From Democrats.com: Superfund to Run out of Money, GAO Says. and from the Washington Post site that printed - as shown below - that Clinton caused the problem we find that "The Clinton administration did seek reauthorization of special Superfund taxes on industry after the taxes expired in 1995." reversing the lie in the article - but somehow the Washington Post chokes and is unable to say that it was the GOP and Bush, solely and on their own, that killed Superfund financing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17103-2003Sep2.htmlSuperfund To Run Out Of Money, GAO Says
By Eric Pianin Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 3, 2003; Page A15
An industry-financed trust fund that for years helped offset the cost of Superfund cleanup projects will run out of money next month, placing added demands on the federal budget to meet the cost of cleaning up some of the worst hazardous waste sites in the country, according to a new General Accounting Office study.While the trust fund has declined from as much as $2 billion in 1995 to a few hundred million dollars this year, the Environmental Protection Agency has continued to add sites to the National Priorities List (NPL) of the most contaminated sites."The Superfund program's need for federal cleanup funds to address sites that lack alternative sources of cleanup funds may grow in the future, while the program's funding from sources other than general fund appropriations dwindles," the GAO said. The report noted that because the Superfund lacks indicators to fully measure the cleanup efforts, the EPA has asked an advisory council to develop criteria by which to measure the program's progress.Superfund spending has remained relatively constant over the past six years -- between $1.3 billion and $1.7 billion annually. In the past, revenue from a special tax on the chemical and oil industries and an environmental tax on corporations was used to pay for the cleanup of abandoned "orphan sites," of which the responsible party could not be identified or is unable to pay.Those taxes expired in 1995, and President Bill Clinton and President Bush did not asked Congress to reauthorize them. Democrats have criticized Bush for failing to put the cleanup program on a sound financial footing.<snip>