Lincoln Chafee: “for the past year, the Majority Leader, Senator Bob Smith, and I have been working with our colleagues on the…”

“for the past year, the Majority Leader, Senator Bob Smith, and I have been working with our colleagues on the Environment and Public Works Committee and the Administration to draft legislation to address some of the requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (``RCRA'') that currently impede the cleanup of literally thousands of contaminated sites across the nation. This so-called ``RCRA rifle-shot'' would have been an important piece of legislation. It would have demonstrated once again that we can improve our environmental laws, without jeopardizing human health or the environment, and reduce unnecessary costs. Just last year, the Government Accounting Office reported that eliminating those impediments to cleanup could save up to $2.1 billion per year and, at the same time, significantly expedite environmentally responsible cleanups. It was our hope to craft a bipartisan bill that could be enacted this year. Our goal was a shared one--to develop legislation to eliminate overly restrictive treatment standards for mediation waste, to streamline permitting requirements, and preserve existing State cleanup programs, all while still ensuring that human health and the environment are protected. Under Senator Lott's leadership, we worked hard to achieve that goal and I believe that we made significant progress in resolving our differences. Unfortunately, we were not able to reach a final agreement and we have essentially run out of time.”