WASHINGTON – Convenience and petroleum retailers, along with state governments and environmental groups, earned an important victory with the recent budget increase to inspect leaking underground-storage tanks, reports The Washington Post.
Twenty years ago, the government set up the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund (LUST) to fund cleanup of water and soil tainted by leaks from some of the more than 2 million underground gasoline tanks. While the fund has amassed a balance of more than $2.6 billion, critics contend it isn't being used enough.
The 2008 budget, submitted by President Bush last week, adds an extra $22.3 million to the fund, but some groups say it isn't enough, the newspaper reports. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials, who run the program, counter that budget constraints do not allow for more funding.
"It is imperative that Congress spend the money it collects to pay for these mandated enforcement programs, protect the environment and ensure all tank owners are held to the same standards of compliance," John Eichberger, NACS vice president of government relations, told the newspaper, noting that NACS members sell 75 percent of the nation's gasoline.
The EPA said that approximately 62 percent of the 640,000 remaining underground tanks are in compliance with federal release-prevention and detection rules. Holding up to 12,000 gallons of fuel, tanks with even tiny leaks can contaminate groundwater.
NACS has lobbied for a heftier federal expenditure on the grounds that more inspections, especially of municipal and non-convenience-store sites, would help store owners reduce liability for spills. Business groups and environmental groups are allies in this, the newspaper reports.
"It's incredible to think there are thousands [of tanks] to clean up, we have the money, but we are refusing to spend it," said Edward Hopkins, director of the environmental quality program for the Sierra Club in Washington. Along with the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club has been trying to get more of the fund's money released because many states have backlogs of tanks to inspect and approximately 8,000 new leaks are uncovered each year.
However, Congress and the administration have been reluctant to dip into the fund, citing fiscal discipline and deficit reduction. Over the past eight years, the annual payout from LUST has been about $72 million. That number is less than comes in annually via the funding mechanism, a one-tenth-of-a-cent-per gallon tax on motor fuels.
"This is a great start for 2008," Eichberger told the newspaper regarding the President's budget. "But a one-time shot of $22.3 million will not be enough. Now the challenge is, what are the Democratic priorities for the new Congress? We will need a significant increase again. If you are collecting money for this program, spend it on the program."