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NFC: Fw: [Updates] River Policy Update -- Week of May 31, 1999
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American Rivers Policy Update
For the week of May 31, 1999
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APPROPRIATIONS
Senate Appropriations Passes Energy and Water Bill:
Despite sharp cuts to non-defense energy and water programs, the Senate
Appropriations Committee pushed through its FY'00 spending bill for
energy
and water. The committee's bill would cut 302(b) non-defense programs by
$490 million from the current funding level to $21.2 billion. Of the
non-defense funds, $17.02 billion would go to the Department of Energy
and
$3.72 billion to the Army Corps of Engineers. The funding figure for the
Corps is $182.6 million below the Clinton Administration's request for
FY'00
and $374.1 million below the FY'99 allocation. The Senate also cut the
budget for the Bureau of Reclamation, the water agency of the Department
of
Interior, scaling back the agency's funds to $756.2 ($100 million below
the
Administration's FY'00 request and $24 million below the FY'99 level).
House Unable to Move Agriculture Funding Bills, May Hold Off on Interior
Bill:
Due to pressure from budget caps, the House Appropriations Committee
failed
to push through its FY'00 spending bill for the Department of
Agriculture.
Although many expected the bill to move easily, as it usually does,
disputes
over budget caps and hundreds of amendments stalled the measure on the
floor. Of the bill's nearly $61 billion, USDA's conservation operations
account was slated to receive $654 million.
In hopes of higher spending limits, the House Appropriations Interior
Subcommittee may hold off on scheduling a mark-up of the Interior and
related agencies funding measure for FY'00. Currently, the House 302(b)
allocation for Interior and related agencies -- $11.341 billion - is $15
billion below the Clinton Administration's request. The Senate figure is
$13.575 billion.
Overview of Senate and House 302(b) Allocations:
Both the Senate and House funding measures would drastically cut
allocations to non-defense (302(b)) programs across the board, rolling
many
programs back to funding levels of ten to twenty years ago. [Note -
unless
otherwise noted, all figures are relative to FY'99 funding levels]
Overall, the House would slash allocations for priority domestic programs
by
12% below their current levels. The House would cut funding for the
Environmental Protection Agency by 9%, the Department of Interior (not
including the Bureau of Reclamation) by 19%, the USDA Forest Service by
19%,
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by 12%. The House
did not support the Administration's Lands Legacy Initiative, denying the
Administration's request for $588 million for states to protect farmland,
coastal areas, urban parks, and open space. The Environmental Quality
Initiatives Program faces a cut of $26 million, 13% below FY'99 levels
and
$126 million below the Administration's FY'00 request. The Wetlands
Reserve
Program would be limited to 120,000 acres, 80,000 less than requested by
the
White House.
Cuts to environment-related programs are deep in the Senate 302(b)
allocations as well. In addition to approving its FY'00 discretionary
spending allocations, the Senate Appropriations Committee also created a
new
Deficiencies Subcommittee to find ways to redirect money already
appropriated but not spent or find new resources all together to ease the
strain on bills facing severe cuts. Appropriations Committee Chair Ted
Stevens (R-AK), Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), and Senator Thad Cochran
(R-MS)
will sit on the new subcommittee. In the Senate, EPA funding would drop
by
15%, DOI (not including the Bureau of Reclamation) by 1%, USDA Forest
Service by 1%, and NOAA by 4%. Funds for the Columbia River Salmon
Project
would be cut by $30 million below the Administration's FY'00 request and
33%
below FY'99 levels. The California Bay Delta Project would be cut by $45
million (47%) below the Administration's FY'00 request.
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ENDANGERED SPECIES
Senate Discusses Targeted Endangered Species Bill:
In a hearing on May 27, the Senate Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Drinking Water discussed a bill
aimed at narrowly amending the Endangered Species Act. The bill, S. 1100
introduced by Senators John Chafee (R-RI), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Pete
Domenici (R-NM), would reform the ESA requirements for developing
recovery
plans and designating critical habitat for species.
The legislation seeks to make designation of critical habitat a part of
the
federal agency planning process for recovering listed species. Currently,
federal agencies designate critical habitat when the species is listed.
ESA
critics claim that designation at the time of listing does not work
because
agencies do not always know what must be done to recover the species in
question. Designation of critical habitat would be shifted to the
recovery
planning process and recovery plans would have to be completed within
three
years after a species was listed. In addition, any lawsuit challenging
the
designation of critical habitat would have to challenge the recovery plan
upon which the designation was based.
A number of environmental groups contend that S. 1100 could do more harm
than good by causing further delay and adding to the costs of critical
habitat designation. Among the criticisms are that S. 1100 would not
close
the loopholes that have contributed to the backlog of more than 1,000
species without designated habitats because, would not require recovery
goals or improve implementation, and would not require the Secretary of
the
Interior to protect survival habitat during the 3-year recovery planning
process.
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SNAKE RIVER DAMS
House Resources Subcommittees Put Spotlight on Snake River Dam Issue:
Last Thursday, the House Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries
Conservation,
Wildlife, and Oceans and Subcommittee on Water and Power held a joint
hearing on a resolution introduced by Representative Doc Hastings (R-WA).
The non-binding resolution, H. Con. Res. 63, argues against dam removal
in
federal efforts to restore threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead
runs on the Columbia and Snake Rivers.
A number of members, including Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and
former Resources Chair George Miller (D-CA), urged other members not to
push
the measure, arguing that it would bias future discussion against dam
removal before current studies have been completed. They also stated that
the resolution was misleading because it documents the benefits of all of
the dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, while the benefits provided by
the four lower Snake River dams - the dams being considered for breaching
to
restore endangered salmon runs - are relatively small.
