VIEW THIS ON THE AMERICAN RIVERS WEBPAGE American Rivers WITH DIRECT LINKS TO THE ACTUAL BILLS!! http://www.amrivers.org/policynew.html American Rivers Policy Update For the week of March 15, 1999
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On March 10, Vice President Al Gore released the Administration's final plan to combat water pollution from agricultural runoff. The plan, to be a joint effort between the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency, all of the nation's 450,000 animal feeding operations will be more closely scrutinized under the Clean Water Act. When the Unified National Strategy for Animal Feeding Operations goes into effect in 2003, its regulations will apply to some 18,000 major swine, cattle, dairy, and poultry producers across the country. Any operator with more than 100,000 chickens will be required to apply for federal permits showing they have implemented measures to prevent polluted runoff from entering waterways. The new regulations will give states the authority to single out waterways with the greatest nutrient damage and require feedlot operators in those areas to apply for permits, regardless of their size. The most far-reaching element in the final plan is a requirement that states hold large meat producers responsible for the manure produced at their facilities, even if the animals are raised by an independent farmer.
The Administration's strategy received mixed reviews from environmental organizations. A number of conservation groups complained that the plan did not stress the urgency of the situation or move quickly enough. They also criticized the Administration's failure to impose a moratorium on new feedlot operations that will be constructed before the new regulations go into effect.
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Last week, the Department of Interior unveiled its new guidelines for habitat conservation plans (HCP), aimed at codifying the controversial attempts to manage endangered species. The guidelines were developed to deal with concerns on the part of many environmental groups and scientists who assert HCPs violate the goals of the Endangered Species Act and are not based on sound science. Passed in the 1982 amendments to the ESA, HCPs allow the US Fish and Wildlife Service to permit an incidental take of a threatened or endangered species provided that conservation measures are implemented to counter the taking. As a result, HCPs have created a means of circumventing prohibitions on taking listed species, a key tool in stopping property development plans.
The new DOI guidelines, published March 9 in the Federal Register by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, are intended to clarify provisions on developing and implementing HCPs. HCP codification has come under a great deal of scrutiny, with conservation organizations contending that the plans are illegal. Over the past year, the White House and development interests have pushed for legislation to certify the conservation plans, in part to shield the DOI from lawsuits. Upon release of the guidelines, a coalition of hundreds of scientists, conservationists, and others sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and Commerce Secretary William Daley criticizing the HCPs and offering ways to improve them. The suggestions included requirements that HCPs contribute to species recovery and provide net benefits to species; contain measurable recovery goals; include scientifically-credible adaptive management provisions; have comprehensive compliance and effectiveness monitoring; be subjected to independent, academic scientific review; and have ensured funding for implementation, monitoring, and mitigation.
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On March 16, the National Marine Fisheries Service listed nine species of salmon and steelhead in Washington and Oregon under the federal Endangered Species Act. The new listings will affect virtually every watershed in Washington. More listings will come as well, including the coastal Puget Sound bull trout in June.
One of the listed species - the Puget Sound chinook, reduced to about one-third of their historic peak - is prized by fishermen for their large size. The chinook spend part of their life cycle in rivers and streams in the most densely populated region of the Northwest - the central Puget Sound counties of King, Pierce and Snohomish, home to 3 million people.
Seven of the nine newly-listed species are in Washington, and the other two are in Oregon. The National Marine Fisheries Services has decided to postpone for six months decisions on whether to list for protection four other species in California and Oregon.
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Over the past year, American Rivers and Green Mountain Energy Resources have been working to develop criteria to establish a certification program for Low Impact Hydropower. The groups seek final public comments on the draft criteria by April 9, 1999, with the goal of releasing the finalized Criteria and Certification Package by late April. For a copy of the draft criteria or more information on the program, please contact Margaret Bowman at mbowman@amrivers.org or Matt Sicchio at msicchio@amrivers.org.
The goals of the Low Impact Hydropower Certification Program, to be administered through the newly-formed Low Impact Hydropower Institute, are to reduce the environmental impacts of hydropower generation and to create a credible and accepted standard for consumers to use in evaluating hydropower. In early May, the Institute will begin to accept applications for certification. For the initial launch of the Certification Program, applications will only be accepted for facilities that sell their power into New England, California and the Pacific Northwest.
