HR 1804 Introduced - Community Cleanup Act

Back in March, Rep Carter (R,GA) introduced HR 1804, the Community Cleanup Act. The bill would expand the public notification requirements of 42 USC 9617 when a site is remediated under provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980

Changes

Section 2(a) of the bill amends §9617(a). It adds a requirement to notify the highest-ranking official of the local government about the contents of the remediation plan. It also expands the content of the plan to include “comments regarding use of the facility at issue after remedial action is taken”.

Section 2(b) amends §9617(b). It adds a requirement to send a copy of the final remediation action plan to “all local, elected officials”.

Section 2(c) amends §9617(d). It expands the definition of ‘publication’ to include an “announcement sent to a radio station, or television station, the broadcast area of which includes the community surrounding the facility at issue” and including the information on various web sites.

Moving Forward

Both Carter and his sole cosponsor {Rep Blunt (D,DE)} are both members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the two committees to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there could be enough influence to see this bill considered in Committee. I do not see anything that would engender any serious opposition to the bill. I suspect that the bill will receive at least some bipartisan support.

If it receives enough bipartisan support in Committee, it will be considered in the House under the suspension of the rules process. If there is not enough bipartisan support to obtain the super majority required under that process, this bill is unlikely to be considered under regular order. It is just not important enough to take up the time necessary to go through the floor debate and amendment process.