The following editorial appeared Monday in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The polluter pays to clean up the mess. That principle was the bedrock foundation of the Superfund program when former President Jimmy Carter signed the legislation into law 25 years ago. However, the polluter-pays clause of the Superfund law expired in 1995, shifting most of the burden for cleaning up toxic waste sites onto taxpayers’ shoulders. Congress’ refusal to reauthorize that tax has left the Superfund weakened, with an uncertain future.

Congress must again make the polluters pay to enable Superfund to continue its traditional work, and tackle new responsibilities. As a PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center report just noted, those include cleaning up toxic pollution left by natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

Since 1980, Superfund has helped to protect the one in four Americans who live near highly polluted toxic-waste sites. It has cleaned up some 1,000 sites, including messes at New York’s Love Canal and Missouri’s Times Beach.

However, the scope and pace have slowed in recent years due to erosion of the Superfund Trust Fund, which gave the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act its nickname. The fund was financed from a tax on petroleum, chemical and other industries that released hazardous substances, and from court awards. It served as a safety net, providing cash for cleanups when the parties responsible for toxic releases could not be identified or were bankrupt.

Ever since the Superfund polluter tax expired in 1995, Republicans in Congress have balked at renewing it. From a surplus of $3.8 billion in 1996, the fund dwindled into bankruptcy by the 2004 fiscal year. Taxpayers now foot the bill for the three in 10 toxic cleanups where there is no responsible party.

Federal budgets under the Bush administration haven’t provided enough money, and fewer toxic sites are getting cleaned up. Reinstating the polluter-pays tax would assure Superfund a reliable source of revenue, and put it on course for another 25 years of protecting the environment.