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This week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will begin to address the issues of sprawl control and land preservation in a two-day hearing. The House Resources Committee held a two-day hearing of its own last week on the same issues. The committee's goal is to better understand the role of the federal government in protecting undeveloped areas from sprawl. Topics to be discussed include urban sprawl, greenspace, brownsfield revitalization, transportation, and livable communities. The committee will also take up two specific bills addressing these issues - S. 25 and S. 446 - and the Clinton Administration's initiative. The first day of the hearings will focus on the perspective of local and state governments and public interest groups, and the second on legislative proposals and President Clinton's "Better America Bonds" plan to finance sprawl and preservation projects.
Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) introduced one of the bills, S. 25, to be discussed by the committee. The legislation would direct outer continental shelf oil and gas revenues to coastal states and conservation programs. The other bill, S. 466 introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), would provide the Land and Water Conservation Fund with permanent funding and would allocate annually $150 million for the Historic Preservation Fund, $100 million for the Urban Parks and Recreation Recovery Program, $100 million to an endangered species recovery fund, $300 million to coastal states for ocean fish and wildlife preservation, $250 million for maintenance backlogs at the National Park Service and other land management agencies, $350 million for native inland fish and wildlife, and $150 million for farmland and open space preservation grants.
The hearing will be held Wednesday, March 17 at 10:30 a.m. and Thursday, March 18 at 9:30 a.m. in 406 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
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On Wednesday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will mark up the Water Resources Development Act of 1999 (S. 507), introduced by Senator Chafee (R-RI). The traditionally biannual legislation authorizes some $2.1 billion in Army Corps of Engineers projects and feasibility studies and includes some policy reforms. The controversial Sacramento River/Auburn Dam issue, which derailed the bill last fall, is not addressed in S. 507. To view the entire bill as introduced, visit http://thomas.loc.gov and search for S. 507.
The bill includes several environmental provisions, including:Many projects have "contingent authorizations" which grant Congressional approval before the Corps has completed the agency's economic and environmental analysis.
ù Savannah Harbor - Dredging Savannah harbor would have high environmental costs ù Mississippi River Navigation - S. 507 authorizes the design of longer locks on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers even though longer locks are not yet, according to the Corps, economically justified. See the November issue of the Mississippi Monitor at http://www.amrivers.org for more details.In addition to marking up WRDA 1999, the committee will also discuss a number of other measures, including S. 148 aimed at helping migratory bird conservation programs and a Natural Resources Conservation Service resolution to authorize the Middle Deep Red Run Creek Watershed Plan in Oklahoma. The plan calls for NRCS to undertake soil erosion prevention and water quality improvement efforts at a cost of $11.4 million ($9.5 million federal share).
The Senate mark up is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 17, in 406 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
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In a FY'00 budget hearing last week, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water questioned the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation about three projects currently underway by the two agencies - the CALFED ecosystem restoration project, the Administration's proposal for a new harbor use fee, and a move to breach dams.
Subcommittee Chair Pete Domenici (R-NM) expressed concern that the Bureau of Reclamation had spent only $6.4 million out of the $160 million appropriated for the CALFED project to restore the California Bay-Delta region while providing a reliable water supply to California residents.
Patricia Beneke, Interior Assistant Secretary for Water and Science justified the amount spent and assured the panel the funds have been obligated for programs under the project.
Although the Army Corps of Engineers did not have to defend its budget proposal to the extent it did last year, the subcommittee did raise the Administration's proposal to replace the existing harbor maintenance tax with a harbor user fee. The Administration developed the replacement user fee after the US Supreme Court struck down the harbor tax as unconstitutional. The user fee would go towards a Harbor Services Fund, to be used for Corps construction, operation, and maintenance programs.
The third main issue of the hearing was the environmental community's push for breaching dams. Senators Bob Bennett (R-UT), Larry Craig (R-ID), and Slade Gorton (R-WA) strongly oppose the move.
