American Rivers Policy Update For the week of November 1, 1999 - Chehalis River Council

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VIEW THIS ON THE AMERICAN RIVERS WEBPAGE WITH DIRECT LINKS TO THE ACTUAL BILLS!!
(Select the following to go to:) http://www.amrivers.org/policynew.html

American Rivers Policy Update For the week of November 1, 1999

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• APPROPRIATIONS
  • Funding Debate Continues:
• COMMITTEE APPOINTMENT
  • Chafee s Successor May Be Named:
• DAMS
  • House Hearing on Dams Bill:
  • Snake River Dam Removal Irrigation Proposal Released:
• ENDANGERED SPECIES
  • Habitat Conservation Plan Hearings Continue:
• Young Introduces ESA Bill:
• PARKS AND PUBLIC LANDS
  • Loess Hills Hearing:
  • Review of Roadless Plan:
  • Land Fund Bills Get a Push:
• WATER RESOURCES
  • House Resources Approves Estuary Bill:
  • EPA Grants Get Hearing:
  • Dredged Material Dumping Focus of Hearing:
  • Markup of Lands Bills Scheduled:
• WILD AND SCENIC
• ON THE FLOOR
• HEARINGS
• LINKS TO PAST UPDATES:
• CHECK OUT OUR HOMEPAGE!!
• QUESTIONS?

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APPROPRIATIONS

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Funding Debate Continues:

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Last week, talks continued on two appropriations bills vetoed by President Clinton Foreign Operations and Commerce, State, and Justice. President Clinton vetoed the $12.7 billion Foreign Operations bill because it provided $1.9 billion less than the Administration s request and did not include funding for the Wye River peace accord between Israel and Palestine.

President Clinton cited a number of reasons for his veto of the $39 billion Commerce, State, and Justice bill, including inadequate funding for hiring new police officers, requirement that payment of United Nations arrears be subject to authorization, insufficient funding (just $10 million of a requested $60 million) for implementation of a new US-Canada salmon recovery treaty, and a rider barring application of the Endangered Species Act to salmon caught in Alaska.

This week, Congress will send to President Clinton the $314 billion Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education funding bill, which seems fated to be vetoed as well. As of Friday, Congress still had not sent the funding bill for the Department of Interior and Related Agencies to President Clinton.

The House and Senate both approved a joint resolution (H. J. Res. 73) to make further continuing appropriations for the federal government while Congress and the Administration try to resolve the remaining disagreements for FY 00 funding measures. The current resolution provides funding through November 5.

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COMMITTEE APPOINTMENT

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Chafee s Successor May Be Named:

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Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee may select a new chair to succeed the late Senator John Chafee (R-RI), who died October 24 of a heart attack. Senator Chafee led the committee for five years and was a strong ally of environmental causes.

The two front-runners for the seat are Senators Robert Smith (I-NH) and James Inhofe (R-OK). Senator John Warner (R-VA), who is the senior Republican on the panel, prefers to remain Chair of the Armed Services Committee. Senator Smith left the Republican Party in July to be come an independent, but has recently abandoned his independent campaign for the presidency and hopes to rejoin the Republican Party. Either Smith or Inhofe would be expected to lead the committee in a different direction than Senator Chafee, who was more moderate.

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DAMS

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House Hearing on Dams Bill:

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Last week, the House Agriculture Committee approved Representative Frank Lucas' (R-OK) bill to authorize $600 million over ten years for financial and technical assistance to repair and rehabilitate small watershed dams across the country. Aid provided by H.R. 728 would cover 65 percent of the total rehabilitation costs and 100 percent of the actual construction costs involved. H.R. 728 also includes $5 million to finance a two-year study of the magnitude of the problem of aging dams.

The bill was approved by voice vote, with a substitute amendment making technical changes and two other amendments. Representative Bob Goodlatte s (R-VA) amendment, accepted by voice vote, adds a new subsection to the bill to prohibit federal agencies from interfering with state and local removal of flood debris along a waterway, which would be done with the goal of preventing future flooding. Representative Charles Stenholm s (D-TX) amendment adds a new provision to the USDA s conservation program aimed at protecting the privacy of data collected from producers under the program.

American Rivers has stated that the bill needs to be strengthened by giving local dam owners the choice to either to fix the obsolete or failing dams or remove them.

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Snake River Dam Removal Irrigation Proposal Released:

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American Rivers has released a new proposal to provide an alternative irrigation system near Ice Harbor Dam if the four federal dams on the Lower Snake River are removed to recover endangered runs of Snake River salmon and steelhead. The dam currently provides irrigation for 37,000 acres of farmland in Franklin and Walla Walla counties.

