TITLE(S):
POPULAR TITLE:
Superfund Reconstruction bill
SHORT TITLE AS INTRODUCED:
Superfund Acceleration Act of 1997
OFFICIAL TITLE AS INTRODUCED:
A bill to reauthorize and amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Liability, and Compensation Act of 1980, and for other purposes.
COMMITTEE(S):
COMMITTEE(S) OF REFERRAL:
Senate Environment and Public Works
SUBJECT(S):
MAJOR LEGISLATION:
Major legislation--Environmental protection
6 COSPONSORS:
Sen. Baucus - 04/01/97
Sen. Leahy - 04/01/97
Sen. Reid - 04/01/97
Sen. Graham - 04/01/97
Sen. Lieberman - 04/01/97
Sen. Boxer - 04/01/97
(AS INTRODUCED)
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Title I: Brownfields Revitalization
Title II: State Role
Title III: Community Participation
Title IV: Selection of Remedial Actions
Title V: Liability
Title VI: Federal Facilities
Title VII: Natural Resource Damages
Title VIII: Miscellaneous
Title IX: Funding
Subtitle A (sic): General Provisions
Superfund Cleanup Acceleration Act of 1997 - Title I: Brownfield Remediation and Environmental Cleanup - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a program to provide grants to States or local governments to inventory brownfield sites and conduct site assessments of brownfield sites. Defines a "brownfield site," with exceptions, as a facility that has or is suspected of having environmental contamination that: (1) could prevent the timely use, development, reuse, or redevelopment of the facility; and (2) is relatively limited in scope or severity and can be comprehensively characterized and readily analyzed.
(Sec. 102) Directs the Administrator to establish a program to provide grants to State and local governments for capitalization of loan programs for brownfield site cleanup by either the State or locality or by an owner or prospective purchaser.
(Sec. 103) Makes amounts in the Hazardous Substance Superfund (the Fund) available to carry out the grant programs of this Act. Authorizes appropriations from the Fund.
(Sec. 104) Requires reports to the Congress regarding the site assessment and loan capitalization programs.
(Sec. 105) No more than 15% of funds will be used for administrative costs and no grants will be used to pay fines or penalties.
(Sec. 106) Authorizes appropriations to carry out the site assessment and loan capitalization programs.
(Sec. 107) Prospective Purchasers - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to absolve from liability for response actions bona fide prospective purchasers to the extent liability at a facility for a release or threat thereof is based solely on ownership or operation of a facility. Gives a lien upon a facility to the United States for unrecovered response costs in any case in which there are such unrecovered costs for which the owner is not liable by reason of this Act and the facility's fair market value has increased above that which existed 180 days before the action was taken.
(Sec. 108) Innocent Landowners - Amends CERCLA, with respect to defenses to liability of an owner of after-acquired property, to deem a person to have made (under current law, "undertaken") appropriate inquiry into the property's previous ownership and uses if the person establishes that an environmental site assessment was conducted which meets specified requirements (compliance with an American Society for Testing and Materials standard or with standards issued by the President) and the person fulfills certain responsibilities concerning information compilation, exercise of appropriate care with respect to hazardous substances at the facility, and cooperation with those conducting response actions. Deems the appropriate inquiry requirements to be satisfied by a site inspection and title search that reveal no basis for further investigation in the case of property for residential or similar use purchased by a nongovernmental or noncommercial entity.
Title II: State Role - Upon application by a State, this act delegates authority to perform functions in the following categories with respect to one or more non-Federal National Priorities List (NPL) facilities in the State: (1) technical investigations, evaluations, and risk analyses; (2) information collection; (3) recommendation of timelines for effective cleanup; (4) selection of contractor(s). Describes application and performance procedures.
(Sec. 202) Allows withdrawal of delegated authority. Directs the Administrator to provide grants to States to carry out delegated functions.
(Sec. 203) The federal government (esp. the EPA) is still primarily responsible for these and other functionsóthe states are simply allowed to assist in the process. The EPA will design and ultimately authorize cleanup plans.
Title III: Community Participation - Directs the Administrator to establish Community Response Organizations to solicit views of, and communicate on behalf of, the community on issues affecting remedial action plans. Authorizes technical assistance grants to citizen groups of two or more individuals who may be affected by the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant at a facility on the State Registry or the NPL. These grants should be fairly distributed; grants need not only be given to Community Response Organizations.
Title IV: Selection of Remedial Actions - Revises remedial action selection and implementation procedures to require the Administrator to select a cost-effective action that complies with applicable Federal and State standards and that achieves the goals of protecting human health and the environment if: (1) with respect to human health, considering expected exposures associated with any future use of the land and water resources, and on the basis of a facility-specific risk evaluation (described in this Act), the action achieves a specified residual health risk of hazardous substance exposure; (2) with respect to the environment, the action protects the sustainability of ecosystems and does not pose a greater threat than a release; and (3) the action achieves certain groundwater protection standards. Prescribes groundwater protection criteria applicable to cost effective remedial action plans, considering any future use of the resource and attenuation or biodegradation that would otherwise occur.
(Sec. 402) Adds provisions regarding the use and requirements of facility-specific risk evaluations. Requires the Administrator to issue regulations that establish presumptive remedial actions for commonly encountered types of facilities with reasonably well understood contamination and exposure problems.