Largely because of four federal dams on the Lower Snake River, every
single
species of Snake River salmon is now listed under the Endangered Species
Act. This December, the National Marine Fisheries Service will release
its
long-term recovery plan for Snake River salmon, and partial removal of
these
four dams is one of the options being studied. Science has shown that
removing the four dams is the only option under consideration by the
Clinton
Administration that can save these legendary fish from extinction.
Further strengthening the case for dam removal, a recent report prepared
by
economist Phil Meyer, who is serving as a consultant to the Army Corps of
Engineers, stated that breaching the four lower Snake River dams is the
only
way the federal government can honor treaty obligations to Northwest
tribes.
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RIVER-RELATED BILLS IN CONGRESS
For more information or to see the text of any of the bills listed below,
go
to the Thomas website at http://thomas.loc.gov/ and enter the bill
number.
H.R. 728: Introduced by Representative Frank Lucas (R-OK), the Small
Watersheds Rehabilitation Amendments of 1999 would amend the Watershed
Prote
ction and Flood Prevention Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture
to
provide cost share assistance for the rehabilitation of structural
measures
constructed as part of water resource projects previously funded by the
Secretary under such Act or related laws. The bill was referred to the
House
Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Resource
Conservation,
and Credit; the House Resources Subcommittee on Water Resources and
Environment, and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee
on
Water and Power.
H.R. 934: Introduced by Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ), H.R. 934
would
prohibit the commercial harvesting of Atlantic striped bass in the
coastal
waters and the exclusive economic zone. The bill would direct the
Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission to take prompt action to amend the
Interstate Fisheries Management Plan for Striped Bass, dated October 1,
1981, to take into account the new prohibition. The bill was referred to
the
House Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and
Oceans.
H.R. 1396: Introduced by Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), the National Forest
Protection and Restoration Act of 1999 states as its purpose 1) saving
taxpayers money, reducing the deficit, cutting corporate welfare, and
protecting and restoring America's natural heritage by eliminating the
fiscally wasteful and ecologically destructive commercial logging program
on
Federal public lands and 2) facilitating the economic recovery and
diversification of communities dependent on the Federal logging program.
H.R. 1396 would prohibit new timber sales on Federal public lands,
including
commercial logging. Exceptions would be made for the gathering of
firewood
or other wood by individuals for personal, noncommercial use through
free-use permits and provisions included in any treaty with Native
American
tribes.
H.R. 1674: Introduced by Representative Gary Miller (R-CA), H.R. 1674
would
amend the Safe Drinking Water Act with respect to civil actions against
public waters systems that are in compliance with national drinking water
regulations promulgated by the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection
Agency. The bill was referred to the House Commerce Committee.
H.R. 1909: Introduced by Representative Robert Andrews (D-NJ), H.R. 1909
would make supplemental appropriations of $85 million for fiscal year
1999
to ensure the inclusion of commonly used pesticides in state source water
assessment programs. Source water assessment programs under the Safe
Drinking Water Act would be required to include (1) the assessment of the
pesticides chlorothalonil, pendimethalin, paraquat, cyanazine, bensulide,
chlorpyrifos, diazinon, metalaxyl, and mecoprop; (2) the assessment of
surface water sources; (3) the assessment of residential drinking wells;
and
(4) the assessment of contaminated soil. The bill was referred to the
House
Appropriations Committee.
H.R. 1944: Introduced by Representative John Shadegg (R-AZ), the Gila
River
Indian Community--Phelps Dodge Corporation Water Rights Settlement Act of
1999 would ratify, approve, and confirm the water rights Settlement
Agreement among the Gila River Indian Community, Phelps Dodge
Corporation,
and the United States. The Secretary of the Interior would be charged
with
overseeing the resolution of the settlement, which deals with the water
rights claims of certain Indian tribes in the Little Colorado River Basin
in
Arizona. H.R. 1944 was referred to the House Resources Committee.
S. 685: Introduced by Senator Michael Crapo (R-ID), the State Water
Sovereignty Act would preserve the authority of States over water within
their boundaries and delegate to States the authority of Congress to
regulate water. The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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HEARINGS
There are no hearings this week - Congress is in recess.
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LINKS TO PAST UPDATES:
May 24: http://www.amrivers.org/policy5-24.html
May 10: http://www.amrivers.org/policy5-10.html
May 3: http://www.amrivers.org/policy5-3.html
April 26: http://www.amrivers.org/policy4-26.html
April 19: http://www.amrivers.org/policy4-19.html
April 12: http://www.amrivers.org/policy4-12.html
April 5: http://www.amrivers.org/policy4-5.html
March 29: http://www.amrivers.org/policy3-29.html
March 22: http://www.amrivers.org/policy3-22.html
March 15: http://www.amrivers.org/policy3-15.html
March 8: http://www.amrivers.org/policy3-8.html
March 1: http://www.amrivers.org/policy3-1.html
February 22: http://www.amrivers.org/policy2-22.html
February 15: http://www.amrivers.org/policy2-15.html
February 8: http://www.amrivers.org/policy2-8.html
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QUESTIONS? Contact Suzy McDowell, Conservation Outreach Coordinator, at
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Legislative information taken from many sources including Thomas,
Congressional Greensheets, Greenwire, and Roll Call.
********************
Suzy McDowell
Outreach Coordinator
American Rivers
1025 Vermont Ave, NW, #720
Washington, DC 20005
202-347-7550 x3040
smcdowell at amrivers_org