A plan by the House National Security Committee to include Superfund revisions in a defense authorization bill being taken up by the House this week continues to add to the conflict over reform of the cleanup program.
House Commerce Committee Democrats are incensed that a defense bill includes sweeping Superfund changes -- and a Democratic aide today charged the provisions undercut Republican claims that they want to work with Democrats to fashion bipartisan Superfund revisions.
A Commerce Committee GOP aide said the House will not pass Superfund revisions without feedback from the Commerce Committee, but added Republicans have warned Democrats that if they do not engage on Superfund, other committees will jump in and put forward their own revisions.
The National Security Committee last week approved the authorization bill and a "defense reform" bill that includes the Superfund provisions. The panel plans to offer the reform bill as an amendment to the authorization bill, a National Security spokesman said. The Rules Committee will decide which parts of the reform bill are in order, the spokesman said.
The Commerce Committee source said they had not seen proposed amendments and have not decided a course of action. However, opposition to the provision is likely to motivate several members to lodge a point of order against the provisions either in the Rules Committee or on the floor, sources said.
House Commerce Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Dan Schaefer, R-Colo., plans to offer an amendment to strike the provisions if they are added to the bill, a spokeswoman said. Schaefer also has put forward a narrower amendment guaranteeing states the right to sue the federal government to make sure it follows proper cleanup standards at federal facilities.
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