[Budget of the United States Government]
[IV. Preparing For the 21st Century]
[4. Protecting the Environment]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
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4. PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT
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From our inner cities to our pristine wild lands, we have worked hard to ensure that every American has a
clean and healthy environment. We've rid hundreds of neighborhoods of toxic waste dumps, [and] taken the most
dramatic steps in a generation to clean the air we breathe . . . We have made record investments in science and
technology to protect future generations from the threat of global warming. We've worked to protect and restore
our most glorious natural resources, from the Florida Everglades to California's redwoods . . . to Yellowstone.
And we have, I hope, finally put to rest the false choice between the economy and the environment.
President Clinton
January 2000
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From the start, President Clinton and Vice President Gore have firmly
believed that we must expand the economy and we must protect and
preserve the environment. The record of the past seven years is a clear
example that we can do both with success. Today, as Americans enjoy the
cleanest environment in a generation, the Administration continues to
pursue its vigorous agenda to protect America's land, air, and water
while our economy continues to set new records.
In the past seven years, the Administration has permanently enhanced
the conservation of tens of millions of acres of ecologically,
culturally, or historically significant lands; tripled the pace of
cleaning up Superfund hazardous waste sites; enacted rules to reduce
emissions from autos and small trucks by 75 to 95 percent; and, made
America's drinking water significantly safer.
The Administration has protected millions of acres of fragile lands
by: creating the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah,
which provides enhanced protection for 1.7 million acres of spectacular
red rock canyonlands and artifacts from three cultures; protecting
Yellowstone National Park by halting the massive New World Mine in
Montana, which posed a severe environmental threat to Yellowstone's
unique landscape and wildlife resources; reaching an historic agreement,
in partnership with the State of California, to purchase the Headwaters
ancient redwood forest in northern California; and, placing 57,000 acres
of the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River into the national
wildlife refuge system. It is also negotiating the purchase of the
majestic 95,000 acre Baca Ranch in New Mexico in order to preserve its
unique ecosystem. In addition, the President has designated three new
monuments and expanded a fourth, protecting unique and fragile Federal
lands from the rocky coast of California to the north rim of the Grand
Canyon, creating the Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument and Agua
Fria National Monument in Arizona, and the California Coastal Monument.
In its efforts to make day-to-day life safer for children and
families, the Administration has recently set tough new clean air
standards for cars, trucks, and gasoline that will improve the lives of
millions of Americans who suffer from respiratory illnesses. The
President has signed legislation to strengthen food and water safety, so
American families will know their children have safe food to eat and
have healthy and clean tap water to drink. The Administration has also
greatly accelerated the pace of cleaning up Superfund hazardous waste
sites, completing more than three times as many in the past seven years
as were completed in the previous twelve. The United States has
negotiated an international treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming, in an
environmentally strong and economically sound way.
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In the future, our Nation will continue to face a host of
environmental challenges--to provide cleaner air, safer water, and an
environment free of toxic chemical threats, while preserving our grand
natural wonders, and the small, simple green and open spaces closer to
home. This budget is designed to build on the Administration's past
successes and meet the challenges of the future by developing creative
solutions and forming partnerships with affected stakeholders to meet
our Nation's environmental challenges in innovative ways.
The 2001 Budget will target resources to new or expanded environmental
initiatives: Lands Legacy, which includes a dedicated stream of funding
to protect America's natural and historic treasures; Clean Energy, an
effort to help reduce the threat of global warming; Greening the Globe,
to save tropical and other forests around the world; and, an action plan
to combat pollution in the Great Lakes. In addition, the budget provides
additional resources to support: Farm Conservation to protect farmland
and upgrade water quality; the Clean Water Action Plan to strengthen
efforts cleaning up polluted waterways; and, Climate Change Technology
efforts to continue research and development (R&D) on technologies to
combat global warming.
Approaches for Environmental Success
Preserving Our National Treasures: We have the valuable opportunity
today to make choices that will determine what is preserved for future
generations. Just as we now are grateful for the far-sighted efforts of
the last century to protect Yellowstone and Yosemite, so will Americans
in the next century appreciate the measures taken by this Administration
to conserve our natural treasures, including the fragile landscapes of
the California Desert, the red-rock canyons of Utah, and the ancient
redwood trees of the Headwaters Forest, as well as the Administration's
ongoing efforts to acquire the majestic Baca Ranch in New Mexico. The
Administration is also working to preserve important places that are
central to America's history, including well-known sites such as
Gettysburg and Independence Hall. It also seeks to commemorate more
recent contributions to this Nation's history, including the birth home
of Martin Luther King, Jr., in Atlanta. The budget proposes to help
protect these natural and historic treasures--large and small--through a
set of programs that provide resources, including land acquisition under
the Lands Legacy initiative.
