Superfund Underfunding -- since 2002

[Timber Loftis]

Today's BNA reporter:

Bigger Increase in Spending May Be Needed
For Superfund Cleanups Than 2005 Request

While a boost in funding for the superfund program is needed, the increase the administration requested for fiscal year 2005 is not enough to clean up all the sites awaiting remediation actions, environmental advocates and congressional sources told BNA.
The Bush administration requested $1.381 billion for the superfund program in its fiscal 2005 budget released Feb. 2. That would be an increase of $124 million over the $1.257 billion Congress appropriated to the agency for superfund for fiscal 2004.

That increase, a top superfund official told BNA Feb. 2, would go entirely toward long-term remedial projects at superfund sites across the country. The increase, if received, would fund an additional 10-15 cleanup projects that are ready to begin, but have not yet received adequate funding, according to Marianne Lamont Horinko, EPA's assistant administrator for solid waste and emergency response.


Shortfall Since 2002

The superfund program has been facing a funding shortfall since fiscal 2002, the first year not all cleanup construction projects ready to begin were able to be funded. In fiscal 2003, funding was not available for projects at 10 sites that were ready to begin at that time and had requested funding from the agency (214 DEN A-2, 11/5/03 ).
EPA has acknowledged the shortfall, and has convened a federal advisory panel to make recommendations on future management of the program, including how to fund the struggling superfund.

In fiscal 2004, EPA requested roughly an additional $120 million for the superfund program over fiscal 2003 levels. However, Congress approved $1.257 billion, a $15 million decrease from the $1.272 billion the program received in fiscal 2003.

Critics of the Bush administration's management of the superfund program told BNA that the requested increase for fiscal 2005 is not adequate for the shortfall the agency has faced over the past few years.


Program 'Woefully Underfunded.'

"While any increase is good, the administration continues to woefully underfund the premiere program" for cleanup of toxic sites across the country, Grant Cope, an environmental representative participating in the federal advisory panel review, told BNA Feb. 4.
The agency, however, said the projects that did not get funded in fiscal 2003 are estimated to have a total cleanup cost of $25 million and will be considered again for funding in 2004 and in 2005. However, the agency expects other sites to be ready for cleanup in 2004 and 2005 in addition to the projects that did not get funded in 2003.

"Every year there are new starts," or sites that are identified as ready for cleanup, Horinko told BNA. "We don't know yet a number for how many there may be in fiscal 2005, or what their priority [for cleanup] will be," she said, adding sites ready for construction to begin are prioritized by the agency every July. "So, we'll know more later in the year," she said.


Congress' Actions Unknown

Some critics also expressed skepticism that Congress will approve the $124 million increase.
Another source representing an environmental organization who is a member of the advisory panel said it remains to be seen whether the $124 million increase will be approved by "the Republican-controlled Congress."

In a draft report, the panel included a recommendation for the agency to request an increase in funding for superfund over the next few years to overcome the shortfall (239 DEN A-6, 12/12/03 ).

While Horinko would not comment directly on any draft recommendation from the advisory panel, she told BNA, "I think whatever [the panel] says [in its final report] is bound to be very influential" and "will definitely have an impact on" members of Congress. The panel's final recommendations are due in March.


Projected Completions Criticized

House and Senate sources criticized the administration's budget request for EPA's projection that it would complete cleanup construction at a total of 40 sites in fiscal 2005. Sen. James Jeffords (I-Vt.), the ranking minority member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said that rate is significantly less than the average of 87 sites a year achieved during the final years of the Clinton administration.
The agency has defended its cleanup accomplishments, saying a large number of easier sites were cleaned up earlier, and now there are a large number of complex sites to be remediated that will take longer and cost more.

The agency also predicted that in fiscal 2005 it will make 500 final site-assessment decisions under superfund, control exposures at 10 sites at which humans are exposed to contaminants, control migration of contaminated groundwater at 10 groundwater exposure sites, and select final remedies at 20 sites.

By Meredith Preston