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NFC: Fw: River Policy Update, Week of October 30, 2000
American Rivers Policy Update
For the week of October 30, 2000
To read the River Policy Update online, visit
www.amrivers.org/template2.asp?cat=7&page=221&id=0&filter=0
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APPROPRIATIONS
Weeks behind schedule, Congress and the Administration have yet to
finalize work on three of the thirteen annual appropriations bills.
Members of Congress will take up another 24-hour continuing
resolution today (H. J. Res. 120) to provide stopgap funding for the
federal government through midnight Tuesday. The bills still in limbo
are Labor, Health, and Human Services and Education; Commerce,
Justice, and State; and a tax bill. With President Clinton refusing
to sign more than a one-day stopgap spending resolution, Congress
spent the weekend in negotiations on the remaining appropriations
bills.
Commerce, Justice, and State Appropriations Bill:
Last Thursday, the House passed the FY'02 Commerce, Justice, and
State funding bill, which President Clinton has vowed to veto. H.R.
4942 includes $37.5 billion for the departments of Commerce, Justice
and State and the judiciary as well as the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration and elements of the stalled Conservation
and Reinvestment Act (CARA, H.R. 701).
In its current form, the bill would provide NOAA with $3.05
billion for NOAA, including $420 million for ocean, coastal and
waterway conservation programs originally included in CARA. The
National Marine Fisheries Service would receive $518 million. Members
of Congress would provide just $45 of the $160 million requested by
the Clinton Administration for Pacific coastal salmon recovery,
subject to authorization, and $20 million for conservation funds to
implement the 1999 US-Canada salmon agreement. More money for salmon
recovery would come from the State Department section of the bill,
which includes $40 million for the treaty. The bill also contains a
multiyear authorization, from fiscal 2000 through 2003, totaling $140
million for the two funds, $30 million for economic adjustment for
fishermen, $90 million for direct payments to Alaska, Washington,
Oregon and California, and $10 million for coastal tribes to enhance
and restore salmon habitat.
The provisions from CARA added to the Commerce, Justice, and
State funding bill include creation of a $50 million wildlife, ocean
and coastal conservation account to make grants to states to carry
out wildlife conservation programs and $150 million in
FY'01 for coastal impact assistance to states with offshore drilling.
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PARKS AND PUBLIC LANDS
Bills Heading to President Clinton:
On Friday, the Senate approved by unanimous consent a number of lands
bills, clearing them for President Clinton's signature, including:
* H.R. 2941 to create a national conservation area in the
Cienega Creek and Babocomari River watersheds in Arizona near Tucson;
* H.R. 4646 to designate 11,300 acres of wilderness in two
areas in the George Washington National Forest in Virginia;
* H.R. 4312 to direct the National Park Service to study the
suitability and feasibility of creating an Upper Housatonic Valley
National Heritage Area in Connecticut;
* S. 2538 to add Cat Island, MS to the Gulf Islands National
Seashore;
* H.R. 3388 to authorize $300 million in federal matching funds
over ten years to clean up and restore Lake Tahoe's water quality and
forest health;
* S. 1761 to authorize federal participation and funding for a
water delivery and conservation system in the Lower Rio Grande Valley
of Texas;
* H.R. 1444 to direct the Interior Department to develop and
implement projects for fish screens, fish passage devices, and other
similar measures.
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WATER RESOURCES
WRDA Near Completion:
The Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (WRDA, S. 2796)
could come to the House and Senate floors at any time if conferees
finish their talks. The omnibus legislation that authorized Corps of
Engineers water projects contains $1.4 billion to restore the Florida
Everglades Ecosystem (the main push for passing WRDA in the 106th
Congress), but falls short of expectations of Corps Reform advocates
in its failure to include significant reform measures.
Among the numerous trouble spots in House-Senate negotiations
were the 40 environmental infrastructure projects, worth more than
$400 million, included in the House version of the bill. Conferees
decided to remove those projects and attach them to the FY'01
appropriations bill for Labor, Health, and Human Services and
Education.
