[Budget of the U.S. Government]
[V. Creating Opportunity, Demanding Responsibility, and Strengthening Community]
[3. Protecting the Environment]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
3. PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT
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None of our children should have to live near a toxic waste dump or eat food poisoned by pesticides. Our
grandchildren should not have to live in a world stripped of its natural beauty. We can and we must protect the
environment while advancing the prosperity of the American people and people throughout the world.
President Clinton
April 22, 1996
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The President believes that the Nation does not have to choose
between a strong economy and a clean environment. In fact, while the
President's policies have contributed greatly to four years of strong
economic growth with low inflation, they also have produced a cleaner,
healthier environment.
The Administration has helped ensure that the air is cleaner for tens
of millions of people. It has protected Yellowstone, one of our national
treasures and our first national park, from the ravages of nearby
mining. It also has cleaned up more toxic waste sites in its first three
years than the previous two administrations did in 12 years. Meanwhile,
American industry has continued reducing toxic emissions, which have
fallen 43 percent in the last decade.
While Americans want a Government that helps protect the environment
and our natural resources, they do not want to burden business unduly,
choke innovation, or waste taxpayer dollars. The Administration has
reinvented the regulatory process, cutting excessive regulation and
targeting investments in programs that will have the biggest impact on
improving the environment, protecting public health, providing more
opportunities for outdoor recreation, and enhancing natural resources.
The President's strategy for environmental protection is reflected in
not just the creative approaches the Administration is pursuing, but in
the priorities that the budget proposes to fund.
New Approaches for Environmental Success
Working with Congress on a bipartisan basis whenever possible, the
Administration has pioneered ways to protect the environment that are
cleaner, cheaper, and smarter, while preserving natural resources for
current and future generations.
Reinventing Drinking Water Legislation: In August 1996, the President
signed the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments, fulfilling the goals he
outlined in 1993--to reinvent the Nation's safe drinking water
legislation to better protect public health, and to authorize the
creation of new Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) to help
hundreds of communities protect their citizens from harmful
contaminants.
In several respects, the new law is a model for regulatory reform. It
gives the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) more flexibility to act
on contaminants of greatest risk, and to analyze costs and benefits
while maintaining public health as the paramount concern. It institutes
a cost-effective, community-based approach for ensuring safe drinking
water. Further, it affirms the right of all Americans to know the
quality of their drinking water and the potential threats to its safety,
and it authorizes resources to address Federal mandates under the law.
Reforming Food Quality Protection: Also in August, based on his
proposal of 1993, the President signed legislation to revolutionize
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the way our food supply is protected from harmful pesticides. The law
overhauls the system that kept harmful pesticides on the market too long
and safer alternatives off the market, and it will ensure that families
have the safest possible food on the dinner table. Specifically, the law
replaces conflicting and outdated pesticide residue standards with a
single, health-based standard for all food. It provides incentives for
swift approval of safe, new pesticide alternatives for farmers. And, it
includes provisions to better protect children from pesticide risks.
``Greening'' America's Farm Programs: The 1996 Farm Bill, which the
President signed in April 1996, was the most conservation-oriented farm
legislation ever enacted. It created five new mandatory conservation
programs, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
that consolidates four cost-sharing conservation programs into one and
focuses cost-sharing and technical assistance on locally-identified
conservation priority areas, and to areas where agricultural and natural
resource management improvements will help meet water quality goals. The
law provides $200 million in 1998 ($1.3 billion from 1996 to 2002) for
EQIP, dedicating half of the funds to conservation associated with
smaller livestock operations. It also authorizes the Wildlife Habitat
Incentives Program to help landowners improve wildlife habitat on
private lands.
Enhancing the National Park System: Although the budget provides
higher funding for parks, available resources can barely keep up with
the system's new responsibilities and with ongoing needs to maintain an
aging infrastructure. Consequently, the National Park Service is using
creative new approaches to manage the parks, enabling it to protect our
natural and cultural treasures with limited resources.
