Sherwood Boehlert: “The Boehlert amendment makes it absolutely clear once and for all that the retroactive liability discount is dead.…”

“The Boehlert amendment makes it absolutely clear once and for all that the retroactive liability discount is dead. Please, no more stories about paying polluters. It is all over. Finished. I never supported it in the first place, and it is behind us. It has been for 5 months. The negotiations have gone forward on Superfund reform without any discussion of retroactive liability discounts. Second, the Boehlert amendment preserves the right of Congress, that is a very precious right, to develop bipartisan Superfund legislation that will provide needed relief, liability relief to thousands of small businesses and small communities across the country. We want to get them out of the courts, we want to get them out of the law offices, and we want to get the emphasis on cleaning up toxic waste sites. I think the Markey amendment would actually undermine the most important administrative Superfund reforms being sought by the Environmental Protection Agency. I think we should move forward. This is a responsible pro-environment, pro-small business, pro-small community substitute amendment, and I urge its adoption.”