For Immediate Release
Wednesday, March 11, 1998

Oberstar, Democrats Say Superfund
Bill Still Needs Work
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WASHINGTON—Democrats on a House subcommittee debating reauthorization of the Superfund environmental clean-up program praised efforts by the panel’s Republican leadership to improve the legislation, but said the bill still needs more work before they can support it.
In a mark-up session Wednesday afternoon, Democratic members of the House Transportation Subcommittee on Water Resources voiced support for efforts by Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) to address some of the Democrats’ concerns, but stopped short of lending their full support to the bill. On a vote of 18-12, primarily along party lines, the subcommittee voted to report the bill to the full Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Tuesday afternoon an en bloc amendment offered by Boehlert in an attempt to win Democratic support was unanimously accepted by members of the subcommittee from both parties.
"We commend Chairman Boehlert’s efforts to incorporate several of our concerns in his en bloc amendment," said Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), ranking Democrat on the Transportation Committee. "At the same time, the amendment left a number of issues unresolved, and we cannot support the bill until those issues are resolved."
Rep. Bob Borski (D-Pa.), ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, Boehlert, EPA Administrator Carol Browner and their staffs engaged in intense negotiations for the past week to resolve the parts of the bill still of concern to committee Democrats and the Administration.
"We made tremendous progress over the past week," Borski said. "We reached agreement on a number of these issues. I firmly believe that the remaining issues can also be resolved between now and full committee mark-up."
Among the provisions of the bill the Democrats oppose:
  • Requirement that consent decrees and orders be reopened. The Democrats believe old cases should not be opened to provide trust fund money to cover the costs assessed to bankrupt, insolvent or defunct parties. Such a provision could provide millions of tax dollars to companies, even after a clean-up agreement has been reached.
  • Unequal protection for public health. The bill allows states to set standards for levels of protection at Superfund sites. It is the Democratic position that all Americans deserve equal protection under a federal program. The bill would allow a patchwork of state regulations to develop, exposing citizens of some states to more environmental danger than those in neighboring states.
  • Universal Exemption for Oil Recyclers. The Boehlert bill exempts all parties who recycled used motor oil at a contaminated site. While the Democrats believe some small-business exemptions are appropriate, such as independent service station owners or nonprofit organizations, the bill would exempt Fortune 500 corporations such as Chevron, Goodyear, Sears and Exxon.
  • Cleanup Dollars to Pay Polluters. The bill diverts funds from cleanup activities to cover liability for certain polluters. This provision slows the pace of delivery and inhibits the Superfund program from reaching its stated goal of cleaning up 900 sites by 2000.
    • Oberstar and Borski said they would prepare a Democratic substitute bill for introduction when the bill comes before the full Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

     

     
     


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    For additional information, contact:
    Jim Berard, Democratic Director of Communications
    House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
    2167a Rayburn House Office Building
    (202) 225-6260