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Printing Industries of New England 5 Crystal Pond
Road, Southborough, MA 01772-1758 The largest trade association to serve commercial printing and graphic communications companies in five New England states. |
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The Superfund law governs the disposal of hazardous waste. Hazardous waste sites are a major environmental and economic concern because they have to be cleaned up and someone must pay for them. Several years ago, PIA developed the idea of providing relief for small waste contributors to get them out of the process more quickly and at less financial risk. Our efforts were rewarded this year. PIA and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) led the effort for reform. For years, our efforts were thwarted because many in Congress wanted overall Superfund reform, and they were using the plight of small waste contributors to push the process forward. In January 2002, the President signed the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act into law. Chairman Paul Gillmor (R-OH) of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials introduced the bill last year, which provided that de minimus waste contributors to Superfund sites could be exempt from overall Superfund liability. Businesses contributing material containing a hazardous substance of 110 gallons of liquid material or less or 200 pounds of solid material or less are not liable for clean up costs under the Superfund law. Previously, EPA had the authority to recover clean up money from all waste generators, waste treaters and waste disposal site operators of present, future and past hazardous waste disposal sites. Therefore, this bill is a huge relief for businesses that fall under the de minimus contribution exemption. The bill also allocates money to the Environmental Protection Agency to pay for cleaning up identified hazardous waste sites and to provide for grants to eligible entities to revitalize brownfield sites. These grants are also available to local government units, redevelopment agencies, states and Indian tribes. |
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