[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 9 (Thursday, January 15, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             INTRODUCTION OF THE SUPERFUND REINVESTMENT ACT

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                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 15, 2009

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing the ``Superfund 
Reinvestment Act,'' which would reauthorize the corporate taxes that 
fund the Superfund trust fund. This bill will reestablish the polluter 
pays principle and our commitment to cleaning up the Nation's most 
hazardous sites.
  The Environmental Protection Agency's, EPA, Superfund program was 
created in 1980 to provide money to clean up the nation's worst 
hazardous waste sites where the party responsible for polluting was out 
of business or could not be identified. Before they expired in 1995, 
the money for the Superfund trust fund came mainly from taxes on the 
polluters themselves. The program has contributed to the cleanup of 
over 1000 sites around the country. Because Congress has not 
reauthorized the taxes, the burden of funding cleanups of toxic waste 
sites now falls on the shoulders of taxpaying Americans. Reauthorizing 
the Superfund tax would ensure that polluters--not the American 
public--pay to restore public health.
  Superfund sites contain toxic contaminants that have been detected in 
drinking water wells, creeks and rivers, backyards, playgrounds, and 
streets. Communities impacted by these sites can face restrictions on 
water use, gardening and recreational activities as well as economic 
losses as property values decline due to contaminated land. In the 
worst cases, residents of these communities can face health problems 
such as cardiac impacts, infertility, low birth weight, birth defects, 
leukemia, and respiratory difficulties.
  Until they expired in 1995, the superfund taxes generated around $1.7 
billion a year to clean up these hazardous areas. The ``Superfund 
Reinvestment Act'' would simply reinstate the taxes as they were before 
they expired. This will provide a stable source of funding to continue 
cleaning up sites around the country as well as give the EPA the tools 
it needs to clean up sites and then recover the costs from liable 
parties who do not undertake the work themselves.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in working to strengthen the 
Superfund program and ensure that it continues to help keep our 
communities and our families safe, healthy, and economically secure.

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