Industry representatives met with a legislative assistant of Senator John Warner's (R-VA) April 1 to discuss the possibility of introducing a Barton-like proposal in the Senate this session.
Meeting with Ann Loomis of Sen. Warner's office were Bill Griggs, IFI's District 2 director; Mary Scalco, IFI's government relations director; and Marshall Miller of Baise and Miller, legal counsel for the Martinizing and Comet groups. Drycleaners' problems with the cleanup of soil and groundwater were discussed and an overview of the Barton Bill (HR 2522) that has been introduced in the House was presented.
From previous meetings, Senator Warner is aware of the problems drycleaners face and efforts that have been made with Superfund reform, Miller said. The meeting was held to help move the legislation into the Senate.
A possible step is to get the legislation introduced in other committees besides the Environment and Public Works -- the Small Business Committee, which recently passed the Small Business Regulatory Fairness Act, may have an interest in the legislation.
Loomis said that Superfund may be stalled during this session and the industry may want to avoid having the Barton Bill tangled up with the larger Superfund bill.
IFI's Scalco said it will be necessary to explain to members of Congress the "industry's need for both the Barton proposal and the Coalition full Proposal or Moratorium."
"We want to make sure these bills are both considered," Scalco said.
Date created: 4/9/96 Last modified: 4/9/96 Copyright © 1996, Blind Squirrel http://www.pond.com/~hhorning Hal Horning hhorning@pond.com