Mike Doyle: “I rise in support of H.R. 688. I want to thank the bill's sponsors, the gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Dan Schaefer, and…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 688. I want to thank the bill's sponsors, the gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Dan Schaefer, and my good friend, the gentleman from Michigan, Mr. Stupak, for their diligent leadership on this issue. The LUST program was enacted in 1984 to address the potential health and environmental risks associated with antiquated and substandard underground storage tanks. A tax was levied on all petroleum products to create a trust fund to fund these efforts. That tax expired on December 31, 1995, with nearly $1 billion in the trust fund. Unfortunately, the majority of these funds expended so far have gone to offset general Federal spending and not for the purpose to which it was meant to be dedicated. The LUST Amendments Act gives the ironclad assurance that trust fund spending will go to assisting States to pursue compliance and corrective action associated with the LUST program. It also gives the States more flexibility in using these funds, including direct use of Federal LUST trust fund money to help business owners who would otherwise be unable to afford Government-mandated cleanups. These cleanups are pivotal to comprehensive economic revitalization efforts like the one many of us in the Pennsylvania delegation are looking at for Allegheny County and for the Mon Valley region in particular. We have a good program here, and Congress in its wisdom found a sound funding mechanism for it.”