the 
Senate Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Control and Risk Assessment, 
that I chair.
  Leaking underground storage tanks have been a major source of 
groundwater contamination over a number of decades. Frequently, 
underground tanks that held petroleum products or highly toxic 
chemicals have eroded with time. These tanks have leaked their contents 
into the soil, which then washed into aquifers supplying drinking 
water. This problem is particularly acute in rural areas where a large 
proportion of the population is dependent on groundwater as their 
drinking water source.
  To curtail the impact of leaking underground storage tanks on the 
environment and the health of those dependent on groundwater, Congress 
established the Underground Tank Program in 1986. Significant elements 
of this program included the establishment of national underground 
storage tank standards which come into full force in 1998; the 
establishment of State underground storage tank programs for compliance 
with and enforcement of the national standards; and the establishment 
of an underground storage tank trust fund to assist the State programs.
  In many ways, the underground tank program provides us a model for 
cooperative federalism in an environmental cleanup program. There are 
many lessons to be learned and applied from this cleanup program to 
other programs like Superfund. Similar to the Superfund Program, 
however, the underground storage tank program is a discretionary 
spending program. Therefore, in spite of a dedicated trust fund, it has 
a significant problem.
  The problem, Mr. President, is that after a decade of collecting \1/
10\th of a cent tax on every gallon of gas sold, nearly $1 billion just 
sits in the trust fund. I believe that this money should be at work in 
the States helping to clean up leaking underground storage tanks, and I 
intend to have my subcommittee staff look further into this issue when 
the Senate reconvenes next year.

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