Protecting Roadless Areas and Improving the Forest Road System: There
are more than 50 million acres of roadless areas within the Department
of Agriculture's (USDA's) National Forest System, which are both vital
havens for wildlife, critical to the survival of endangered and other
species; and the source of clean, fresh water for numerous communities.
Last year, the President directed the Forest Service to develop, and
propose for public comment, regulations to provide long-term protection
for these roadless areas in the National Forest System. The Forest
Service expects to adopt a final roadless rule following full public
debate and comment in late 2000.
For national forest roaded areas, the Forest Service is preparing
regulations designed to make the existing road system safe for forest
visitors, responsive to public needs, environmentally sound, and
efficient to manage.
Restoring Ocean Resources: The National Oceans Conference, held in
June 1998, drew together for the first time a full array of ocean
interests, from government to industry, science to conservation. The
Conference resulted in many new initiatives, including new steps to
restore coastal reefs, rebuild marine fisheries, preserve freedom of the
seas, provide public access to military data and technology, enhance the
competitiveness of America's ports, and protect our national marine
sanctuaries from oil drilling. A follow-up report to the President and
Vice President on the National Oceans Conference was issued in September
1999, which highlighted the importance of preserving the oceans' complex
and delicate balances. The budget provides $50 million in response to
goals and commitments established at the Conference.
Conserving the Everglades: The Administration has provided an
unprecedented level of funding to restore the Everglades--the most
extensive ecosystem restoration effort ever undertaken in the United
States. Since 1993, the Administration has directed $1.5 billion to land
acquisition, water projects, and scientific
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research for Everglades restoration. Of this total, about $500 million--
including $200 million from the 1996 Farm Bill--has funded the purchase
of land in south Florida to help preserve the Everglades in perpetuity.
A significant portion of these funds resulted from the Vice President's
1996 Everglades restoration plan, which proposed $100 million annually
over four years for the land acquisition effort.
In 1999, the Vice President presented the Administration's long-term
comprehensive plan for Everglades restoration, known as the Central and
Southern Florida Comprehensive Review Study, known as the Restudy. This
effort relies upon Federal-State-Tribal partnerships, an innovative
interagency task force, and the work of private, corporate, and
governmental stakeholders who have joined together to restore the
Everglades. The Restudy proposes a comprehensive response that would
store water for critical uses; manage water to improve the timing and
quantity of flows to the Everglades; improve wildlife habitat; and,
create wetlands to filter runoff. The Federal Government and Florida
will each pay half of the cost of implementing the plan, estimated at
$7.8 billion over the next 20 years once it is authorized. The
Administration will submit authorizing legislation to implement the
Restudy this year.
The budget continues the Administration's support for Everglades
restoration, even in advance of new legislation. For this effort, the
budget proposes about $334 million for the Army Corps of Engineers,
Department of the Interior, and other agencies--$50 million more than
Congress approved for 2000--including $135 million for Corps of
Engineers water project infrastructure and $80 million for land
acquisition.
Improving Park Management: The Administration is committed to
improving national park management so that available funds are most
effectively targeted at top priority needs. Last year, the
Administration initiated reforms in park construction management and
capital asset planning. This year, the Administration proposes a new
senior-level manager to enhance National Park Service (NPS) partnership
efforts and manage increasingly complex cooperative agreements, leases,
and concessions contracts. NPS has an unmatched potential to tap into
the broad public support for our parks, as demonstrated by recent
partnerships to restore Crissy Field in San Francisco and footpaths in
Acadia National Park, Maine. This new effort will help other parks in
negotiating similar agreements with partners and friends groups. It will
also coordinate efforts within NPS to improve operational efficiency,
business planning, and returns from leases and concessions contracts. As
the Smithsonian Institution, military services, and others have learned,
an organization without a business background often needs the input of
specialized expertise to best handle business activities. This becomes
increasingly important in a continuing era of constrained
appropriations.
