[CPEO-BIF] "creating a moral hazard"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

-------- Original Message --------
Date: 	Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:48:35 -0400
From: 	Schnapf, Lawrence <Lawrence.Schnapf@srz.com>
To: 	lsiegel@cpeo.org



NY Times had article on superfund tax today (page 16)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/science/earth/26superfund.html

I do not find it a coincidence that the brownfield movement took off
after the superfund tax was allowed to expire in 1995.

The brownfield program is basically a market-driven approach to cleaning
up sites. Unfortunately, it only worked for sites with good development
potential. Sites that did not make sense from a real estate development
perspective and with no requirement for owners to disclose historic
contamination remained unremediated.

The RBCA reforms also seemed to have origins in budget concerns. State
petroleum trust funds pushed RBCA as a way to save funding. Indeed, to
this day it seems that the administrators of state UST and dry cleaner
funds seem more focused on preserving financial viability of their funds
than expediting cleanups. For example, UST and dry cleaner trust funds
usually prioritize cleanups based on impacts to groundwater. If
groundwater is not used for drinking water, the sites are given low
priority. I believe only one state takes vapor intrusion into account
when ranking sites for priority cleanups. Thus, while sites wait 5 or 10
years to be eligible for funding, the plumes can migrate off-site
towards residential neighborhoods (though less likely at regional
malls), and while the sites are enrolled in the programs the owners have
no liability except for a de minimus deductible.

Talk about creating a moral hazard....all in the name of preserving
state funds.

Larry

Larry Schnapf
Schulte Roth & Zabel
919 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
212-756-2205 (p)
212-593-5955 (f)

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--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org


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