EDF Applauds "Children's Protection and Community Clean-up Act"

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today applauded the introduction by Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), John Lewis (D-GA) and others of the Children’s Protection and Community Clean-up Act. The measure was introduced with more than 40 original co-sponsors.

“The bill introduced today will enhance cleanups, reduce litigation, and improve community right-to-know,” said EDF senior attorney Karen Florini. “This bill is a breath of fresh air compared to most of the other Superfund bills introduced to date in this Congress. Those bills have largely emphasized revamping Superfund to make it less onerous for industry. It is essential to remember that the most urgent needs are to ensure that cleanups effectively protect the public, particularly children and other sensitive groups, and preserve groundwater as a resource for the future. It’s also important to assure that communities get better information and opportunities to participate in cleanup decisions. The bill introduced today accomplishes all that and more.”

Among other provisions, the bill requires use of cleanup standards that expressly protect children’s health, and assures protection of land and water resources. The bill also maintains Superfund’s polluter-pays approach while adopting provisions to curtail polluters’ abuses of the contribution system. In addition, the bill strengthens community right-to-know about toxics and inadequately tested chemicals, adds environmental justice features such as mandatory evaluation of potential Superfund sites in certain economically distressed areas, and enhances community participation.

“The Pallone-Lewis bill contrasts dramatically with H.R. 3000, introduced last fall by Rep. Mike Oxley (R-OH), Chairman of the Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Finance and Hazardous Materials, and others. The Commerce bill erodes polluter-pays liability principles, fails to assure treatment of even highly toxic hot spots, heavily emphasizes cost in cleanup decisions, lets unlimited amounts of clean ground water get dirty, allows states to take over cleanups without assuring public involvement, and has a host of other flaws,” said Florini.