Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 28, 1995 TAG: 9503280065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Abingdon Democrat submitted a similar bill in November 1993, when his party controlled Congress. That bill passed the House, but the Senate didn't take it up before the crush of politicking overtook Capitol Hill last fall.
This time, Boucher predicts the bill will pass both chambers and go to President Clinton by the end of the year.
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., is the principal Republican sponsor, as he was for the 1993-94 effort. Both men serve on the House Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the program.
"Reforming Superfund is now a priority," Boucher said Monday in Blacksburg.
Superfund critics say the program has done more to keep lawyers in new suits than to clean up waste sites. That's because the current law holds all parties who contribute any waste to a site liable for all the costs of cleaning up the site.
"That ... has spawned huge amounts of litigation and imposed unreasonable burdens on small business," Boucher said. "It is a harsh and punitive system."
Boucher's solution is to distribute the cost of Superfund cleanups more fairly, so a polluter's liability is based on the amount of waste it contributed to a site.
"I know of no opposition to this approach," Boucher said.
The major difference between the new version and the old is how shares of liability are determined. The 1993-94 version relied on government - a three-member panel of EPA administrative judges. Under the new bill, private "allocators" - agreed to by all of the polluters and the Environmental Protection Agency - would determine each party's liability for cleanup.
As in the earlier version, the allocator would consider several factors, including each polluter's degree of involvement in a site, how much a particular contribution can be distinguished from others, and whether the polluter cooperated with authorities in preventing harm to the public and the environment.
The change "will greatly reduce the legal costs," Boucher said. "We'll be able to provide for more cleanups at less cost in the future."
Boucher added that, "Through this measure, small businesses will receive much-needed relief in the form of a more balanced and equitable process for determining Superfund liability."
by CNB