Senators Eye New Epa Cleanup Fund To Skirt Stimulus Earmark Ban

摘要

Senators may try to insert language in the pending economic stimulus bill to create a new EPA water restoration fund that would likely be used for Great Lakes cleanup projects, in order to skirt the Democratic leadership's ban on earmarks in the bill which could otherwise prohibit specific funding for the projects, sources say. One informed source says the legislative maneuver would allow EPA to spend this new "pot of money" without restriction, meaning it could fund Great Lakes projects and other cleanups around the United States. Despite requests from Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and George Voinovich (R-OH) to include funding for projects currently listed under the Great Lakes Legacy Act (GLLA) in the stimulus - including some $194 million worth of sediment cleanup projects that could be implemented within six months - the House version of the bill does not include any such funding, which sources say is because they would be seen as earmarks.