The Volokh Conspiracy takes issue with this line in a NY Times story, Changes May Be Needed in Superfund, Chief Says: "Since 1995, when Congress did not renew a special tax on polluters, the cleanup money has come entirely from taxpayers." Volokh complains:

Huh? The money in Superfund always came from "taxpayers" — that is, it has always come from those paying taxes. One might have thought the Times editors would have caught a line discussing taxes that are not paid by taxpayers. What the article clearly meant to say is that since the special Superfund tax has expired, the program has been funded out of general revenues (though the program does receive funds through cleanup cost recovery as well). Either way, "taxpayers" are footing the bill. The question is whether the cleanup money will come from taxpayers generally, or those who are assessed a special tax on chemical feedstocks. But these latter folks are "taxpayers" too — as they are paying taxes.

For more, see Roth & Company.