Unless an alternative irrigation system is provided, dam removal would eliminate 2,256 full-time and part-time jobs and $72.2 million in annual economic benefits, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. American Rivers proposed that an alternative irrigation system be provided primarily at federal expense and urged the Clinton Administration to expand their study of salmon recovery options to address to social and economic impacts of dam removal.

Last month, American Rivers released a report by a former high-ranking official in the Corps of Engineers that concluded that highway and rail infrastructure investments would keep grain transportation rates affordable if the four lower Snake River dams are removed.

To view American Rivers' proposal, visit www.amrivers.org/snake.html on the World Wide Web.

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ENDANGERED SPECIES

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Habitat Conservation Plan Hearings Continue:

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On Wednesday, the Senate Environment Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife, and Drinking Water will hold the next in a series of hearings on Habitat Conservation Plans (HCP). This week s hearing will highlight proposals for solutions to the various problems encountered with HCPs so far.

Since 1992, the Department of Interior has significantly increased the use of HCPs in an effort to balance the needs of species protected under the ESA and the rights of landowners to use their lands as they see fit. There are currently 240 HCPs in operation across the nation, covering more than 11 million acres. Another 200 plans are in the works. For more background on HCPs, see
(Select the following to go to:) http://www.amrivers.org/policy10-18.html

The hearing is set for 10 a.m. in 406 Dirksen Senate Office Building on Wednesday, November 3.

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Young Introduces ESA Bill:

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Representative Don Young (R-AK) has introduced a bill to make significant changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). H.R. 3160 would increase state and public participation in the process of listing species, require peer review of the science used to back up listing decisions, set deadlines for agency decisions, and rework the process by which conflicts between federal agencies are resolved. The Representatives co-sponsoring the bill include Richard Pombo (R-CA), W.J. Tauzin (R-LA), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Bill Thomas (R-CA) and Jim Hansen (R-UT).

Environmental groups are concerned about the bill because they believe it would allow state plans to be used in lieu of federal protection, delay listing decisions with more bureaucracy and red tape, reduce citizens' access to the courts when enforcing the law but increase citizen access when preventing protection, and make recovery planning a much more political, rather than scientific, process.

The hearing by the House Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Drinking Water is set for 10 a.m. on November 3 in 406 Dirksen Senate Office Building. The subcommittee will also discuss Habitat Conservation Plans during the hearing.

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PARKS AND PUBLIC LANDS

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Loess Hills Hearing:

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The House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands will discuss a bill to require the National Park Service to study how to protect the 600,000-acre Loess Hills area along the Missouri River. Located on the western edge of Iowa, the Loess Hills is a large expanse of undisturbed mixed prairie and unique geological formations. Urban sprawl and other human activities are threatening the vegetation covering the hills, exposing the area to wind erosion.

The bill would direct the NPS to review options for protecting the area and make recommendations as to whether it should be protected as a national park, national heritage site, or some other designation. The bill would authorize $275,000 for the one-year study. The Senate passed companion legislation (S. 776) in July.

The hearing is set for 10 a.m. on Thursday, November 4 in 1324 Longworth House Office Building.

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Review of Roadless Plan:

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Tuesday, Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, Assistant Secretary for Natural Resources Jim Lyons, and Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck will appear before the Senate Energy Subcommittee on Forests and Public Lands Management to defend President Clinton s proposal to prohibit road construction in at least 40 million acres of currently roadless forestland.

Mike Dombeck and Council on Environmental Quality Chair George Frampton will face questions on the same issue on Wednesday before the House Resources Committee.

The White House hopes to have the new rule ready for publication and public comment by next spring, with a final rule in place by late 2000. According to the Forest Service, Roadless areas serve as reference areas for research, bulwarks against invasive species, and as aquatic strongholds for fishes as well as vital habitat and migration routes for wildlife species, especially those requiring large home ranges.

The Senate Energy subcommittee hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m. in 366 Dirksen Senate Office Building on November 2. The house Resources hearing is set for 11 a.m. in 1324 Longworth House Office Building on November 3.