The 1996 Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act includes
several examples of these creative approaches. It will, for instance,
establish the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas as a
partnership with a private group that owns most of the land--at far less
cost than establishing a traditional park. Also, at the Presidio in San
Francisco, a government corporation will be able to lease and manage
hundreds of unused buildings in a manner consistent with park purposes,
but which reduces the burden on taxpayers. In addition, the budget
supports other partnership arrangements by including funds, matched by
non-Federal sources, to implement newly authorized non-Federal heritage
areas and to restore historic structures at historically black colleges
and universities.
Creating a New National Monument: The budget provides funds for
start-up activities at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument,
which the President created by proclamation in September 1996, in the
pristine canyonlands of south-central Utah. The National Monument
encompasses 1.7 million acres of public lands and will preserve for
future generations hundreds of millions of years of geologic and
cultural history. Over the next three years, the Bureau of Land
Management will consult with State, local, and Tribal governments; the
private sector; the public; and other Federal agencies in preparing a
land use management plan for the Monument.
Reinventing Regulation: In March 1995, the President announced a
comprehensive program to improve the regulatory system and move toward a
better environmental management system for the 21st Century. One
prominent element is Project XL (for Excellence and Leadership), which
fulfills the President's challenge to EPA and industry to make it easier
for businesses to better protect the environment. This national pilot
program enables a limited number of regulated entities to adopt
alternative strategies to current regulations, as long as they produce
superior environmental results.
For example, Intel's new computer chip manufacturing plant in
Chandler, Arizona--which recently signed a Project XL agreement with
EPA--will adopt a five-year Environmental Management Plan that outlines
specific steps to meet tough standards of superior environmental
performance. The agreement will eliminate the red tape of the normal
permit modification process, enabling Intel to quickly change its
manufacturing operations and, in turn, better compete in its fast-paced
industry.
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Establishing Performance Partnerships: In April 1996, Congress
enacted the President's proposal for EPA Performance Partnership Grants,
allowing States or Tribes to combine several categorical grants--each of
which addresses only air, water, hazardous waste, or similar programs--
into a multimedia environmental grant. Twenty States used this approach
in 1996, and 24 States have expressed interest for 1997. As more States
recognize the benefits, we expect most, if not all, to participate. The
grants build on the National Environmental Performance Partnership
System, which EPA established with the States in 1995 to give them more
leeway to achieve environmental results and emphasize less-intensive EPA
oversight for States that show strong performance. Six States
participated in 1996 and 28 more have expressed interest for 1997.
Restoring the Everglades: The budget supports the continued Federal,
State, local, and Tribal efforts to implement the restoration project
for the South Florida ecosystem, which the Administration began in 1993
and which Congress authorized in the 1996 Water Resources Development
Act. During 1999, the Army Corps of Engineers will complete the Central
and Southern Florida Comprehensive Review Study, providing long-term
direction for restoration efforts.
Along with improved water management, the budget recognizes the need
for more science and for land acquisition to restore the Everglades'
hydrologic functions. The Administration is re-proposing a four-year,
$100 million-a-year Everglades Restoration Fund to provide a steady
source of funding, mainly for land acquisition. It is also re-proposing
a one-cent per pound assessment on Florida-produced sugar to help
finance the Fund. The budget proposes $331 million, 163 percent more
than Congress approved in 1997.
Making the Endangered Species Act Work: The Endangered Species Act
(ESA) gives Federal, State, and local governments, and the private
sector the flexibility to protect endangered species and conserve
habitat, while allowing for development, by establishing Habitat
Conservation Plans (HCPs). From 1983 to 1992, such parties created only
14 HCPs. But the Administration recognized that, to reduce conflict
between the needs of conservation and development, it should more fully
utilize HCPs. As a result, from 1993 to 1997, the number of HCPs issued
or under development soared to 300--covering 8.4 million acres in the
Pacific Northwest alone.
