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Unable to resolve differences over various spending measures last week, Congress hopes to vote Tuesday on a $500 billion catchall funding bill so that they can finally go home for the remainder of the campaign season. The legislation rolls into one bill eight of the original thirteen annual appropriations bills that fund much of the federal government for FY'99.
Also attached to the catchall is a $20 billion emergency supplemental funding measure that includes additional aid for farmers and defense spending. According to a Democratic press release, the omnibus bill contains $1.7 billion for the Administration's Clean Water Action Plan; $325 million to preserve "precious lands;" a 23 percent increase in funding to protect endangered and threatened species; and a $1 billion increase in global warming funding.
The Administration has voiced strong opposition to a number of riders attached to the Interior funding bill. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Ted Stevens (R-AK) dropped his rider for the construction of a road across the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to provide access to the isolated King Cove community. In return, Stevens is asking for funds to improve the King Cove airport and clinic and a possible alternative road.
The Interior bill also dropped a provision attached by the House to allow construction of a road through the northern section of Alaska's Chugach National Forest and altered the language regarding the Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project to make it "more sensitive to local concern."
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The House approved by voice vote a bill to renew certain programs of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and the Energy Conservation and Production Act through FY'02. The bill, S.417, would reauthorize five conservation and export promotion programs, including weatherization programs for low-income households, state block grants to encourage energy conservation among low-income households, energy conservation programs for schools and hospitals, and export programs for renewable energy and energy efficiency.
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Last Wednesday, the Senate passed by voice vote a bill aimed at reforming certain National Park Service Programs. The legislation, S.1693, was praised on both sides of the aisle as one of the major pieces of environmental legislation to succeed in the 105th Congress. Written with the goal of introducing competition into the process for awarding concessions contracts, the legislation would change various NPS service management practices, including the treatment of concessionaires that provide food, lodging, souvenirs, guiding, and other visitor services. The Senate-approved version of the bill included an amendment that dropped renewal of the entrance and user fee demonstration program in national parks and forests.
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A package of wildlife conservation legislation, H.R.2807, passed the Senate last Thursday by unanimous consent. The measure combines language from bills to reauthorize a wetlands protection law, alter rules protecting migratory birds, and protect tigers and rhinos. Before passing the bill, the Senate added a number of provisions, including changes to rules for implementation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Reform Act of 1988 (specifically concerning the issue of hunting birds over "baited" fields); changes to the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act (including removal of three areas from the refuge system that had lost their wildlife values and reducing the penalty for unintentional violations of the act); and authorization for programs relating to protection of the Chesapeake Bay.
The bill also contains language to reauthorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the Partnerships for Wildlife Act (S.1677). The North American Wetlands Conservation Act promotes conservation of wetland ecosystems and the species they support, provides financial assistance to a 1986 agreement between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to reverse wetlands loss and to stem the decline of migratory bird populations; and established a nine-member council that oversees the distribution of funds for wetlands conservation projects. The Partnership for Wildlife law established a fund to encourage conservation of non-game fish and wildlife species.
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Both the Senate and House approved a number of bills focusing on parks and public lands. The bills would ease limitations on the National Park Service's ability to acquire some lands adjacent to the Hawaii volcanoes National Parks (S.2129), authorize the acquisition of the Wilcox Ranch in Utah for wildlife habitat; establish the Lower East Side Tenement National Historic Site in New York; prohibit the construction of a proposed scenic road through the 73,000-acre Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on the edge of Lake Superior in Michigan; and authorize a study of four areas in Hawaii that might be added to the national park system.
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The house passed by voice vote a bill to "grandfather" the mineral rights and royalties from federal lease agreements for coal bed methane gas (S.2500). Sponsored by Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), the legislation would decision by a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that transferred the mineral rights for and royalties from methane leases o the federal government. Wyoming legislators have lobbied hard for the bill because of its significant meaning for the state. According to a Wyoming delegation release, the state has 269 operating coal bed methane wells in the Wyoming-Montana Powder River Basin., thousands of proposed wells, and known reserves for about 15,600 wells.
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On October 17, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Oregon Gov. John Kizhaber announced a plan to pay Oregon farmers $200 million over the next 15 years to plant trees and fence out livestock along streams where salmon habitat has been degraded. The initiative is the first time property owners will receive payment for such activities to protect a federally listed species.
Using funds from the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program money, the effort seeks to solicit the participation of area farmers in restoring up to 100,000 acres of land along 2,000 miles of state streams. Glickman, Wyden, and Kizhaber hope the agreement will give a significant boost to the governor's salmon restoration plan, which relies on voluntary measures improve water quality in Oregon rivers.
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Last Thursday, the House passed by voice vote a bill to allow state and local agencies to use free of charge sand, gravel, and shell resources of the outer continental shelf to replace shoreline. Introduced by Rep. Own Pickett (D-VA), supporters of H.R.3972 argued that state and local agencies should not have to pay for OCS sand and gravel used in beach restoration efforts because federal agencies can do so when nearby sources have been exhausted. On the other side of the issue, a representative from the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service countered that the fee "represents the federal government's commitment to provide a fair return to the nation for the use of public resources."
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Late Thursday evening, the $1.5 billion Water Resources Development Act of 1998 died in the House because members were unable to resolve their differences regarding the Auburn Dam on the American River. WRDA bills move through Congress every two years, naming new Army Corps of Engineers construction projects, modifying already approved projects, and authorizing studies for future projects. Water and Power Subcommittee Chairman John Doolittle (R-CA) has lobbied hard for the construction of the Auburn dam to protect downstream Sacramento from the often flooded American River. The environmental community has criticized the Auburn Dam as a $1 billion waste of money that would destroy about 50 miles of the American River in the foothills Sierra Nevada and would likely not survive an earthquake on the nearby fault. Other measures included in the now-dead WRDA bill could get passed off to the omnibus package that could be passed by Congress as early as tomorrow night. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New October 19-23: Pro forma sessions are scheduled for both the House and Senate for Monday, leaving Tuesday open to tie up any remaining legislative loose ends. The only item listed on the Senate schedule is the omnibus funding bill, but members could take up any remaining bills or nominations that could be cleared by unanimous consent. On the schedule for the House on Tuesday are the omnibus spending measure and two bills rejected last week when considered under suspension of the rules: the Bandelier National Monument Administrative Improvement and Watershed Protection Act (S.1132) and a bill to preserve the Route 66 corridor (S.2133). S.1132, which passed the Senate, would allow the National Park Service to purchase land or conservation easements from willing sellers around the 32,737-acre Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos, New Mexico. The park is now threatened by development in the watershed that drains into the park, which was created in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson. CHECK OUT OUR HOMEPAGE!! http://www.amrivers.org Legislative information taken from many sources including: Congressional Green Sheets, Environment and Energy Weekly, Greenwire, and Roll Call."
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WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT
CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE
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