SB 110-03: Superfund Amendments Act (Failed via tie-breaker)

[Senator-elect Spark]

SUPERFUND AMENDMENTS ACT

Senate Bill
to limit pollution on federal property and exempt organic manure from overregulation

SECTION I. NAME.

This Act shall be called the Superfund Amendments Act.

SECTION II. FEDERAL FACILITIES MUST COMPLY WITH SOME REGIONAL RULES

A. 42 U.S.C. 9620(a) is hereby amended to require that each department, agency, and instrumentality of Atlasia shall be subject to, and comply with, at facilities that are or have been owned or operated by any such department, agency, or instrumentality, Regional or State substantive and procedural requirements regarding response relating to hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants, including State hazardous waste requirements, in the same manner and to the same extent as any nongovernmental entity.

B. Atlasia hereby expressly waives any immunity otherwise applicable to Atlasia with respect to any Regional or State substantive or procedural requirement referred to in this act, including immunity from injunctive relief, civil penalties, criminal sanctions.

SECTION III. POOP

A. 42 U.S.C. 9601 is amended by adding the following new section at the end
thereof:

SECTION 312. EXCEPTION FOR MANURE

a. Upon the date of enactment of this section, manure shall not be included in the meaning of `hazardous substance' under section 101(14) of this Act or `pollutant or contaminant' under section 101(33) of this Act.

b. The enactment of this section shall not be construed to impose any liability or paperwork requirements under provisions of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 for manure.

c. Nothing in this section shall affect the applicability of any other environmental
statute as it relates to the definition of manure, or the responsibilities or liabilities of any person regarding, the treatment, storage, or disposal of manure.

d. 100 Stat. 1655 is amended by adding the following at the end thereof:
The notification requirements under this subsection shall not apply to releases associated with manure (as defined in section 312 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act.

e. Definition - For the purposes of this section, the term `manure' mean:
     1. digestive emissions, feces, urine, urea and other excrement from livestock (as defined by 7 C.F.R. 205.2);
     2. any associated bedding, compost, raw materials or other materials commingled with such excrement from livestock (as defined by 7 C.F.R. 205.2);
     3. any process water associated with the items referred to in paragraph (1) or (2); and
     4. any byproducts, constituents, or substances contained in, originating from, or emissions relating to the items described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3).''.

SECTION IV: EFFECTIVE DATE

Unless otherwise specified herein, this act shall take effect 120 days from the date of passage.

Sponsor: Mr. Reactionary
Status: Debating

The gentleman from Virginia is now recognized.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Section II pertains to what is commonly known as the Superfund Act. Very briefly, under Superfund, if certain hazardous substances (aka harmful and persistent chemicals and such) are found in the ground, the hazardous substances are required to be cleaned up. Liability for cleanup starts with the actual polluters (if known or still around), then a convoluted order of present owners, past owners, waste generators, transporters, etc. It is strict liability so saying you didnt know and didnt do it yourself is not an excuse. If there is not enough money to pay for cleanup, a federal pot of money known as the "superfund" pays to clean up the rest.

So under the current federal law, the past or present owner of land contaminated by a hazardous substance has to contribute to the cleanup. The process, timeframes, and other aspects of the cleanup are left up to the States (or regions in our game) for the most part. EXCEPT, the federal government which is one of the biggest polluters under superfund from gasoline, to military ordinance, to general office building chemicals, is exempt from having to comply with State (aka regional) regs that are stricter than what the fed law requires. So the Regions can have stricter rules for private owners, it can have stricter rules for itself, but Uncle Sam gets to be excused from this. In other words, under current federal law the federal government does not have to clean up contaminated polluted land to the same degree as everyone else. I think the federal government should set a good example and help eliminate pollution instead of foisting its responsibilities on everyone else. The effect of this bill will be to have the federal government meet the stricter regional standards when cleaning up pollution.

Don't believe me? Check the law I reference above yourself:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/9620

Its a short section. You can read it.


Section III also deals with superfund. Specifically, it clarifies that animal poop aka manure is not a hazardous substance that imposes crazy expensive cleanup costs under Superfund. The whole goal of Superfund was to clean up like nuclear waste and gasoline and VOCs/POPs and heavy metals and stuff that poisons the dirt for hundreds or thousands of years. Poop is just poop. And no, we are not talking about fake chemical heavy fertilizer here. We are talking about poop. You can check the definition. The South, Fremont, and Lincoln all have lots of farmers and farmland. This bill will ensure they dont get bankrupted over poop. Especially when manure is a natural organic alternative to chemical fertilizers made by DuPont and Monsanto. We should be encouraging better decision making by our farmers, and we can do that by making sure they wont be ruined for using good old fashioned natural manure. This is good for farmers, good for the regions, and good for the environment.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This is being talked about a lot here in NC.

All the law firms are running adverts for people who lived on base at Camp Lejeune prior to 1988 because leaking tanks contaminated the water supply. 

[Senator-elect Spark]

Motioning for a vote. 24 hours to object.

[Devout Centrist]

I object.

The South, Fremont, and Lincoln all have lots of farmers and farmland. This bill will ensure they dont get bankrupted over poop.

How much poop are we talking here? A couple gallons is fine, but I could see a tremendous amount being an environmental catastrophe.

