mr. chairman , i wholeheartedly support my colleague , ms. capps ' , amendment to eliminate the mtbe safe harbor liability shield . 
this provision is an unfunded mandate on our communities and water providers who will be left holding the tab while the polluters cash in . 
our communities and those organizations representing them oppose this language . 
these include : the u.s. conference of mayors , the national league of cities , the national association of counties , the national association of towns and townships , the association of metropolitan water agencies , the american water works association , the association of california water agencies , the western coalition of arid states , the american public works association , and the national water resources association . 
supporters of this language , like the national petrochemical and refiners association , claim that 96 percent of cleanups are paid for by the responsible parties , insurance companies , or state cleanup funds , and that future cleanup funds will be adequately paid for . 
similarly , supporters also believe that the funding this bill authorizes through the leaking underground storage tank trust fund will be sufficient to pay for cleanups . 
what supporters are ignoring is that the existing authorizing program for regular cleanups , not intended solely for mtbe cleanups , is severely underfunded and state programs are broke . 
approximately 136 , 000 leaks are not being addressed yet , and epa anticipates that over the next decade there will be between 6 , 000 and 12 , 000 new leaks each year . 
epa currently fails to meet its program goal of cleaning up 21 , 000 sites per year . 
in 2003 , the epa only cleaned up 18 , 000 sites -- 3 , 000 sites short of its goal . 
in 2004 , only 14 , 235 sites were cleaned up -- 7 , 000 sites short of epa 's goal . 
despite the need for cleanup funds and epa 's inability to meets its cleanup goal , this administration has cut funding for cleanups by 8 percent , from $ 72 million in fiscal year 2001 to $ 69.4 million in the fiscal year 2005 omnibus . 
cleanups are not an administration priority . 
cleanups are not the appropriators ' priority . 
supporters can talk all day long about authorizing `` sufficient '' funds but it means nothing . 
the reality is that this is an unfunded mandate and our cities , communities and water providers will be left holding the bag . 
an unfunded mandate on states which are paid for by taxpayers and largely broke . 
in arizona , california , georgia , illinois , kentucky , maryland , minnesota , montana , new hampshire , oklahoma , rhode island , south dakota , texas , virginia and wisconsin the funds are serviced exclusively with fuel taxes . 
programs in alabama , arkansas , colorado , florida , iowa , indiana , louisiana , massachusetts , maine , mississippi , north carolina , north dakota , nebraska , new mexico , nevada , new york , pennsylvania , south carolina , tennessee and vermont are funded predominantly by fuel taxes . 
in fact , alaska , delaware , hawaii , maryland , oregon , washington and west virginia do n't have cleanup funds . 
more than 12 states have funds with more claims than money . 
the entire texas financial assurance fund will sunset on september 1 , 2006 . 
tennessee 's fund is in the process of going broke ; michigan needs an estimated $ 1.7 billion to cleanup orphan sites . 
if you are from florida , your state stopped accepting claims years ago . 
arizona , minnesota , missouri , nebraska and vermont will all have stopped accepting claims by 2010 , and kansas and north dakota , will not accept claims after 2014 . 
the bottom line is that , unlike supporters of the safe harbor provision would like to believe , the federal government is not funding the cleanups and the state programs can not afford to fund the cleanups . 
authorizing money in this bill will not solve that problem . 
colleagues , the federal government is not paying for cleanups and language amending the lust program -- supported by republicans -- will do nothing to help , in fact , it will further hinder the epa 's ability to clean up these sites and states ' ability to prevent contamination . 
this leaves taxpayers footing the bill instead of manufacturers . 
when taxpayers realize their money is being spent cleaning up the mess of corporate polluters who got rich off voluntarily using mtbe , when they realize that the federal government transferred a huge unfunded mandate onto them , those doing the dirty work , those supporting this provision , will be responsible . 
the san gabriel valley tribune said it best when they said `` polluters should foot the bill. '' i urge my colleagues to support efforts to strip this unfunded mandate from the energy bill . 
mtbe contamination is soaring although the use of mtbe in gasoline is rapidly declining , detections of mtbe in water supplies are soaring . 
the number of water systems reporting mtbe contamination in tap water supplies increased more than 15-fold between 1996 and 2004 , from 137 to 1 , 861 , and the number of states reporting problems more than doubled , from 11 to 29 , according to ewg action fund 's analysis of state water testing data . 
these figures are not necessarily systems whose customers are currently drinking mtbe in their tap water , but those where it has been detected somewhere in the system . 
the total number of contaminated systems includes private water supplies that may serve only a single customer , but more than 60 percent ( about 1 , 100 systems ) supply drinking water to cities , counties , rural communities and schools . 
in the majority of the affected communities , consumers are unaware of the contamination because water utilities take steps to protect them as soon as mtbe is detected . 
mtbe contamination as low as two parts per billion -- two drops in an olympic-sized swimming pool -- can produce a harsh chemical odor and taste that can cause tap water to be undrinkable . 
