EPA Chief Backs Superfund ‘Polluter-Pays’ Rule

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner on Wednesday dismissed insurance industry suggestions that the controversial Superfund program be converted into a public works project, saying that the “polluter-pays” philosophy must remain the hallmark of the toxic waste cleanup endeavor.

Congress is now beginning months of hearings and debate on reauthorization of the 13-year-old program. Browner’s testimony before a Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittee marked the Administration’s first definitive statement on the subject, although the President himself has cryptically labeled Superfund a “disaster.”

In coming months, Browner said, a special committee chaired by Nature Conservancy President John Sawhill plans public meetings with all those involved in Superfund and will assess all administrative and legislative options for reforming the program.

In both prepared testimony and in response to questions Wednesday, the top EPA official said that the Administration welcomes initiatives to reform cleanup liability and cut staggering legal expenses. But she said: “We should be careful to preserve the principle of site-specific, polluter-pays liability. The parties that contribute to the liability should be responsible for the cleanup.”

In the course of the Superfund program, $13 billion in tax dollars and $7 billion in funds from polluters have been invested in cleaning up toxic waste sites.

But only a fraction of the more than 1,200 sites on the National Priorities List have been cleaned up. Thousands of lawsuits have precipitated charges of widespread unfairness in the program and some estimates of its eventual cost run to more than $700 billion.

Browner told senators the Administration and the EPA will pursue more vigorous administration of the Superfund law but she did not disagree with senators who insisted that structural changes by Congress are needed as well.

Senate and House committees are expected to conduct hearings for the remainder of the year. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said that he hopes to have legislation ready for action on the Senate floor early next year.

Besides naming the Sawhill committee to conduct a dialogue on Superfund reform over the coming months, Browner said that she has established a working group within the agency and charged it with examining steps to improve program management. A similar team is reviewing possible recommendations for changes in the law.

Key members of Congress, including Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, have urged the Administration to move ahead with preparation of its own bill for reforming Superfund when it is reauthorized.