Manure contamination can increase nitrate levels in ground water and cause bacterial contamination and fish kills in surface waters. Excess phosphorus can be contained in erosion or runoff from fields and accumulate in surface water impoundments such as ponds and lakes. This phosphorus can stimulate unwanted plant growth, such as algae, which causes turbidity and other undesirable conditions in the water. A common misuse of manure is to spread it on a field and then, in addition, apply commercial fertilizer to supply a crop's nutrient needs with no consideration for the manure's nutrient value.

I would be happy to write an amendment that includes funding for farmers who are cited under the Superfund Act for manure cleanup, but I don't think a blanket exemption is appropriate considering that manure has some horrific impacts on the environment.

[Mr. Reactionary]

The notion that the federal government should declare poop on a farm a regulatable hazardous material is nuts. The Regions can do that if they want, but im firmly opposed to federal cops deciding if your cows poop too much. Its just a backdoor to try and ban meat and force us to eat bugs. The Superfund act is supposed to be for like forever chemicals, not poop. Why should the federal government be involved at all in localized cow poop matters? Let alone wasting money we dont have to subsidize poop patrols. Free the farmers, reject the bugs.

[Devout Centrist]

The notion that the federal government should declare poop on a farm a regulatable hazardous material is nuts.

Why? Improper disposable of animal poop can easily lead to longterm groundwater containment, among other things. In large quantities, poop is clearly environmentally hazardous!

The Regions can do that if they want, but im firmly opposed to federal cops deciding if your cows poop too much.

If we're talking corporate or agribusiness operations, or farms that impact interstate commerce, I would argue the Federal government has a compelling interest to get involved and prevent environmental disaster.

Its just a backdoor to try and ban meat and force us to eat bugs.

There it is.

This act was passed in 1980. No sane person, before or since, has suggested using this to ban our nation's meat production. We all love steak here. This is just about establishing proper environmental protections - at any given time, there are *millions* of cows and pigs in this country. That is a shi.t ton of poop. And if that's improperly disposed of, it could have all sorts of negative effects on rural environments, for both animals and the people living there.

The Superfund act is supposed to be for like forever chemicals, not poop.

No. The text of the statute makes no reference to 'forever chemicals' and the statute specifically constructs a broad definition of 'hazardous substance'.

Why should the federal government be involved at all in localized cow poop matters?

It's environmentally hazardous and can impact interstate commerce, that's why. We are talking billions upon billions of gallons of poop produced each year! There's a clear and compelling interest for government to do something here.

We ask people to clean up after their pets. I believe it is fair for the Federal government to ask large farms to do the same.

[Mr. Reactionary]

The notion that the federal government should declare poop on a farm a regulatable hazardous material is nuts.

Why? Improper disposable of animal poop can easily lead to longterm groundwater containment, among other things. In large quantities, poop is clearly environmentally hazardous!

The Regions can do that if they want, but im firmly opposed to federal cops deciding if your cows poop too much.

If we're talking corporate or agribusiness operations, or farms that impact interstate commerce, I would argue the Federal government has a compelling interest to get involved and prevent environmental disaster.

Its just a backdoor to try and ban meat and force us to eat bugs.

There it is.

This act was passed in 1980. No sane person, before or since, has suggested using this to ban our nation's meat production. We all love steak here. This is just about establishing proper environmental protections - at any given time, there are *millions* of cows and pigs in this country. That is a shi.t ton of poop. And if that's improperly disposed of, it could have all sorts of negative effects on rural environments, for both animals and the people living there.

The Superfund act is supposed to be for like forever chemicals, not poop.

No. The text of the statute makes no reference to 'forever chemicals' and the statute specifically constructs a broad definition of 'hazardous substance'.

Why should the federal government be involved at all in localized cow poop matters?

It's environmentally hazardous and can impact interstate commerce, that's why. We are talking billions upon billions of gallons of poop produced each year! There's a clear and compelling interest for government to do something here.

We ask people to clean up after their pets. I believe it is fair for the Federal government to ask large farms to do the same.

Remember, in Atlasia the federal power is over commerce between the Regions, not the States. I dont see much risk of cow poop in a field in Iowa having an impact on the South or Lincoln. Even in real life, land use is mostly a local issue. Again, we are dealing with natural manure here. Why overregulate an organic, natural fertilizer? Especially when the speculative impact is local. Let the Regions decide.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Even in real life, my preference would be towards examining regional partnership of states to handle such cases, with federal intervention as a last resort. Mr. R is certainly right in this context, because we already have the regions as the next level of government.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Bringing this to a final vote. Senators have 24 hours to object.

[S019]

Bringing this to a final vote. Senators have 24 hours to object.

You ignored DC’s objection

[Senator-elect Spark]

Bringing this to a final vote. Senators have 24 hours to object.

You ignored DC’s objection

I did not see that. Bringing this to a cloture vote instead.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Aye

[Devout Centrist]

Nay, poop is bad

[WD]

Nay

[Mr. Reactionary]

Aye

[West_Midlander]

Aye

[S019]

Nay

[rpryor03]

Nay

[Utah Neolib]

Nay

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

AYE

[SevenEleven]

Nay.

[FT-02 Senator A.F.E. 🇵🇸🤝🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦]

Nay

[OSR stands with Israel]

Aye

[Saint Milei]

Aye