Funding for key elements of the Corps's FY'00 budget are $135 for general investigations, $1.24 billion for construction, $1.8 billion for operation and maintenance, and $280 million for flood control.
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Last week, the House Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power approved four bills transferring title for four western water projects from the federal government to local beneficiaries. The bills were:
ù H.R. 841, conveying portions of the Gila Project in Arizona from the Bureau of Reclamation to the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District; ù H.R. 862, complementing another transfer agreement regarding a water distribution system between the Bureau of Reclamation and the Clear Creek Community Services District in California; ù H.R. 992, conveying the Sly Park Dam and Reservoir to the El Dorado Irrigation District in California, and ù H.R. 1019, providing for local ownership of the Carlsbad Irrigation Project in New Mexico.
This week, the Senate will mark up companion legislation to the House title transfer bills. The mark up is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 17 in 1324 Longworth House Office Building.
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The Small Watershed Rehabilitation Amendments of 1999, introduced by Representative Frank Lucas (R-OK), would amend the Water Protection 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 Acts. The bill was referred to the House Committees on Agriculture, Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure, and then referred to the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
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Representative Nick Rahall's (D-WV) legislation would provide for the disposition of land deemed excess to a project for flood control at Matewan, West Virginia. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
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Representative Doc Hastings' (R-WA) bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of the land use options for land owned by the Department of Energy within the Hanford Reservation, known as Wahluke Slope along the Columbia River in Washington. The Secretary would have up to two years to report back on the findings of the study. The bill would prohibit any changes to the management or use of the Wahluke Slope until one year after the final report has been submitted to the House committee on Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. This bill further delays the permanent transfer of the lands to the Department of Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service. On a positive note for the Hanford Reach, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Norman Dicks (D-WA) are expected are expected to reintroduce legislation later this month to protect the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River by designating it a recreational river under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Senator Hastings' White Bluffs Protection Act was referred to the House Committee on Resources.
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Representative Thomas Bliley's (R-VA) bill would declare a portion of the James River and Kanawha Canal in Richmond, Virginia, to be non-navigable waters of the United States. The bill finds that the continued classification of the canal as navigable waters of the United States based on historic usage that ceased 100 years ago does not serve the public interest and is not necessary to protect public safety. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
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Senator Frank Lautenberg's (D-NJ) legislation would amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to improve the quality of beaches and coastal recreation waters. The Beaches Environmental Assessment, Closure, and Health Act of 1999 was referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The bill finds that coastal tourism generates billions of dollars every year for local communities, with beaches as the nation's top vacation destination. New Jersey beaches alone generate over $7 billion annually to local economies. In 1997, more than 5,199 beach closings or advisories were issued due largely to sewage spills and overflows, and only nine states currently have regular monitoring and public notification programs and adequate public notification.
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Tuesday, March 16 10:00 a.m.: House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water hearing on the Department of Energy'' cleanup budget for FY'00. Location: 2362-B Rayburn House Office Building. Wednesday, March 17 9:00 a.m.: Senate Environment and Public Works Committee mark-up hearing on WRDA 1999 and bills related to migratory bird conservation programs, coastal maps, an Oklahoma water project, and nominations to environmental organization jobs. Location: 406 Dirksen Senate Office Building. 10:30 a.m.: Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on urban sprawl and open space preservation. Day one of a two-day hearing. Location: 406 Dirksen Senate Office Building. 11:00 a.m.: Senate mark up of title transfer bills for water projects. Location: Longworth Senate Office Building. Thursday, March 18 9:30 a.m.: Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on urban sprawl and open space preservation. Day two of a two-day hearing. Location: 406 Dirksen Senate Office Building. 9:30 a.m.: Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water hearing on the Department of Energy's cleanup budget for FY'00. Location: 124 Dirksen Senate Office Building. 10:00 a.m.: House Commerce Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing on utility restructuring. Location: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. LINKS TO PAST UPDATES: American Rivers, 1025 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 720 Washington, DC 20005, (202) 347-7550 CHECK OUT OUR HOMEPAGE!! http://www.amrivers.org 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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