Clinton To Unveil Environmental Initiatives

BATTLE CREEK, Michigan (AllPolitics, August 28) -- President Bill Clinton arrived in Battle Creek on Wednesday to begin the last leg of his three-and-a-half day trip through the Midwest on his way to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Clinton's Train Trip

The President lavished praise on Democratic elected officials and candidates in Michigan, said that he was "very proud" of his wife's speech in Chicago Tuesday night, and touted his record in office for the past four years.

"Our train is not only on the right track for Chicago, it's on the right track for the 21st century," Clinton said.

The campaign tour's last stop this afternoon will be Michigan City, Indiana, and from there the Democrats will fly to Chicago on the Marine One helicopter. Clinton will be officially nominated on the conventional floor tonight.

The President's whistlestop train tour aboard The 21st Century Express is scheduled to take him to Kalamazoo, Michigan, later today, where he plans to unveil a $1.9 billion environmental cleanup project.

An administration official said the proposal would take effect over fiscal years 1998-2001 and would comprise four major components:

A $1.3 billion project accelerating the Superfund toxic waste cleanup. Officials say the plan would result in the cleanup of two-thirds of the 1,400 toxic waste sites on the Superfund national priority list. The Superfund sites are concentrated in urban areas, mainly in the Northeast.
$300 million in spending on so-called "Brownfield" sites -- contaminated and then abandoned industrial sites in urban areas. The money would be used to fund a tax incentive plan to encourage companies to buy the sites, clean them up and turn them into businesses.
A two-pronged initiative to curb environmental crime. The first would allow prosecutors to get judges to freeze the assets of polluters. Officials say this would help prevent polluters from hiding or moving their money and later claiming they cannot afford a cleanup. The second initiative would enable prosecutors to set up sting operations in attempts to catch industries that try to circumvent environmental law.
Spending $196 million over four years to make air and water quality information more widely available. The plan would direct the EPA to post such information on the Internet.

The President is also expected to announce $76 million for "stepped-up efforts" to reduce toxins in the Great Lakes region.

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