Bush Fails To Act On Toxic Waste Tax

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York

26 February 2002

The Bush Administration has announced that it will not be asking Congress to authorize additional taxes on US corporations to finance toxic waste cleanups.

The Superfund Act, passed in 1980, provided for an additional levy on corporations in order to pay for environmental cleanup initiatives. However, the laws authorising the tax expired in 1995, and despite several attempts by the Clinton administration, were never reinstated.

The reasoning behind the President's failure to address the issue of dwindling corporate contributions to cleanup funds, according to leading Republicans, is that under the Superfund program, lengthy litigation over who is responsible for toxic sites wastes a great deal of time and money. The Bush administration also feels that it would be unfair to tax the chemical and petrochemical industries for the cleanup of toxic waste sites caused by other polluters.

Spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, Trent Duffy, has revealed that the President will consider reinstating the environmental tax if the Superfund program undergoes 'fundamental reform.'

However, Democrats argue that this is not enough, and are furious that once again, the Government has shirked its responsibility over corporate pollution: 'You're letting the corporations who soiled the environment off the hook,' argued Democrat spokesman David Sirota.

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