B. H.R. 7020-Hazardous Waste Containment Act1 Trust fund purposes H.R. 7020 creates a Hazardous Waste Response Trust Fund to address the release of hazardous waste from inactive waste sites to land, air, or ground water. The bill does not deal with the release of oil or other pollutants into the navigable waters of the United States. The trust fund may be used, to the extent provided in appropriations. to pay for (1) containment or removal of hazardous wastes released or in danger of being released into the environment, (2) emergency assistance to minimize the damages resulting from the release or threat of release, and (3) the reimbursement of expenses incurred in cleanup of hazardous waste releases. Rules for liability are provided, and the trust fund may seek to recover its expenses from responsible parties. In addition, the bill as amended requires annual reports to the Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury on the operation and status of the trust fund. Trust fund revenues The trust fund would be constituted from excise taxes, appropriations, and from recoveries from, and penalties imposed on, persons liable for the release of hazardous wastes. An estimated $1.2 billion would go into the trust fund over a 4-year period. Appropriations to the trust fund in the amount of $300 million over 4 years would be authorized. The remaining $900 million would be raised by excise taxes on crude oil, specified petrochemical feedstocks and specified inorganic substances. These excise taxes are expected to raise $164 million in fiscal year 1981 and $179 million per year in fiscal years 1982 through 1985 as shown in the table below. ESTIMATED REVENUE EFFECTS FROM EXCISE TAXES ON PETROLEUM AND SPECIFIED CHEMICALS IN H.R. 7020 The excise tax and other provisions of H.R. 7020 would be effective October 1, 1980. The excise taxes would terminate after September 30, 1985, and payments out of the trust fund would be prohibited after September 30, 1985, unless further actions are taken by the Congress. 1 H. Rept. 96-1016, parts I and II. This description refers to the bill as amended v the Committee on Ways and Means. IV. ADMINISTRATION PROPOSAL The Administration's proposal for a comprehensive fund (or "superfund") to compensate for environmental damages from hazardous lischarges is substantially embodied in S. 1341 (introduced by request). The bill would create an "Oil, Hazardous Substances and Hazardous Waste Liability Fund," that would be used, to the extent provided in appropriations, to pay for cleanup costs; and, in the case of spills, (1) damages resulting from injury to, or destruction of, real or personal property; (2) damages resulting from injury to, or destruction of, natural resources; and (3) damages resulting from loss of opportunity to harvest marine life due to injury to, or destruction of, natural resources. The fund would be constituted from $1.625 billion in fees and appropriations (over a 4-year period), from recoveries from, and penalties imposed on, persons liable for releases of oil and hazardous substance, and from amounts presently held in other environmental funds that would be merged into the single fund contemplated in the bill. Appropriations to the fund in the amount of $325 million over 4 years ($50 million in fiscal 1981) would be authorized. The Secretary of the Treasury would be required to impose fees (within specific limits) on oil refiners and exporters, petrochemical feedstock suppliers, and suppliers of inorganic elements and compounds to generate $1.3 billion in revenue over a 4-year period ($200 million in fiscal 1981). The precise amount of the fee with respect to any particular substance would be set by regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. Assessment and collection of the fees would be accomplished by the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service under the same rules as apply in assessment and collection of manufacturers excise taxes. The fee and other provisions of S. 1341 would become effective with the first month beginning on or after the 180th day after enactment, and would be the subject of a comprehensive report to Congress within three years of the effective date. (15) Source: Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, March 1979. O Penalities and appro- No established size. All penalties No established Appropriations. Appropriations. Civil penalties, fees, size. No established size. No established limit. |