It’s Crunch Time for Superfund Bills

In the wake of the mid-term elections, Congress will return to work Nov. 13 for a few weeks before adjourning.  As we ring in the New Year, we’ll face a new Congress for the 110th session.

A new Congress means a new agenda, new priorities, new bills.  Existing bills such as the Superfund legislation NCBA has been pushing (H.R. 4341 and S. 3681) will expire at the end of this session.  In basic terms, if these bills don’t pass, we’ll need to start all over in January — possibly with a less sympathetic Congress.

To make the most of the time we have left in the 109th Congress, cattlemen should step up communications on this issue.

“It’s crucial that your senators and representatives understand this issue and how it could affect our nation’s family farms and ranches,” says Jay Truitt, NCBA’s vice president of government affairs.  “I know we’ve been saying this all along, but now is the time to tell Congress that manure shouldn’t be subject to Superfund regulations.  The clock is ticking and we want to get this done before we’re out of time.”

These bills are aimed at clarifying that manure is not a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant under the Comprehensive Environmental Response compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA/Superfund regulations).  Without Congressional clarification, every farm and ranch operation in the country that spreads manure potentially could be declared a Superfund site and subjected to penalties and enormous clean up costs.

“Congress established the Superfund program in 1974 to locate, investigate and clean up toxic waste sites nationwide,” says Truitt.  “The program’s objective was to protect human health and the environment from the hazards of chemical waste.  But opponents of animal agriculture want to apply Superfund laws to livestock operations because of manure.  If they succeed, it could have a crippling effect on all of agriculture.”