Superfund Spending Fell during Past Five Years

Spending on cleanups at national Superfund sites fell over the past five years, says EPA's Office of Inspector General. Total Superfund spending by EPA, when adjusted for inflation, has declined from $1.71 billion in 1999 to about $1.52 billion in 2003, the agency's internal oversight office says in a briefing paper presented to Congress on Sept. 15. In 1999, $1.30 billion went for cleanup-related work, a figure that dropped to $1.13 billion in 2003. At the same time, the number of full-time EPA employees working on Superfund cleanups declined from 3,330 to 3,088, according to the Office of Inspector General. It added that 2004 marks the first year that all Superfund costs are being borne by general tax revenues. This is because the Superfund trust fund, which got its money from now-expired taxes on chemical feedstocks, crude oil, and corporate income, is empty. The report is on the Web at http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2004/20040915-2004-S-00004.pdf.