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With Congress out of session until January 6, action on the legislative front will be slow. We will use this window of opportunity to bring you related river conservation information - news, science, and resource tools.
Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New The first few months of the 106th Congress promise to be unique as the Senate confronts President Clinton's impeachment trail. On December 19, the House approved two articles of impeachment on the President, passing along to the Senate the responsibility of holding a trail. Senators will decide upon the course of the trail when they return January 6. Throwing another curveball into the mix, Representative Bob Livingston, (R-LA), selected to assume departing Representative Newt Gingrich's (R-GA) duties as Speaker of the House, resigned when it was revealed he had be involved in adulterous affairs. As a result, Representative Dennis Hastert (R-IL) will become Speaker of the House. In the past, Representative Hastert's focus has been health and tax issues. Since 1997, he has taken more active interest in utility deregulation and was a strong contender for chairmanship of the Energy and Power Subcommittee. His impact on environmental issues remains uncertain, but his record in the past does not bode well - his League of Conservation Voters environmental record is 13 percent. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) have agreed to a comprehensive and voluntary Clean Water Act Compliance Audit Program (CAP). The NPPC, which represents pork producers nationally, plans to have independent auditors conduct more than 10,000 of the audits nationwide to improve environmental management practices and assure compliance with the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act CAP provides incentives for pork producers to undertake voluntary comprehensive on-farm environment assessments by greatly reducing penalties for any Clean Water Act violations that are promptly disclosed and corrected under this program. Participation in the NPPC audits or CAP process is voluntary. "This Notice announces the opportunity for pork producers to register for EPA's Clean Water Act Section 301 Compliance Audit Program (CAP) for the Pork Production Industry. This Notice also announces the availability of the text of the Agreement (CAP Agreement), which producers may sign to register for the program. "Producers with existing pork production facilities must register for the CAP agreement by Sept. 30, 2001. For facilities that are completed after Sept. 30, 2001, producers must register by Sept. 30, 2003. Persons interested in participating in the CAP must register by sending a signed CAP Agreement to EPA before the end of the applicable registration period. "Copies of the CAP Agreement text may be obtained from http://www.epa.gov/oeca/ore/porkcap. Pork producers who want to register for the program can contact their local pork producers' organization or the National Pork Producers Council, at 1776 NW 114th St., Clive, Iowa 50325, Attention: Andy Baumert; Phone: (515) 223-2600. "Additional information about the CAP and the CAP Agreement is available from EPA by contacting Ciannat M. Howett, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Office of Regulatory Enforcement, Water Enforcement Division (Mailcode: 2243-A), Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460. Pork producers who want additional information about the CAP Agreement can contact their local pork producers' organization or the National Pork Producers Council, at 1776 NW 114th St., Clive, Iowa 50325, Attention: Andy Baumert; Phone: (515) 223-2600." Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Based on information from sources on and off the Hill, the FY'00 appropriations process will not start off well for environmental programs, with predicted boosts to defense and education budgets likely to come from environmental initiatives. House Majority Whip Tom Delay (R-TX), who received an environmental scorecard of 10 in 1998 from the League of Conservation Voters, will play a key roll in determining the schedule and content of annual spending bills. Based on the 1997 balanced-budget deal, which laid out a fiscal course through FY'02, funding for environmental programs will drop for the next three years after holding steady for the last two. Senate Budget Committee Pete Dominici (R-NM) wants a final budget resolution for FY'00 that adheres to the overall spending limits set in 1997. At the same time, Republican leadership intends to increase spending for defense and education, the latter an issue also on the top of the Administration's list of priorities. These increases will have to come from the anticipated budget surplus or discretionary spending such as environmental programs. Plans to devote the surplus funds to Social Security preservation make it unlikely that the increases for defense and education will come from that pot. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Pushed by the threat of federal controls on more salmon runs in his state, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber plans to sign an order to ensure no state agency does anything to harm an Oregon salmon run. The plan, which calls for participation by every branch of the state's government, is a significant expansion of his Oregon Plan that relied heavily on voluntary participation by the logging industry and others whose activities impact stream quality. Under the new plan, environmental problems will be managed locally and plans must be developed to measure success or failure. