VIEW THIS ON THE AMERICAN RIVERS WEBPAGE American Rivers WITH DIRECT LINKS TO THE ACTUAL BILLS!! http://www.amrivers.org/policynew.html
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With Congress now in recess, there is still no consensus on supplemental funding bills for FY'99. The White House has threatened to veto both bills - the $1.3 billion House version (H.R. 1141) and the $1.9 billion Senate version (S. 544). Among the Clinton Administration's objections is language in the Senate version to delay release of the Bureau of Land Management's new hardrock mining rules by 120 days and interrupt fishing restrictions in Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska. Added to the bill by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Frank Murkowski (R-AK), the language on fishing would stall funding for National Park Service regulation of fishing in Glacier Bay National Park until after the settlement of a potential lawsuit by Alaska over ownership of submerged lands in the bay. Murkowski's amendment would block an agreement included in last year's omnibus appropriations bill to restrict certain areas from commercial and subsistence fishing and phase out fishing in other areas. The National Park Service fears the lawsuit could take years. The Senate passed S. 544 on March 23.
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Late in the day on March 25, the House and Senate gave their okay to plans calling for cuts in environmental spending totaling nearly $1 billion.
Quickly criticized by the conservation community, the cuts threaten to drain much-needed resources for initiatives aimed at protecting public health, curbing sprawl, and preserving open space. The account of most concern to environmental organizations - Function 300/Natural Resources and Environment - benefited from a late addition in the Senate of $200 million in FY'00 for state-side initiatives under the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The amendment was introduced by Senator John Chafee (R-RI) and was adopted unanimously. The stateside portion of LWCF has not been funded by Congress since 1995, meaning matching funds have not been available through the program for state acquisition of land, rivers, and lakes. The House did not approve a similar amendment, leaving the issue to be resolved in conference.
The Senate bill would provide Function 300 with $21.7 billion, compared to the House $21.9 billion and down from $22.7 billion in FY'99. Congress will address the differences after returning from recess. The deadline is April 15. Congress has met this deadline just three times in the 25 years that budget resolutions have been required, most recently in 1993.
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When Congress returns after recess, Representative Helen Chenoweth (R-ID) intends to introduce legislation to facilitate remediation actions in certain damaged areas in national forests. Opposed by the Clinton Administration, the bill would allow agencies to implement emergency environmental review of those areas listed in the legislation. The bill would direct the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to request expedited procedures under the National Environmental Policy Act to remove dead and dying timber on more than 343,000 acres of national forest land.
Representatives from the US Forest Service testified against the bill, claiming it was unnecessary. The agency stated that although the damaged areas require immediate attention, they should not be defined as emergencies. Only situations that pose immediate threats to life or property or have the potential to violate a law such as the Endangered Species Act should be defined as emergencies.
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In a hearing last week before two House subcommittees - the Parks Subcommittee and the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee -Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt faced a serious grilling on his use of land withdrawal authority under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. In the past four months, Babbitt has removed more than one million acres of federal lands from certain uses including new mining claims. Of particular interest to the subcommittees was his decision to withdraw 605,000 acres in Arizona near the Grand Canyon National Park for possible national monument status and 429,000 acres in the Rocky Mountain front of Montana from new hardrock mining claims.
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On March 25, Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) and Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK) introduced legislation aimed at forcing the president to secure congressional consent before designating national monuments. Right now, congressional consent is not required. The National Monument Public Participation Act of 1999 (S. 729) would amend the Antiquities Act of 1906, legislation that allows the president to bypass Congress when designating national monuments by applying the terms of other laws governing public lands that have been enacted since 1906. The bill would add new conditions to the creation of a national monument by requiring federal agencies to collect resource information, conduct an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act, and obtain the approval of Congress.
In his floor time, Senator Murkowski recalled President Clinton's 1996 designation of the 1.7-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. The designation stirred up controversy within the Utah delegation because they resented not being contacted prior to the designation.
Last year, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Representative Jim Hansen (R-UT) introduced bills to curb the president's authority under the Antiquities Act. Neither H.R. 1127 nor S. 477 became law.
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On March 25, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Norm Dicks (D-WA) introduced legislation to protect the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River by designating the Hanford Reach as Wild and Scenic. The designation would permanently protect the 51-mile section of the nation's third largest river that flows through the northern portion of the U.S.
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With the change in mission of the Hanford Reservation from one of weapons material production to environmental cleanup, widespread local and regional support for protecting the Hanford Reach prompted Senator Murray to support the Wild and Scenic River designation. Designation would protect the Reach in its free-flowing state, preserved in large part because of the security and safety restrictions associated with the Hanford Site. It would charge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in consultation with an advisory board, with management responsibilities for the Hanford Reach corridor and its critical salmon spawning grounds.
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On March 25, the Senate passed H.R. 193, Representative Martin Meehan's (D-MA) bill to designate a portion of the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, by unanimous consent without amendment. The House approved the measure on February 23 by a vote of 395 - 22.
