MEC Capitol Update
July 14, 2004

House Appropriations Committee reported HB 6074 which eliminates the sunset on the regulatory fee (7/8 of one cent on each gallon of gasoline) used to fund the cleanup of underground storage tanks.

The state estimates that overall there are around 9000 tanks that still need to be cleaned up -- in many cases threatening drinking water across the state. Of those 4200 are orphan (no viable responsible party) - which will cost in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion to remediate. This fee would raise about $60 million a year toward the cleanup of orphan sites.

The bill may be taken up by the full house today. Urge your legislator to support HB 6074.