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Superfund exclusion sought
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March 16, 1998: 5:30 p.m. ET
Committee pushes for small business exemption in bill's reauthorization
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A key House committee is pushing a new bill that would exempt business with fewer than 75 employees from having to pay for environmental damage in incidents covered by Superfund legislation.
Superfund is federal money that is appropriated to states and cities to pay for the cleanup of land damaged by business and industry.
The Superfund, Acceleration, Fairness and Efficiency Act exempts small businesses with under 75 employees. The bill's proponents say businesses of that size can't pay for cleanups, which currently cost an average of $30 million and can take up to 12 years.
"Once caught in Superfund liability, it becomes much more difficult for a small business to attract capital, make investments and, therefore, grow and create jobs," said Rep. Jim Talent (R-Mo.), chairman of the House Small Business Committee.
Talent favors expanding the exempt to include businesses with less than 500 employees.
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