Creating Sustainable Fisheries: Last October, the President signed
the Sustainable Fisheries Act, reinventing the way the Nation addresses
the problems facing its commercial and recreational fisheries. The Act
brings the Nation closer to achieving the vast long-term benefits of
sustainable fisheries with new measures to prevent overfishing and to
ensure that already depressed stocks are rebuilt to levels that produce
maximum sustainable yields. The Act also establishes a new national
standard to minimize the unintentional catch of non-target fish, and
highlights the long-term importance of habitat to fish stocks by
requiring fishery management plans to identify essential fish habitat.
Protecting the Northwest Forests: The President's Forest Plan--a
balanced, science-based blueprint--is protecting natural resources and
providing new economic opportunities in the Pacific Northwest. It
represents the first region-wide application of ecosystem management on
the part of Federal, State, and local agencies; Tribes; non-governmental
organizations; and individuals. The Administration is offering
sustainable volumes of timber sales, restoring thousands of acres of key
habitat and watersheds, providing training and short-term jobs to
displaced timber workers, spurring small business through grants and job
training, and strengthening local economies. The Federal Government
plans to spend $369 million in the region in 1997 through the
coordinated efforts of 12 Federal agencies, and the budget proposes to
increase this level of support to $408 million in 1998.
The recent expiration of the July 1995 timber ``rider'' to a 1995
spending bill restores public participation in the salvage timber
program. As the timber program again faces the full range of
environmental laws, the Administration will address the concerns that
its 1996 Interagency Salvage Review Report identified. The budget
modifies the use of the Forest Service Salvage Sale Fund, establishes a
new Forest Ecosystem Management Fund, and provides more funding for
wildlife
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and fish management (especially sensitive species), watershed improvements, and monitoring.
Saving Yellowstone Park: To protect Yellowstone, the Federal
Government last August agreed to exchange Federal land or other assets
for Crown Butte, Inc.'s interest in the New World Mine. The development
of the gold mine posed a severe environmental threat to Yellowstone's
unique landscape and wildlife resources. The agreement protected Crown
Butte's property rights while preserving one of the crown jewels of the
National Park System. Following the exchange with the Federal
Government, Crown Butte will dedicate $22 million to clean up
contamination at the site from earlier mining activities. The
Administration is working to identify appropriate assets to execute the
agreement, and to appraise their value in order to ensure a fair
exchange.
Protecting Headwaters Forest: The Federal Government and California
agreed in September 1996 to negotiate an exchange of land and other
assets with a private company, enabling them to jointly acquire 7,500
acres, including the Headwaters Grove in northern California--the
largest privately-owned grove of old-growth redwoods--to protect it from
timber harvesting. The negotiations involve complex issues, including
asset appraisals and the development of Habitat Conservation Plans for
endangered species. The Administration believes that all parties are
working in good faith to negotiate a fair and equitable exchange, and is
fully committed to taking all necessary steps to reach a successful
conclusion.
Providing a Fair Return for Taxpayers: The Administration proposes a
five-percent royalty fee on the ``net smelter return'' from producing
hardrock minerals on Federal lands. The royalties would go into a new
reclamation fund to finance the restoration of abandoned mine sites on
Federal lands. The budget also proposes to eliminate the percentage
depletion tax allowance for non-fuel mineral rights acquired from the
Federal Government for only nominal cost under the 1872 Mining Act. In
addition, the budget would continue the moratorium on patenting hardrock
mineral rights on Federal lands.
Environmental and Natural Resource Investments
The budget proposes to boost funding for high-priority environmental
and natural resources programs to levels that would be 17 percent over
those in place when the President took office (see Table 3-1).
Kalamazoo Initiative: The President announced a new national
commitment last August to protect communities from toxic pollution by
the year 2000, and the budget provides almost $800 million in 1998 to
help carry it out. The key components are:
Accelerating Superfund Cleanups: The budget proposes $2.1
billion for Superfund, including a $650 million increase over
1997 to begin meeting the President's pledge to nearly double
the pace of Superfund cleanups (see Chart 3-1). The
Administration proposes to clean up another 500 sites in the
next four years, meaning that about two-thirds of the Nation's
worst toxic waste dumps would be cleaned up by the year 2000.
