Clean Water Act Clears Senate; Veto Uncertain

The Senate Thursday unanimously passed and sent to President Reagan an eight-year, $22-billion program to continue cleaning the nation’s rivers and lakes and to help local governments build more sewage treatment plants.

The bill, known as the Clean Water Act, faces an uncertain fate at the White House because of its high costs.

At the same time, however, the Reagan Administration’s opposition to another major piece of environmental legislation now on the President’s desk, the Superfund spending program to clean up toxic waste dumps, appeared to be softening, and a threatened veto seemed to be growing less likely.

With Congress rushing to adjourn, Reagan could pocket-veto both environmental bills by failing to act on them within 10 days of receiving them. If Congress is not in session, it could not override such vetos.

Pro-Forma Session

However, environmental advocates in the House and Senate raised the possibility of keeping both houses in “pro-forma” session to respond to any veto. Under this arrangement, members could leave Washington without actually adjourning the session, and then return to vote on an override if needed.

Senators voted 96 to 0 to adopt the same version of the Clean Water Act that the House had passed unanimously on Wednesday. During debate, chief sponsors of the measure from both parties implored the President to sign it.

“In my judgment, a veto would be a dramatic and drastic mistake,” said Sen. John H. Chafee (R-R.I.). Sen. George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) added that “it will be a tragic day, a sad day, for the nation if the President vetoes this legislation.”

The biggest portion of the Clean Water Act provides $18 billion through 1994 for local sewage treatment systems and other projects to curb pollution of the nation’s lakes, streams and estuaries.

The legislation also would put federal loan money into state revolving funds to help finance sewer projects after the federal grant program ends. Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) said that the act “injects new funds into the loan program that is used extensively by water districts throughout California to rehabilitate and restore their water distribution and supply systems.”

Frees Water for California

The bill also would free an additional 1 million acre feet of water annually for Southern California.

The $9-billion Superfund bill has drawn opposition from some presidential advisers because it would create a broad-based tax on corporations and substantially raise taxes on the oil industry. The package also calls for a 1-cent tax on gasoline to raise $500 million to clean up leaks from underground storage tanks.

An Administration source said that chances of a veto are “an even-money bet” but added that “things may be tilting toward a signature now.” White House officials were reported to be working with Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) to come up with a formula that would allow Reagan to sign the legislation without fully endorsing its tax component.

Dole has gotten 40 senators to sign a letter pledging that the special Superfund tax will not be increased in future years or used for any other purpose. In urging Reagan to sign the bill, the letter says in part:

“Even though many of us agree with your (opposing) views on the broad-based tax, we believe strongly that there is no other workable formula for reauthorizing the Superfund program.”

Staff writer Eleanor Clift contributed to this story.