Hon. Paul E. Gillmor: “I rise in support of Subtitle B of Title XV of the conference report to H.R. 6, the Domenici-Barton Energy Policy Act of…”

“I rise in support of Subtitle B of Title XV of the conference report to H.R. 6, the Domenici-Barton Energy Policy Act of 2005. This section makes many important policy changes that aim to increase funding of and direct additional care for underground storage tanks and the leaks of regulated substances that sometimes come from them. As the Chairman of the authorizing Subcommittee for the Solid Waste Disposal Act, I have been involved in oversight of the Leaking Underground Storage Tank program for the last five years and have personally taken an interest in the writing of this particular Subtitle. I, therefore, want to make some brief comments about the provisions in Subtitle B and the reasons and intent behind them. Section 1522. Leaking Underground Storage Tanks This section is the longest surviving section of several Congresses of work on underground storage tank legislation, starting with an effort to amend this program in the 104th Congress to get more money out of the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund and down to the states to ensure better compliance with the law. Specifically, this section amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of EPA to distribute to States at least 80 percent of the funds from the Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund for use in paying the reasonable costs for State enforcement efforts pertaining to underground storage tanks.…”