07.12.17

Sullivan Lauds Committee Passage of BUILD Act

Includes Amendment Limiting Alaska Native Liability for Clean-up of Contaminated Lands Conveyed Under ANCSA

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, thanked his colleagues for passing S. 822, the Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act of 2017, out of committee today. The BUILD Act includes an amendment, co-sponsored by Senator Sullivan, that would protect Alaska Native Villages and Corporations from liability for the clean-up of contaminated lands conveyed to them under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).

“In the decades since the signing of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, some Alaska Native tribes and organizations have been left potentially on the hook for the clean-up of lands they received that were polluted or contaminated by the federal government. That’s not fair, and it’s not right,” said Senator Sullivan. “We’ve been fortunate to have several of these affected Alaskans make the long trip to Washington in recent months to deliver compelling testimony. With the passage of the BUILD Act and my amendment out of committee, we are one step closer – as Ranking Member Tom Carper described it – to ‘righting a wrong.’ I thank my colleagues for acting on a challenge that may not directly affect their own constituents, but which no less is the responsibility of Congress to fix.”

The Build Act now goes to the Senate floor for consideration.

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