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Bush Administration Increases Superfund Hazardous Waste Cleanup Funding in the FY 2004
Release Date: 01/31/2003
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(01/31/03) EPA Administrator Christie Whitman today announced that the Bush Administration is seeking a $150 million increase in Superfund hazardous waste site cleanup funding in the Agency’s FY 2004 budget. The increase will help EPA continue the momentum of cleanups that the program has sustained over the past. Due to the increase in cost and complexity of Superfund sites reaching the construction phase, the increased funding will be specifically targeted for cleanup. The total Superfund budget for the year will be proposed at $1.39 billion.
The funding increase will allow construction to begin at 10 to15 additional Superfund sites, and just as importantly, underscores and addresses the changing nature of Superfund sites remaining to be cleaned up. Whitman announced the increase at a visit to the Centredale Manor Superfund site in North Providence, Rhode Island.
“Over the past two decades, Superfund has made tremendous strides by cleaning up more than 800 hazardous waste sites and converting some into areas of productive use for the community,” Whitman said. “Working together we can ensure the Superfund program is strengthened and that its future course is charted in the direction of healthy and thriving communities for this generation and those to come.”
For 22 years, the Superfund program has been working to reduce serious threats to human health and the environment by cleaning up hazardous waste sites across the country. Currently, there are construction cleanup projects underway at more than 380 sites nationally. Fifty seven percent of the sites on the Superfund National Priorities List have completed construction.
Superfund is committed to the polluter pays principle. More than 70% of sites are being cleaned up by responsible parties. Since the inception of the program in 1980, the cumulative value of private party commitments has totaled approximately $20.6 billion.
The increased funding request in this year’s budget builds upon the Administration’s strong commitment to cleaning up waste sites around the country. Last year the Administration doubled the Brownfields program’s funding by proposing a $100 million increase as part of the President’s FY 2002 budget request.
For more information on the Superfund program, go to: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/index.htm
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