to cope with the problem , water utilities must either blend mtbe-contaminated water with clean sources to dilute the chemical , install costly systems to remove it , or abandon affected wells and find new water sources . 
the american water works association , representing 4 , 700 u.s. water systems , estimates nationwide mtbe cleanup and water replacement costs at $ 29 billion -- and rising with each new detection . 
mtbe contamination affects communities of all sizes , with contamination reported from large systems like san diego , where the water utility serves 1.2 million people , to the millbrook country day school in massachusetts , serving 25 students and teachers . 
mtbe has been detected in water supplies serving 32 million people in california , about 4.7 million in new jersey , about 2.2 million in massachusetts and 1 million in texas . 
in some communities , a substantial portion of the local water supply has been contaminated , while in many others only one or two detections of mtbe have been made . 
but this last fact is less reassuring than it is worrisome . 
state water testing records obtained by ewg indicate that in almost all systems with just one positive detection of mtbe , tests for the compound were conducted in the last four years . 
water systems nationwide are wrapping up a years-long process of meeting federal requirements mandating testing for `` unregulated contaminants '' like mtbe . 
this suggests that mtbe is only now showing up in many drinking water systems . 
the prospect that the mtbe contamination crisis has yet to peak makes the scheme to shield polluters from liability all the more troubling . 
also rising rapidly are lawsuits against the oil companies by communities whose water is contaminated with mtbe . 
since 2003 , 155 water systems in 17 states have filed suits arguing that mtbe is a defective product , and that refiners knew that it would contaminate groundwater before they began adding it to gasoline but failed to warn consumers . 
in 2002 that argument , outlined in devastating detail in industry documents , convinced a jury to find shell , texaco and four other companies liable for contaminating drinking water supplies in south lake tahoe , calif. , forcing a $ 60 million settlement for cleanup . 
in 2003 , shell , exxon , chevrontexaco and 15 other companies settled a contamination lawsuit brought by santa monica , calif. , by agreeing to spend an estimated $ 200 million on a filtration system to remove mtbe from the city 's water supplies . 
the success of those lawsuits in holding the oil companies responsible for mtbe contamination sparked the first attempt in 2003 by the industry and its political allies to make it impossible for communities to sue on defective product grounds . 
in turn , the push for the waiver set off a rush to file lawsuits by communities with contamination . 
of the 150-plus cases now in court , all but three were filed after september 2003 and would be thrown out by the retroactive provision of the delay-barton bill . 
if mtbe makers are given immunity from defective product lawsuits , the burden of cleanup will fall to individual gas station owners , most of whom lack the kind of money it would take , and ultimately to the taxpayers . 
in the house , 21 republicans and five democrats who voted for the energy bill and mtbe liability waiver now are faced with the prospect , if they again support it , of throwing out a total of 38 lawsuits filed by community water systems in the districts they represent . 
three members are from new jersey , which has a total of 430 water systems where mtbe has been detected -- far more systems than in any other state , supplying drinking water to 4.7 million garden state residents . 
eleven are from california , where mtbe has been found in 144 water systems serving more than 32 million people -- almost 90 percent of the state 's population . 
an additional 81 house members -- 74 republicans and 9 democrats -- who supported the energy bill and liability waiver represent districts where mtbe has been detected in the water supply , but lawsuits have not been filed . 
seven are from california , representing districts where 22 water systems have detected mtbe . 
thirteen , including delay and barton , are from texas ; in their districts are 29 water systems with mtbe contamination . 
one house member who voted yes in 2003 ( arkansas democrat mike ross ) has 50 water systems in his district with contamination . 
another ( maryland republican roscoe g. bartlett ) has 50 . 
april 5 , 2005 . 
oppose the mtbe liability waiver ! 
dear members of the house energy and commerce committee : the undersigned organizations -- representing thousands of mayors , city council members , county officials , towns and townships , drinking water systems and public works departments -- reiterate our strong opposition to providing product liability immunity to the producers of mtbe . 
the liability waiver amounts to a massive unfunded mandate on local governments and citizens . 
mtbe producers , according to documents in recent litigation , put this contaminant into commerce knowing it could contaminate drinking water supplies . 
under the mtbe product liability waiver , these producers would be rendered unaccountable . 
thousands of water sources have been contaminated , and as mtbe spreads , more and more communities will be forced to shut down wells or undertake a costly cleanup program . 
here are some important facts to remember : 1 . 
mtbe was never mandated , and congress is not obligated to provide the producers `` safe harbor. '' and , regardless , the producers put mtbe into gasoline well before the clean air act amendments of 1990 and with knowledge of its environmental dangers . 
2 . 
one estimate by experts puts the cleanup cost in excess of $ 29 billion . 
3 . 
the liability waiver would retroactively block hundreds of communities ' legitimate suits that have been filed already and could preempt hundreds more , leaving communities with a multi-billion dollar unfunded mandate from congress . 
4 . 
the leaking underground storage tank fund was not intended to address the overwhelming amount of contamination communities are experiencing . 
moreover , taxpayers should not pay for mtbe cleanup . 
please oppose the mtbe liability waiver . 
sincerely , 