(Sec. 403) Prescribes procedures and time frames for final EPA notice of completion of remedial action and de-listing of a facility. Provides for release from further liability for facilities available for unrestricted use. Requires four-year reviews by EPA of facilities not available for unrestricted use.
(Sec. 404) Sets forth transition rules applicable to facilities involved in remedy selection on the date of enactment of this Act. No clean-ups currently underway will be affected by this act unless appealed by the site administrator or the EPA.
Title V: Liability - This section amends the definition of the liability under CERCLA. Only those polluters who irresponsibly neglected to see that waste was disposed of properly after 1980 will be targeted to pay for cleanup. Current, past, or future owners of the property; those who dumped before the law was in effect; or those who dumped responsible to the hazards of polluting will not be liable or be required to pay for cleanup.
(Sec. 502) Clean-up costs for contamination not caused by polluters under the criteria in Sec. 501 or by companies that are insolvent will be covered by the Fund.
(Sec. 503) If one polluter is identified as causing a portion of the pollution at a site under the criteria listed in Sec. 501, that polluter will pay for the proportion of the clean-up necessitated by that polluterís dumping.
(Sec. 504) Excludes response action contractors from the definition of "owner or operator."
(Sec. 505) Requires nonconfidential CERCLA records and reports to be released within 14 days after the information is obtained. (Current law states no time frame for public disclosure.) Requires abatement orders and settlement agreement notices to contain information concerning the evidence of the presence of each element of liability for response costs.
(Sec. 506) Absolves persons who have reached a settlement with the United States or a State from liability for claims for cost recovery on that settlement (in addition to contribution, as under current law).
(Sec. 507) All transporters, owners and operators of transportation companies will not be held liable or asked to pay for clean-up costs associated with contaminants that they transported, unless they intentionally were party to the pollution under the criteria in section 501.
Title VI: Federal Facilities - Revises provisions governing the transfer of CERCLA authorities vested in the Administrator to allow States to apply to exercise such authorities at any NPL-listed Federal facility located in the State. Prescribes procedures governing such transfers at the discretion of the EPA..
(Sec. 602) Absolves U.S. officers, employees, or agents for failure to comply with a requirement to take a response action at a Federal facility under CERCLA, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, or any other Federal or State law unless: (1) such person has not fully performed any direct or delegated responsibility to ensure inclusion in the President's budget request of sufficient response action funds; or (2) appropriated funds were available for such purpose.
(Sec. 603) Allows the President to designate NPL-listed or -proposed Federal facilities to facilitate the development of innovative technologies for remedial action. Requires a report to the Congress.
Title VII: Natural Resource Damages - Adds requirements that sums recovered by an Indian tribe for natural resources damages be used only for restoration.
(Sec. 702) Assessment and restoration of the damages to natural resources should be done faster and more efficiently. Establishes a 1 year deadline for cleanup of existing and future sites.
(Sec. 703) Requires, when both response actions and restoration measures are implemented at the same facility, that they be consistent with each other and carried out in a coordinated manner. Requires the Administrator, when evaluating and selecting remedial actions, to consider potential natural resources injuries resulting from the actions.
(Sec. 704) Allows a court, in resolving contribution claims, to allocate natural resource damages (in addition to response costs, as under current law) among liable parties.
Title VIII: Miscellaneous - Requires the National Contingency Plan to include procedures for conducting response actions which use a results-oriented approach. Requires the Administrator to amend the National Hazardous Substance Response Plan to include these procedures.
(Sec. 802) Requires annual progress reports from the EPA to Congress, a two-year deadline for the cleanup of all existing sites and mandates that future sites be cleaned within 1 year of placement on the NPL.
(Sec. 803) Prevents a cap on the establishment of new sites on the NPL.
Title IX: Funding - Subtitle A: General Provisions (sic) - Authorizes appropriations from the Fund of $30 billion for FY 1998 through 2002.
(Sec. 902) Allows payment of orphan shares as a use of the Fund.
(Sec. 903) Authorizes funds for Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry activities for FY 1998 through 2002.
(Sec. 904) Sets the following annual limitations on amounts available for FY 1998 through 2002: (1) $80 million for alternative or innovative technologies research, development, and demonstration programs; (2) $47 million, increasing $12 million per year through FY 2002, for hazardous substance research, demonstration, and training; and (3) $15 million for university research centers.
(Sec. 905) Authorizes appropriations to the Fund through FY 2002.
(Sec. 906) Sets limits on funding of community response organizations. Specifies that collected response cost recoveries will be credited to the Fund as offsetting collections.
(Sec. 907) Allows use of the Fund to reimburse potentially responsible parties following the results of an audit showing costs are unallowable or should be adjusted.
(Sec. 908) Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the Hazardous Substance Superfund (the Fund), to extend the following for four years: (1) the environmental income tax imposed upon corporations; (2) the application of the Fund financing rate (of petroleum excise tax); (3) authority to make repayable advances to the Fund; and (4) the authorization of appropriations to the Fund. Increases from $11.97 billion to $30 billion the limitation on Fund taxes that may be collected.
- -Bill Summary & Status for the 105th Congress