Financing Superfund.Financing Superfund Senate and House negotiators last week produced a compromise package providing $9 billion over five years to finance a new Superfund program Noun 1. Superfund program - the federal government's program to locate and investigate and clean up the worst uncontrolled and abandoned toxic waste sites nationwide; administered by the Environmental Protection Agency; "some have intimated that the Superfund's money for cleaning up toxic-waste dumps DUMPS a lethal inherited disorder of Holstein cattle that causes infertility. The name is an acronym of Deficiency of Uridine MonoPhosphate S . This action comes two months after negotiators arrived at a preliminary agreement covering everything except funding (SN:8/9/86, p.86). While the original Superfund program was financed entirely by a levy on chemical feedstocks, the new scheme also includes a special, broadly based tax on corporate earnings, a surcharge An overcharge or additional cost. A surcharge is an added liability imposed on something that is already due, such as a tax on tax. It also refers to the penalty a court can impose on a fiduciary for breaching a duty. on crude oil and $1.25 billion from general revenue. A special $500 million fund generated by a new tax on motor fuels is earmarked for cleaning up leaking underground storage tanks An Underground Storage Tank (UST), in United States environmental law, is a tank and any underground piping connected to the tank that has at least 10 percent of its combined volume underground. . The Senate overwhelmingly approved the compromise legislation last week, and the House was expected to follow the Senate's lead this week. However, because the new program includes a corporate tax affecting a wide range of industries and exceeds the $5.3 billion level that the administration prefers, President Reagan is said to be considering vetoing the bill. If Reagan were to veto the bill while Congress was still in session, both the Senate and House would probably override An arrangement whereby commissions are made by sales managers based upon the sales made by their subordinate sales representatives. A term found in an agreement between a real estate agent and a property owner whereby the agent keeps the right to receive a commission for the sale of the veto. However, if a President fails to sign a bill during the last 10 days of a congressional session, then the legislation dies automatically, and the whole process must begin again. Some members of Congress are trying to ensure that the present session lasts long enough to prevent the President from taking the latter course. While Congress and the administration continue their battle over how to finance an expanded Superfund program, the Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and (EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. ) has started to cut back its cleanup efforts. The original Superfund law expired a year ago, and since then, Congress has periodically provided emergency funding to keep the program going (SN: 3/22/86, p.185). However, those funds are again nearly gone. "Virtually no new work has been started for months," says Lee M. Thomas, EPA administrator. Furthermore, EPA's emergency response program has been operating "at a drastically reduced level." |
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