CONGRESSIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE NEED 



FOR ESTIMATING ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE 



FROM OIL AND HAZARDOUS WASTE SPILLS 



James D. Range 

 Minority Counsel, Committee on Environment and Public Works 



and 



Millicent A. Feller 



Legislative Assistant, Office of Senator John H. Chafee 



Committee on Environment and Public Works 



Washington, D.C. 



It is a pleasure to take advantage of what is a rather unusual oppor- 

 tunity for Congressional aides. Today's session is unusual in that it repre- 

 sents one of the few instances where we have seen an executive agency make 

 an in-depth, prospective effort to provide technical information which is 

 going to be needed in both the passage and implementation of an important pro- 

 vision in a major piece of legislation. In reviewing the topics of presenta- 

 tions at earlier sessions it becomes apparent that many of the topics covered 

 in earlier sessions also will provide useful insights on the subject of damage 

 assessment. It is certainly our hope that this presentation will give you 

 some insights on why this information is needed in the legislative process and 

 how the information will eventually be used. 



As most of you know, damage assessment became an issue last year during 

 Congressional consideration of the proposed Oil Spill Liability and Compensa- 

 tion Act (Superfund bill). The issue first arose because the Senate Environ- 

 ment and Public Works Committee had drafted a Superfund proposal that con- 

 tained among other things, a provision requiring the development of Federal 

 regulations and protocols for assessment of damage in both oil and hazardous 

 substance spills. The Senate Environment Committee's bill was the only one 

 of the large number of Superfund-type bills which had been introduced either 

 in the House or Senate during the 95th Congress to contain such a damage 

 assessment provision. It is important here also to be aware that the Senate 

 provision included damage assessment of hazardous substances as well as oil 

 spills because of the broader coverage in the Environment Committee's bill. 

 It is significant to note the "coverage issue" since this year there is dis- 

 cussion of including not only damage from oil and hazardous substances spills 

 within the bill, but also damages from abandoned hazardous waste sites, a so- 

 called "ultrafund" bill. 



The Committee's bill, S. 2083, was approved by the Senate in the last 

 few weeks of the 95th Congress. What followed then in consideration of S.2083 

 was a classic example of what happens to legislation when major differences 

 are outstanding in a piece of legislation and collide with end-of-session 

 deadlines -- the legislation died in House-Senate conference. The damage 

 assessment provision in S. 2083, while certainly not the most outstanding area 



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