ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Keep the federal Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) program intact, NACS is asking the Senate Finance Committee. The association sent a letter to the committee yesterday, urging them to not transfer $3 billion from LUST to the highway trust fund.

"In order for States to comply with the multitude of new requirements enacted in the EPAct, States must receive significant funding from the Federal program. If States do not receive such funding, they will be unable to comply and will lose funding from the Federal government, which would then return enforcement back to the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Unfortunately they also lack the appropriate funding and resources to effectively enforce the regulations," the letter stated.

"The Federal LUST Trust Fund must not be used as an offsetting tool in this bill. This is a critical environmental program that needs to be adequately funded so that it can continue to protect the environment, prevent UST releases into groundwater systems, and ensure that all tanks comply with State and Federal UST laws. This was the intended purpose of the LUST tax and it should not be abandoned," the letter said.

NACS concluded with a plea that the Senate "explore all other funding options."