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On March 25, the Senate approved by unanimous consent eleven House and Senate public lands and water resources bills, including:
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and a number of other bills introduced by Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM). S. 278 would require the Secretary of Interior to transfer ownership of lands to Rio Arriba County, New Mexico; S. 293 to direct the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior to convey lands in San Juan County, New Mexico, to San Juan College; and S. 291 to convey certain lands within the Carlsbad Project in New Mexico to the Carlsbad Irrigation District;
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introduced by Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK), to amend the Federal Power Act to shift jurisdiction over Alaskan hydroelectric projects of five megawatts or smaller from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to the state of Alaska;
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introduced by Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI), to end FERC jurisdiction over licensing projects on fresh waters in Hawaii; ù S. 243, introduced by Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), to allow the construction of the Perkins County Rural Water System and the creation of a nonprofit corporation to plan and build it; ù S. 356, introduced by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), to authorize the Secretary of Interior to transfer title for works and facilities of the Gila Project and some surrounding land to the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District;
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introduced by Representative Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) to authorize funding for the Coastal Heritage Trail Route in New Jersey; and
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introduced by Representative Martin Meehan (D-MA), to designate part of the Sudbury, Assabet and Concord rivers under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
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For more information or to see the text of any of the below bills, go to the Thomas website at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas2.html and enter the bill number. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Introduced by Representatives Robert Borski (D-PA) and James Oberstar (D-MN), the Support for Harbor Investment Program Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the harbor maintenance tax and to amend the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to authorize appropriations for activities formerly funded with revenues from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund. H.R. 1260 was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Representative Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) introduced legislation to direct the Secretary of the Army to include primary flood damages avoided as benefits for cost-benefit analyses for Federal nonstructural flood damage reduction projects, and for other purposes. The bill identifies issues to be included or excluded from benefit-cost analyses, stipulates that the federal government pay up to but not more than 65 percent of the costs of an Army Corps of Engineers project, and, if requested by non-federal entities, calls for a reevaluation of previously authorized project to consider nonstructural alternatives. H.R. 1186 was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Representative Richard Pombo's (R-CA) New Wildlife Refuge Authorization Act would prohibit the expenditure of funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the creation of new National Wildlife Refuges without specific authorization from Congress pursuant to a recommendation from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to create the refuge. The bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Introduced by Representative Robert Andrews (D-NJ), To direct the Secretary of Defense to provide financial assistance to the Tri-State Maritime Safety Association of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania for use for maritime emergency response on the Delaware River. From amounts otherwise available for the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2000, the Secretary of Defense shall provide $250,000 in financial assistance to the Tri-State Maritime Safety Association of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania for use for maritime emergency response on the Delaware River. The bill is co-sponsored by Representatives Curt Weldon (R-PA), Jim Saxton (R-NJ), Robert Borski (D-PA), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Robert Brady (D-PA), and Jim Greenwood (R-PA) and was referred to the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Introduced by Representative George Miller (D-CA), H.R. 1235 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into contracts with the Solano County Water Agency, California, to use Solano Project facilities for impounding, storage, and carriage of non-project water for domestic, municipal, industrial, and other beneficial purposes. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Resources. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Representative Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) would provide that existing facilities located on the Pentwater River in Michigan, are not required to be licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under part 1 of the Federal Power Act. If passed, the bill would allow the city of Hart in Michigan to operate, maintain, repair, reconstruct, replace, or modify any dam which, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, is owned and operated by the City, and located on the Pentwater River in Oceana County, Michigan, or any water conduit, reservoir, power house, and other works incidental to such dam. H.R. 1262 was referred to the House Committee on Commerce. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Senator Russell Feingold's (D-WI) bill, the Elimination of Double Subsidies for the Hardrock Mining Industry Act of 1999, would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the percentage depletion allowance for certain hardrock mines. S.590 would create an Abandoned Mine Reclamation Trust Fund to help reclaim and restore lands and water resources adversely affected by mineral (other than coal and fluid minerals) and mineral material mining. The funds could be used for sealing, filling, and grading abandoned deep mine entries; planting on lands adversely affected by mining to prevent erosion and sedimentation; prevention, abatement, treatment, and control of water pollution created by abandoned mine drainage; and control of surface subsidence due to abandoned deep mines. The bill, which is co-sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), was referred to the Senate Committee on Finance. Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New There are no hearings this week. Congress is in recess. LINKS TO PAST UPDATES: CHECK OUT OUR HOMEPAGE!! http://www.amrivers.org QUESTIONS? Contact Suzy McDowell, Conservation Outreach Coordinator, at smcdowell@amrivers.org or 202-347-7550x3040. Legislative information taken from many sources including Thomas, Congressional Greensheets, Greenwire, and Roll Call. Outreach Coordinator American Rivers 1025 Vermont Ave, NW, #720 Washington, DC 20005 202-347-7550 x3040 smcdowell@amrivers.org
This page created and maintained by Chehalis River Council
RECENTLY INTRODUCED RIVER-RELATED BILLS
H. R. 1260:
H. R. 1186:
H. R. 1199:
H. R. 1220:
H. R. 1235:
H. R. 1262:
S. 590:
HEARINGS
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