Sounds like a Lose-lose proposal. Usually, those have a good chance of passing in the Republican-dominated Congress, but in this particular instance, the business lobby balked at having to pay anything to clean up their messes....
Water-Cleanup Measure Stalls Energy Bill:
A Republican proposal that oil companies share the cost of an $11 billion plan to clean up water pollution in exchange for legal immunity drew sweeping criticism.
Lawmakers and municipal officials argued that the proposal, which requires state and local governments to share the program's cost, lets the oil companies escape full responsibility for spills of the additive. Under the plan proposed by Representative Joe L. Barton, Republican of Texas and chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, businesses in the gasoline distribution chain would pay $4 billion over 12 years for cleanup, the federal government would pay $4.5 billion and states just under $3 billion. Local government officials said the money would have to be approved by Congress each year and was far below some estimates of what will be needed for a nationwide cleanup.“Once again, taxpayers are being saddled with a cost that should be paid by the industry and the nation's mayors must find additional resources to cover yet another unfunded mandate,” said Tom Cochran, executive director of the United States Conference of Mayors.
Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, said, “This deal takes us away from polluter pays and puts cleanup on the backs of taxpayers, and that's wrong.”
...
Oil companies began adding MTBE to the gasoline supply in the late 1970's and increased the volume in the 1990's to meet new Clean Air Act requirements. But the substance leaked from underground storage tanks throughout the nation, reaching water systems and making some supplies undrinkable. Scores of government bodies around the nation have sued the industry, seeking money to clean up their water systems. Among them was the State of New Hampshire, which went to court on Sept. 30, 2003, against 22 oil companies. As a result, the state's two Republican senators in 2003 joined the filibuster against the energy bill because the proposal to block product liability lawsuits would apply to any claims after Sept. 5, 2003.Senators were being urged by environmental advocacy groups and representatives of local water companies to dismiss the MTBE plan.
“The energy bill MTBE scheme released today by Chairman Barton will leave communities with MTBE-contaminated water supplies stranded with billions in cleanup costs while the companies that created this product may pay little or nothing at all,” said Diane VanDe Hei, executive director of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies.
Despicable.
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