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Along the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts and the Gulf of Mexico, local port authorities and the federal government are developing plans to deepen waterways to accommodate 1,000-foot-long cargo boats that carry more goods at a lower cost. Currently, the Army Corps of Engineers is deepening the Delaware River in the Philadelphia area from 40 to 45 feet, and authorities working to deepen New York Harbor down to 45 feet are looking into digging down an additional five feet. In Virginia, three ports are slated to go from 50 to 55 feet. Projects are also in the works to deepen harbors in Boston; Baltimore; Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville; Houston; Los Angeles; and Tacoma, Washington. Although industry representatives are enthusiastic about the dredging projects, others are skeptical about the need for and impacts of the river-deepening frenzy. According to analysts, the biggest ships will only visit one or two ports on a given run, transferring cargo to other locations by rail, truck, or smaller vessels. In other words, "dig deeper and they will come" does not necessarily apply. As they dredge ever deeper, Army civil engineers face increasing problems with disposing of the dredged materials, some of which are contaminated with industrial pollutants from decades or centuries ago. Many environmentalists argue the river dredging projects will alter marine habitats and dig up toxins that could pollute groundwater supplies and get into the food chain. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New The federal government's plan to purchase the Headwaters Forest in northern California is slated to move ahead despite running into a snag over a number of proposed changes to the landowner's habitat conservation plan (HCP). Under the plan, the federal government and the state will purchase 7,500 acres of old-growth redwoods from Pacific Lumber Co. for $380 million ($250 federal money, $130 state money) and the company must comply with the habitat conservation measures laid out in the 50-year HCP. The current disagreements over the HCP focus on incidental takings permits to govern logging operations on 210,000 acres of the company's land and recent changes to the plan called for by the Administration, such as additional protections for the endangered marbled murrelet and coho salmon. Federal agencies had originally hoped to reach an agreement by December 16 to allow time to meet the Congressionally-imposed deadline of March 1. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Energy and Environment Publishing has put together a 32-page, comprehensive overview of the movement toward restructuring of the electric utility industry. It covers legislative plans offered by key players, stranded cost recovery, renewable portfolio standards, "green" labeling programs, "private use" restrictions, taxes, TVA/BPA, reliability, and environmental concerns, as well as a look at which issues can be tackled by states and which can be address only by Congress. For a copy of the report ($59), call E&E Publishing at 1-888-884-3374 or 202-628-6500. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Nearly 100 years ago, clear cutting devastated the forests of the Appalachian Mountains. Today, after 70 to 100 years of regrowth, the forests have reached maturity again and fueled a renewed debate in Virginia as to whether enough is being done to protect the natural resource. Timber companies are picking up the pace in the mountain forests of the state, cutting logging roads and hauling out more and more logs. Industry representatives claim the logging boom will offer Virginia great economic benefits and offer assurances that the increased timber harvesting will not deplete the state's natural resources as it did a century ago. Many Virginians are uneasy, however, and worry the timber boom will bring the same devastation as the last time around - polluted rivers and streams, increased erosion, lost scenic beauty, and damaged tourism and recreation potential. The big question for many in the state is whether state and federal officials are doing enough to protect the forests and waters. According to state tax records, southwestern Virginia witnessed a 50 percent increase in timber harvesting between 1991 - 1997, from 20.5 million cubic feet of wood to 30.5 million cubic feet. The increased logging has not been without environmental impacts. Research by the Department of Forestry shows an increase in the amount of dirt and other sediments washed into waterways by logging operations every year since 1993. Unless the trend is changed, the amount of sediment deposited into rivers and streams could increase from nearly 750,000 tons in 1996 to 900,000 tons by 2010, potentially damaging water supplies and negatively impacting fish. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New American Rivers, 1025 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 720 Washington, DC 20005, (202) 347-7550 CHECK OUT OUR HOMEPAGE!! American Rivers QUESTIONS? Contact Suzy McDowell, Conservation Outreach Coordinator, at smcdowell@amrivers.org or 202-347-7550x3040. Legislative information taken from many sources including: Congressional Green Sheets, Environment and Energy Weekly, Greenwire, and Roll Call.
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This page created and maintained by Chehalis River Council
106th CONGRESS
Set for an Unusual Start:
AGRICULTURE
Federal Register Notice about EPA's Audit Proposal for the Pork Industry:
BUDGET/APPROPRIATIONS
Increases to Defense and Education Funding Could Mean Cuts to Environmental Programs:
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Increased Effort by Governor to Save Oregon Salmon Runs:
FLOOD CONTROL AND DREDGING
Dredging on the Increase to Meet Demands of Tomorrow's Cargo Boats:
PARKS AND PUBLIC LANDS
Headwaters Forest Deal Moves Ahead Despite Problems with HCP:
STUDIES AND PUBLICATIONS
Utility Deregulation:
TIMBER HARVESTING
Fate of Virginia's Forests:
LINKS TO PAST UPDATES:
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