To ensure available funding, the budget proposes to extend the
Superfund taxes that have expired. The budget also funds the
``orphan share'' cleanup costs, which are attributable to
insolvent parties.
Expanding Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative: The budget
proposes a major expansion of the President's brownfields
initiative, which promotes local cleanup and redevelopment, by
providing a $75 million increase. First, the budget proposes
that EPA receive a $50 million increase, to nearly $88
million, to expand grants to communities for site assessment
and redevelopment planning, and to support revolving loan
funds to finance brownfield cleanup efforts of contaminated
and abandoned urban properties at the local level. Second, the
budget proposes $25 million in Department of Housing and Urban
Development funding to leverage State, local, and private
funds to redevelop the cleaned-up sites and create jobs. Also,
the President again proposes a targeted tax incentive to spur
the cleanup of brownfield sites.
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Table 3-1. ENVIRONMENTAL/NATURAL RESOURCE INVESTMENTS AND OTHER HIGH-PRIORITY PROGRAMS
(Discretionary budget authority unless otherwise noted; dollar amounts in millions)
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Percent Percent
1993 1997 1998 Change: Change:
Actual Estimate Proposed 1993 to 1997 to
1997 1998
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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
Operating Program...................................................................................... 2,767 3,109 3,402 +12% +9%
State Revolving Funds (SRFs):
Clean Water\1\ ..................................................................................... 1,928 625 1,075 -68% +72%
Drinking Water \1\................................................................................... -- 1,275 725 NA -43%
Superfund.............................................................................................. 1,589 1,394 2,094 -12% +50%
Other.................................................................................................. 639 396 349 -38% -12%
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Subtotal, EPA...................................................................................... 6,923 6,799 7,645 -2% +12%
Department of the Interior (DOI):
National Park Service Operating Program................................................................ 984 1,155 1,220 +17% +6%
Bureau of Land Management Operating Program............................................................ 638 673 688 +5% +2%
Fish and Wildlife Service Operating Program........................................................... 531 524 562 -1% +7%
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Subtotal, DOI (Select programs)..................................................................... 2,153 2,352 2,470 +9% +5%
Department of Agriculture (USDA):
Forest Service Operating Program....................................................................... 1,319 1,275 1,342 -3% +5%
Investment Non-Operating Program (NW Forest Plan, infrastructure, other)............................... 276 241 211 -13% -12%
Rural Water and Wastewater \2\........................................................................ 508 565 555 +11% -2%
Wetlands.............................................................................................. 115 212 213 +84% +*%
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (Mandatory).................................................. -- 200 200 NA +*%
Wetlands Reserve Program (Mandatory).................................................................. -- 128 176 NA +38%
Conservation Reserve Program (Mandatory).............................................................. 1,579 1,862 1,943 +18% +4%
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Subtotal, USDA (Select programs)..................................................................... 3,797 4,483 4,640 +18% +4%
Land Acquisition: LWCF (DOI/USDA) and Everglades Restoration Fund (DOI).................................. 286 149 301 -48% +102%
Other Everglades Restoration (DOI, Corps, USDA, DOC, EPA)................................................ 70 114 196 +63% +72%
Department of Energy (DOE):
Energy Conservation and Efficiency..................................................................... 592 550 688 -7% +25%
Solar and Renewable Energy R&D......................................................................... 257 270 330 +5% +22%
Federal Facilities Cleanup (Environmental Management).................................................. 6,396 6,027 7,246 -6% +20%
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Subtotal, DOE (Select programs)...................................................................... 7,245 6,847 8,264 -5% +21%
Department of Defense (DOD):
Cleanup................................................................................................ 1,604 2,043 2,114 +27% +3%
