Tag: public money

Sewer Districts Seeking Bottle Tax

  • In an effort to leverage more funding for better sewer maintenance, many sewer districts are in support of a plan to tax some kinds of bottled drinks. (Photo by Pam Roth)

Sewage treatment districts are looking for more money to
fund repairs and upgrades to the nation’s sewage systems. One idea they’re discussing is a seven percent tax on many types of bottled beverages. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach
reports:

Transcript

Sewage treatment districts are looking for more money to
fund repairs and upgrades to the nation’s sewage systems. One idea
they’re discussing is a seven percent tax on many types of bottled
beverages. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach
reports:


A group representing 300 sewer districts around the U.S says a Clean
Water Trust Fund is needed for infrastructure projects. Ken Kirk is
Executive Director of the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage
Agencies. He says there isn’t enough public money to maintain the sewers
built
decades ago and reduce sewer overflows into rivers and lakes.


“We’ve gone from a grants program to a state revolving loan
program which is important but gets cut each and every year.”


So Kirk’s group will meet with industry lobbyists in Washington D.C.
this month and talk about other funding sources. One idea is to
create a national tax on all bottled drinks except for milk, juice,
baby formula and health drinks.


Kirk says polling shows people support having a dedicated source of funding for clean water. But a major brewer plans to fight the proposal. Miller Brewing says forty-four percent of the price of its beer already goes to taxes.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Debate Over Superfund’s Future

For the first time in the Midwest, an old Superfund site has been declared ready for re-use. But funding questions continue to cloud the future of the toxic waste clean-up program. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

For the first time in the Midwest, an old Superfund site has been declared ready for re-use. But
funding questions continue to cloud the future of the toxic waste clean-up program. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:


The Environmental Protection Agency says a former landfill in Antioch, Illinois is now clean
enough to be used as community athletic fields. The private sector paid most of the clean-up
cost. That’s a typical scenario, as nationally, private polluters pay 70-percent of the Superfund
bill.


But Congress refuses to bring back a corporate tax that paid the rest of the cost, meaning
the EPA has to set aside public dollars for restoration work. Tom Skinner is the EPA’s Midwest
Administrator. He says the Bush administration is still committed to clean-ups, but is dealing
with several large sites.


“The question is how much money can the country afford to devote to those clean-ups and how
quickly can we get them done as a result.”


But environmental groups say the job would be easier if the White House and GOP leaders on
Capitol Hill would bring back the Superfund tax.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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