Brief ⁽¹⁾

SB 184 would establish the Natural Resources Damages Trust Fund in the Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). The fund would receive money from any settlements or sources related to natural resources damage claims. The bill requires all moneys received by the fund be used to pay for the design and implementation of environmental restoration plans, mitigation and remediation activities, legal costs incurred in the recovery of expenditures, and administrative expenses. Each month, the fund would receive any interest its balances generated in the pooled money investment portfolio for the previous month. The amendment addresses the section of the bill which creates the emergency response/environmental remediation account, changing it to the emergency response account, expanding language defining fund receipts, and limiting the use of the fund to activities in accordance with the act.

Background

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also known as Superfund, authorizes the trustee of a state to assess the damages for injuries to natural resources resulting from releases of hazardous substances at Superfund sites. Kansas' trustee is the Secretary of the Department of Health and Environment. Trustees for natural resources may recover damages for injury to, destruction of, or loss of natural resources resulting from the release of a hazardous substance or discharge of oil.

A representative of KDHE testified in favor of the bill and proposed the amendment. According to KDHE, the amendment narrows the scope of activities and funding sources allowed for the fund and may avoid some unanticipated consequences of the original wording. A representative of the Kansas Agriculture Remediation Board (KARB) also testified in favor of the amendment to avoid fees collected by KARB for agricultural cleanup being placed in the Natural Resources Damages Trust Fund.

According to the fiscal note, no additional expenditures or staff would be required to implement SB 184. At this time, KDHE is unable to estimate the amount of time or receipts that would be collected by the fund or the expenditures that would be made by the fund for approved activities.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext.cgi