Introduction of the Superfund Reinvestment Act

Floor Speech

INTRODUCTION OF THE SUPERFUND REINVESTMENT ACT -- (Extensions of Remarks - September 24, 2007)

* Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, today I am proud to introduce, along with my colleague FRANK PALLONE, 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 1,000 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, families are at risk of 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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