Environmental Compliance/Pollution Prevention/Conservation............................................. 2,227 2,411 2,486 +8% +3%
Environmental Technology............................................................................... 393 182 171 -54% -6%
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Subtotal, DOD (Select programs)...................................................................... 4,224 4,636 4,771 +10% +3%
Department of Commerce (DOC)/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):
Fisheries and Protected Species........................................................................ 232 297 313 +28% +5%
Ocean and Coastal Management........................................................................... 121 128 154 +6% +20%
Ocean and Atmospheric Research......................................................................... 138 222 223 +61% +*%
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Subtotal, DOC/NOAA (Select programs)................................................................. 491 647 690 +32% +7%
California Bay-Delta Ecosystem Rest. (DOI, DOC, EPA, Corps, USDA)........................................ 20 70 213 +250% +204%
Pacific Northwest Forest Plan (USDA, DOI, EPA, DOC, DOL)................................................. -- 369 408 NA +11%
Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Program (wetlands).................................................... 86 101 112 +17% +11%
Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (DOE, DOC, NSF, EPA, DOT)................................... -- 263 281 NA +7%
U.S. Global Change Research (NASA, DOE, NSF, DOC, others)................................................ 1,464 1,810 1,878 +24% +4%
Climate Change Action Plan (EPA, DOE, USDA)............................................................. -- 183 277 NA +51%
GLOBE--Global Environmental Education (DOC, NASA, EPA, NSF).............................................. -- 13 15 NA +15%
Montreal Protocol (State/EPA)............................................................................ 25 40 49 +60% +23%
Global Environment Facility (Treasury)................................................................... -- 35 100 NA +186%
Multilateral and Bilateral Assistance (Funds Appropriated to the President/AID).......................... 272 264 314 -3% +19%
Border Environmental Activities (State/Treasury)......................................................... 30 83 88 +177% +6%
==============================================
Total \3\........................................................................................... 25,295 26,334 29,485 +4% +12%
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\1\ Reflects a one time transfer of clean water funds to drinking water in 1997.
\2\ Excludes funding for Rural Community Advancement Program grants to States; 1998 funding would be nine percent higher otherwise.
\3\ Total adjusted to eliminate double counts and mandatory spending.
NA = Not applicable.
*Less than 0.5 percent.
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Improving Americans' Right to Know About Toxics: The budget
proposes $49 million to expand the information that people can
get about toxic threats to their families--without imposing
more reporting requirements on anyone. It would make the
information available for the 75 largest metropolitan areas in
the country through a comprehensive monitoring system, with
computer links to schools, libraries, and home computers.
EPA Operating Program: The budget proposes $3.4 billion, a nine-
percent increase over 1997, for EPA's operating program, which includes
most of EPA's research, regulatory, partnership grants (with States and
Tribes), and enforcement programs. The program represents the backbone
of the Nation's efforts to protect public health through standard
setting, enforcement, and other means, ensuring that our water is pure,
our air clean, and our food safe.
Within the operating program, the budget proposes important increases
to carry out recently-enacted legislation to protect drinking water and food quality. It proposes significant investments to assess the health risks to children, identify new ways to apply advanced technology to
environmental needs, and provide urban areas with tools to develop
community-based solutions to environmental issues. It also maintains a
strong environmental enforcement program to ensure that polluters find
an environmental cop on the beat, and fully funds EPA's part of the
Climate Change Action Plan.
Water Quality Infrastructure: The budget proposes $725 million in
capitalization grants for the new Drinking Water State Revolving Funds
(SRFs), which make low-interest loans to municipalities to help them
meet the requirements of the new Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments.
These funds will help ensure that Americans have a safe, clean drinking
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water supply--our first line of defense in protecting public health.
