mr. chairman , i also rise to support the capps amendment to eliminate mtbe , the safe harbor liability . 
the provision , as many of my colleagues know , is an unfunded mandate on our communities and water providers . 
in fact , i will submit for the record a list of 10 of those major organizations in opposition to the mtbe liability waiver . 
the u.s. conference of mayors , national league of cities , national association of counties , and the national association of towns and townships are all opposed to shielding these folks . 
in addition to that , i would like to tell my colleagues that right now as it stands , we are not paying for sufficient cleanup as it is of underground storage tanks where we know mtbe is leaking . 
we are doing a foul job on behalf of the american public . 
approximately 136 , 000 leaks are not being addressed right now , and epa anticipates that over the next decade anywhere from 6 , 000 to 12 , 000 new leaks will occur each year . 
who is going to get caught with the tab to clean that up ? 
guess who ? 
our local townships , our local municipalities , our states , and the public . 
despite the need to clean up funds through epa , we know that this is a wrong decision . 
we need to work this out . 
we need to make sure that we support the capps amendment and that we do everything we can to educate the public of the harmful effects of mtbe , because in the state of california , we are plagued with having to clean up this water . 
we have higher standards there . 
we should be looking at models , models from other states . 
just as the republicans used to agree that local control was a primary factor in their agenda back in the 1990s , now they are saying it does not cut it anymore . 
our colleagues have to be clear . 
they have to understand that there is something very wrong with this system and that the public is crying out for elected officials like ourselves to say , this must stop . 
do not hold the taxpayers liable for the corporations that are actually polluting our water . 