For more information, see the River Policy Update for October
23 at
www.amrivers.org/template2.asp?cat=7&page=222&id=2577&filter=-1
Estuary Bill Clears House, Headed for President's Desk:
Last week, the House approved the conference report to an
estuary restoration bill that included text from several other
resource protection bills. The bill is now ready to go to President
Clinton.
The conference report to the Estuaries and Clean Waters Act =96 S.
835 =96
would create a national program to promote the restoration of
estuaries and establish an interagency council to coordinate federal,
state and local activities. The bill would authorize $275 million
over five years for the Army Corps of Engineers for restoration
projects.
The conference report included provisions from the following
bills:
* H.R. 3039, the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act.
* H.R. 1237, to reauthorize the National Estuary Program
* H.R. 3313, the Long Island Sound Restoration Act
* H.R. 2957, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Act
* H.R. 1106, the Alternative Water Sources Act
* H.R. 2328, to reauthorize the Clean Lakes Program
* H.R. 3378, the Tijuana River Valley Estuary and Beach Sewage
Cleanup Act
California Electricity Resolution Passes:
Last Thursday, the House approved a non-binding resolution to
expedite the public release of findings from a government probe into
the causes of tripling electricity prices and power generation
shortages that hit Southern California in the summer. H. Res. 650,
introduced by Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA), expresses the sense of the
House that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should make
public before November 1 its findings and recommendations concerning
the electricity crisis in California.
Bill With Alaska Hydro Provision Passes House:
The House approved a bill to reauthorize the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve after the Senate make substantial amendments to the bill. The
vote clears the way for the bill to go to the president, who is
expected to sign it. H.R. 2884 reauthorizes the authority of the
Department of Energy to buy or lease oil for, operate, and draw down
the Strategic Petroleum Reserve through Sept. 30, 2003. The measure
also creates a permanent 2-million-barrel home heating oil reserve in
the Northeast.
Many environmental groups and the Clinton Administration
expressed concern over a provision added to the bill by Senator Frank
Murkowski (R-AK) that would provide an exemption from federal
authority and allow the state of Alaska to assume all licensing and
regulatory authority over hydroelectric projects under five megawatts.
For more information contact the Hydropower Reform Coalition,
1025 Vermont Ave. NW, Suite 720, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 347-7550
or email Matt Sicchio at msicchio at amrivers_org
ALP Bill Passes Senate:
On Wednesday, the Senate passed legislation that would
authorize construction of the Animas-La Plata water storage and
distribution system near Durango, Colorado. The vote was 85-5. S.
2508 authorizes a new version of the Animas-La Plata (ALP) water
diversion project, a costly and destructive project that would divert
water from the Animas River in Durango and pump it 500 feet uphill
into a reservoir.
Senator Russ Feingold offered an amendment to the bill that would
ensure that, at a minimum, S. 2508 authorizes only the project that
its proponents say the bill does: a smaller version of ALP that must
comply with federal environmental and taxpayer protection laws. The
Feingold amendment was tabled on a 56-34 vote.
For more information about the ALP project, visit
http://www.rmc.sierraclub.org/alp/ or email Dylan Norton at
norton at rmc_sierraclub.org
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ACTION ALERTS AND PRESS RELEASES
Help save Snake River salmon! Visit http://www.salmonforever.org
Help save the Missouri River! Visit http://www.savethemissouri.org
To see the latest American Rivers action alerts and press releases,
visit
www.americanrivers.org and click on "Take Action/Join" for action
alerts and "Newsroom" for press releases. The direct link for action
alerts is
www.amrivers.org/template2.asp?cat=8&page=121&id=0&filter=0
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JOBS
To see job openings at American Rivers and other organizations, visit
www.americanrivers.org/template2.asp?cat=6&page=50&id=0&filter=0 or
visit www.americanrivers.org, click on "About Us" and click
on "Employment"