EPA also proposes $1.1 billion in capitalization grants to Clean
Water SRFs to help municipalities comply with the Clean Water Act, thus
helping to reduce beach closures and keeping our waterways safe and
clean. In addition, the budget proposes targeted wastewater funds for
areas facing unique circumstances--$100 million for Boston Harbor, $150
million for Mexican border projects, and $15 million for Alaskan Native
villages. The Administration will request a final $100 million of
special Federal assistance for Boston Harbor for 1999--provided EPA
finds that the project still requires the funds.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) Water 2000: The budget proposes to
continue funding the USDA's Water 2000 initiative--to bring safe
drinking water to 2.5 million rural Americans with some of the Nation's
most serious problems of water availability, dependability, and
quality--within its $1.3 billion for rural water and wastewater loans
and grants. In addition, the budget proposes to fund, through the Rural
Community Advancement Program (RCAP), rural development grants that
States can use to meet their particular rural development needs. With
proposed RCAP funding eight percent above the 1997 levels, the
Administration expects to fund 227 new water treatment systems in 1998.
California Bay-Delta Ecosystem Restoration: In December 1994, Federal
and California officials signed the historic Bay-Delta Accord, calling
for a comprehensive series of steps to restore and protect the San
Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem while
strengthening the State's long-term economic health. With Administration
support, Congress then adopted the California Bay-Delta Environmental
Enhancement and Water Security Act in 1996 to authorize more Federal
spending for restoration activities in the ecosystem. Later that year,
California voters approved a $995 million bond issue to cover State
cost-sharing for past and future Bay-Delta restoration and other water-
related activities. The budget proposes $213 million for Bay-Delta
ecosystem restoration activities, a 204-percent increase over 1997. As
it did for 1998, the Administration plans to request the fully
authorized amount under the 1996 law for 1999 and 2000.
Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP): The WRP is a voluntary USDA program
in which willing sellers receive the fair market value to permanently
retire wetland acres from farm production. Under the 1996 Farm Bill, WRP
will use permanent easements on one-third of the acres enrolled, 30-year
easements on another third, and cost-sharing agreements on the remaining
third. In this last category, landowners will agree to restore wetlands
on cropland without an easement, receiving only cost-sharing assistance.
For 1998, the budget proposes to enroll 212,000 acres, an increase of
82,000 acres over 1997, bringing cumulative WRP enrollment to over
655,000 acres by the end of 1998. Retiring cropland through the WRP will
directly benefit the recovery of threatened or endangered species,
almost 35 percent of which depend on wetlands (see Chart 3-2).
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP): The CRP pays producers to
temporarily retire from production environmentally sensitive lands.
Producers sign 10-year CRP contracts and agree to convert their enrolled
acres to approved conservation uses, receiving rental payments in
return. After the contracts expire, producers can return lands back to
production. The 1996 Farm Bill enables USDA to maintain a 36-million-
acre CRP, or roughly the current CRP level. Contracts on about 21
million acres will expire in 1997 and USDA will hold a sign-up to begin
to replace them in early spring 1997. Through new program rules, the
Administration will seek to enroll land with the highest environmental
benefits and release from the CRP less erodible land that is better
suited for production. CRP's benefits have been significant--after
falling by 35 to 50 percent in the 1970s and 1980s, wild-duck
populations bounced back with a 12-percent increase in the mid-1990s.
National Parks: The budget proposes over $1.2 billion for park
operations and maintenance, six percent more than in 1997. This level
would maintain current services at existing parks and support
commitments for new parks and responsibilities under the 1996 Omnibus
Parks and Public Lands Management Act. Budgeted funds alone, however,
cannot
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meet the growing demand for recreational and visitor services, as
illustrated in Chart 3-3.
Consequently, the Administration is using its temporary demonstration
fee authority to finance facility and resource management improvements.
Not only do user fees raise funds for repairs and improvements that
enhance the visitor experience, they give parks an incentive to please
their customers by improving their facilities and operations. The
Administration will seek permanent fee authority and legislation to
reform park concessions--to increase competition between companies that
want to conduct business in the parks, and to give parks an added
incentive to negotiate higher returns from concessioners by allowing the
National Park Service to keep all new receipts.
