S. 1090 includes many provisions that have enjoyed widespread bipartisan support in the Senate, provisions included in bills supported by Democrats and Republicans over the past six years. Working together with Senators Baucus and Lautenberg, I am confident we can effect real legislative reform on some of Superfund's more immediate problems.
S. 1090 will provide $100 million in grants for state, tribal and local governments to identify, assess and redevelop Brownfields sites. It protects prospective purchasers of contaminated sites, innocent owners of properties adjacent to the source of contamination, and innocent property owners who exercised due diligence upon purchase.
Our bill exempts small businesses and contributors of very small amounts of hazardous and municipal solid waste. S. 1090 limits the liability of larger generators or transporters of municipal solid waste, as well as owners or operators of co-disposal landfills where municipal solid waste is disposed. The bill limits the liability of so-called de minimis parties, as well as municipalities and small businesses with a limited ability to pay.
Cleanup is complete or underway at over 90 percent of the sites on the current National Priorities List. While EPA is cleaning up the sites at a rate of 85 per year, only an average of 26 per year are listed. In 1998, GAO surveyed the states and EPA about the 3,000 sites identified as potential NPL sites. Of these sites, only 232 were identified as likely to be listed on the NPL. Clearly, this program will be getting smaller.
S. 1090 requires EPA to plan how it will proceed at those 3,000 sites. We know that most of these sites will be cleaned up by states, not by EPA. Under S. 1090, new NPL listings must be requested by the Governor of the affected state.
The bill allows the program to be funded from either general revenues or the Trust Fund. Senator Smith and I have said that the Superfund taxes should not be reimposed absent comprehensive Superfund reform. If EPA improves its cost recovery performance and the Trust Fund balance exceeds levels needed to fund liability relief, it can be used for Superfund cleanup.
I cannot understand why anyone would fail to support this bill. It accelerates Brownfields redevelopment and strengthens state programs. It limits or eliminates liability for many parties caught in Superfund's broad liability net, and it does not undermine the "polluter pays" principle, but instead strengthens it.
The Committee will markup S. 1090 soon after returning from the Memorial Day recess. It is my hope that the bill will be ready for floor action prior to the Fourth of July. I look forward to working with Committee members and the Administration as we focus on the future of the Superfund program.