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Land Fund Bills Get a Push:

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Legislators pushing bills to increase funding for impact aid to coastal states and national recreation and conservation programs are racing against the clock, trying to get their bills approved by House and Senate panels before the end of the session. The Senate Energy Committee is expected to take up S. 25, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act introduced by Senators Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA). S. 25 would increase federal funding for land conservation and wildlife programs by devoting half of the federal receipts from oil and gas development on the outer continental shelf currently $3.5 billion annually to provide impact aid to coastal states and strengthen land acquisition and recreation initiatives and fish and game programs across the nation.

Representative Don Young (R-AK) introduced companion legislation (H.R. 701) in the House. Representative George Miller (D-CA) also introduced similar legislation (H.R. 798). The two legislators have reached an agreement in principle on many issues, but still have some areas of dispute to resolve.

The House Resources Committee will hold a markup if the Miller and Young are able to reconcile their bills by that time.

Other land funding bills include S. 819, S. 446, S. 532, S. 1573, and S. 826.

The Senate Energy markup is set for 9:30 a.m. in 366 Dirksen Senate Office Building on November 3.

To view the bills, visit

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WATER RESOURCES

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House Resources Approves Estuary Bill:

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Last week, the House Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife, and Oceans approved Representative Wayne Gilchrest s (D-MD) bill (H.R. 1775) aimed at protecting and restoring the Chesapeake Bay and other coastal estuaries. The goal of the bill is to restore one million acres of estuary habitat over the next decade and improve coordination between federal and non-federal restoration programs. H.R. 1775 would authorize $315 million over the next five years in matching grant funds for restoration programs.

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EPA Grants Get Hearing:

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On Thursday, the House Transportation Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigation, and Emergency Management will hold a hearing to scrutinize the Environmental Protection Agency s grant program. EPA makes grants exceeding $3.5 billion annually half of the agency s budget. The grants are used for virtually all of the programs under EPA s jurisdiction, with most of the money going to state and local governments for water programs.

EPA also provides grants to non-profit organizations, corporations, and individuals. The focus of the hearing will be whether EPA has managed the grant programs well or wasted some of the funds.

The hearing will be held in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building at 2 p.m. on Thursday, November 4.

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Dredged Material Dumping Focus of Hearing:

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The House Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife, and Oceans will discuss concerns over dumping of thousands of tons of mud from New York harbor into the Atlantic Ocean at a site known as New York Bight. A New York heating oil company has requested a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to dispose of approximately 90,000 cubic yards of silt at a sit off Sandy Hook, NJ. Environmental groups and others are concerned about the proposal because the silt, which Castle Astoria Terminals, hopes to dredge from its tanker berths in Queens, NY, is contaminated and could degrade fish habitat.

The hearing will be held in 1324 Longworth House Office Building at 10 a.m.

on November 5.

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Markup of Lands Bills Scheduled:

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The Senate Energy Committee hopes to mark up a number of major land conservation and coastal impact aid bills in what could be its last markup of the session. Among the bills slated for the markup are two Alaska proposals. One, which is highly controversial, would grant an easement and other concessions to the Chugach Alaska Corporation (S. 1686). The other Alaska bill, S. 1702, would amend the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which would provide the Elim Native Corporation another 50,000 acres.

Other measures that could be marked up include bills to:

• Designate 18,000 acres of wilderness in the San Isabel National Forest in Colorado; ù
• Give the Forest Service authority to make land grants for educational purposes;
• Sell approximately 40 acres of national forest land in North Dakota to a ski resort;
• Convey two acres of Forest Service land to Elko County, Nevada, for a cemetery;
• Expand the scope of a scientific panel studying fish and wildlife projects in the Columbia Basin;
• Direct the Bureau of Reclamation to report on the status of irrigation systems in Hawaii and identify new opportunities for reclamation and reuse of water;
• Allow the Bureau of Reclamation to undertake projects to help salmon and other fish harmed by irrigation activities in OR, WA, MT, and ID;
• Convey certain parcels of land acquired for the Blunt Reservoir and Pierre Canal features of the Oahe Irrigation Project in South Dakota to the state school commission;
• Convey the assets of the Middle Loup Division of the Missouri River Basin Project in Nebraska to three local irrigation districts; and ù
• Turn over the Palmetto Bend Project to Texas.

The markup is set for 9:30 a.m. on November 3 in 366 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

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WILD AND SCENIC

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ON THE FLOOR

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For a list of bills could come to the Senate floor at any time, see
(Select the following to go to:) http://www.amrivers.org/policy10-25.html

To view the bills, visit

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HEARINGS

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LINKS TO PAST UPDATES:

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CHECK OUT OUR HOMEPAGE!!

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http://www.amrivers.org

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QUESTIONS?

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