Salmon Recovery: Salmon runs throughout the Pacific Northwest are a
major part of the region's ecosystem and economy. Salmon runs that
originate in the Columbia/Snake River have declined so much that the
Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service lists three runs
as endangered. The Administration has supported a regional bipartisan
effort to help restore the runs, including a stable, multi-year
contribution from the Bonneville Power Administration's (BPA) customers
because BPA's hydro-power operation has helped to foster the decline.
The Administration is carrying out an agreement with congressional and
regional interests under which BPA customers would pay, on average, up
to $435 million a year for salmon recovery.
The budget also provides funds to fully implement the 1992 Elwha
River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act. The Elwha River, a major
waterway within Olympic National Park in Washington State, holds
tremendous potential for restoring abundant salmon runs. The budget
provides $25 million in funding for 1998--enough to complete acquisition
of the river's two dams and perform planning and design activities
associated with
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their removal--and seeks future-year funding at levels that would complete dam removal and river restoration.
Multilateral and Bilateral Environmental Assistance: The budget
proposes $314 million, 19 percent more than in 1997, for bilateral and
multilateral environment assistance. Bilateral assistance includes
Agency for International Development activities to address climate
change, biodiversity, and sustainable agriculture in developing
countries. Multilateral assistance funds U.S. voluntary contributions to
the U.N. environment system and other international organizations to
address various international environmental activities.
Global Environment Facility (GEF): U.S. participation in the GEF is a
cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy on the environment. The GEF has
become the world's leading institution for protecting the global
environment and avoiding economic disruption from climate change,
massive extinction of valuable species, and dramatic collapse of the
oceans' fish population. The $100 million budget proposal would meet the
1998 portion of the U.S. pledge to the GEF's four-year (1995-1998)
funding program, and doing so is vital to maintaining U.S. leadership of
the program.
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: The budget proposes $688
million for energy conservation and efficiency programs, and $330
million for solar and renewable energy programs, increases of 25 percent
and 22 percent, respectively. These Energy Department (DOE) programs
reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants by increasing energy
efficiency and expanding the use of non-fossil-based energy sources. The
energy conservation programs include both near-term efforts to
demonstrate and promote the best available technologies, and longer-term
efforts to develop breakthrough technologies and products. A prominent
example of the latter is the Partnership for a New Generation of
Vehicles, a joint
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government-industry effort to develop cars with triple the fuel economy of today's models. The solar and renewable energy research and development activities include substantial support for reducing the costs of photovoltaics, wind energy, and biofuels.
Federal Facilities Cleanup and Compliance: The Federal Government
continues to face an enormous challenge in cleaning up Federal
facilities contaminated with radioactive or hazardous waste. DOE faces
the most complex and costly problems from over 40 years of research,
production, and testing of nuclear weapons. The Defense Department's
(DOD) problems include hazardous wastes similar to those found at
industrial and commercial sites.
The budget proposes over $7.2 billion for DOE's Environmental
Management program, 20 percent more than in 1997, including over $1
billion to implement a privatization strategy to cut costs and speed
cleanup and waste disposal. In 1998, DOE will accelerate the Formerly
Used Sites Remedial Actions Program (FUSRAP), which is cleaning up
private properties contaminated during the weapons production process in
order to allow their speedier return to productive use. By the end of
1998, DOE will complete clean-up at 28 of 46 FUSRAP sites and 44 of 86
other DOE sites and facilities.
DOD, which operates one of the Nation's most diverse and successful
environmental programs, is focusing its cleanup efforts on reducing
relative risk at its active and closing installations. It is conducting
studies or cleanups at 15,240 sites on 770 military installations and
2,641 formerly-used properties. Moreover, it has determined that 10,970
other sites require no further action. DOD also is making real progress
in its compliance/pollution prevention, conservation, and environmental
technology programs. The budget proposes over $4.7 billion for all DOD
environmental activities, three percent more than in 1997.