Targeting the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP): This USDA program
encourages landowners to adopt long-term conservation practices on
environmentally sensitive and erodible land by providing cost-share
assistance and annual rental payments. The Administration's farm safety
net proposal expands the CRP from 36.4 million to 40.0 million
cumulative acres. In 1999, CRP enrolled 4.7 million of the most
environmentally beneficial acres bid, bringing cumulative enrollment to
30.2 million acres. A related program, the Conservation Reserve
Enhancement Program (CREP), addresses conservation issues of State and
national significance through cost-sharing and targeting of Federal CRP
and State funds, with a plan to help meet the State's specific
conservation goals. By 2000, eight States (Oregon, Washington, Maryland,
Illinois, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, and Delaware) had signed
CREP cost-sharing agreements totaling about 611,000 acres and $1.1
billion over several years. USDA estimates that 20 States will have CREP
agreements by the end of 2001.
Empowering Citizens with Knowledge: Requiring industries to share
information about chemicals released into the air and water helps
empower citizens to fight back, creating a powerful incentive for
industry to pollute less. In the decade since the public's right to know
about chemical releases became law of the land, industry's toxic
pollution has fallen nearly 50 percent. The Administration has expanded
the public's right to know by
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doubling the number of chemicals subject to reporting requirements and
by increasing by 30 percent the number of facilities that must report.
The Administration has also established the Chemical Right to Know
Initiative, which includes a highly successful, innovative, voluntary
partnership with industry to develop and provide the public with basic
health data on chemicals released into the environment in high volume.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also greatly expanded the
amount of environmental data available to the public through an
initiative to provide the Nation's 86 largest metropolitan areas with
real-time environmental information.
Providing Safe Drinking Water: Today, America's drinking water is
significantly safer than six years ago. Administration efforts to
strengthen drinking water safety, including amending the Safe Drinking
Water Act in partnership with Congress, mean that 89 percent of
Americans now get tap water from drinking water systems that meet these
tough Federal standards, an increase of six percentage points since the
standards went into effect in 1994. The Administration has also issued
regulations requiring water systems to improve filtration and monitoring
to protect against contamination by harmful microbes, and issue annual
reports to their customers on the safety of their drinking water.
Reducing Air Pollution: During the last seven years, the
Administration has taken major steps to improve the quality of the air
we breathe and has helped cut the number of metropolitan areas not in
compliance with Federal ozone standards from 98 metropolitan areas in
1993 down to 38 such areas today.
Late last year, EPA established new rules for the sulfur content of
gasoline and emissions from new car and light duty trucks that will
result in vehicles that are 77 to 95 percent cleaner than those of
today. These measures, to be phased in from 2004 to 2009, may prevent
thousands of premature deaths, tens of thousands of cases of respiratory
illness, and hundreds of thousands of lost work days. In past years, EPA
has also issued rules to reduce toxic air pollution from chemical plants
by 90 percent and put in place a program to clear the haze and restore
pristine skies to our national parks.
Cleaning Up Toxic Waste Sites: EPA's Superfund program to clean up
abandoned hazardous waste sites has become faster, fairer, and less
expensive. At the end of 1999, a total of 670 Superfund sites had been
cleaned up--515 of these cleanups have been completed since 1993, while
only 155 of the sites were cleaned up during the previous 12 years.
The Administration proposes to clean up an additional 230 Superfund
sites within the next three years. This plan would mean that some two-
thirds, or 900, of the Nation's worst toxic waste dumps would be cleaned
up by the end of 2002 (see Chart 4-1). EPA's Superfund administrative
reforms are responsible for saving more than $1 billion in future costs
by updating cleanup remedy decisions (to determine whether the same
level of protection could be provided at lower cost) at more than 290
sites, while streamlining the liability allocation process to reach
settlement with more than 18,000 small parties at Superfund sites. The
budget proposes $1.45 billion to enable the Administration to meet its
900-site cleanup goal in 2002.
Redeveloping Contaminated Land: The Brownfields National Partnership
is bringing together the resources of more than 20 Federal agencies to
clean up and redevelop former industrial sites in economically
disadvantaged areas. Communities have reported that the initial two-year
investment of $385 million has already created over 5,000 jobs and
leveraged $1.8 billion in private investment, as well as helped to
preserve existing uses of undeveloped land. The brownfields tax
incentive, enacted as part of the 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act and extended
by the 1999 Tax Relief Extension Act, will leverage another $4 billion
in private investment by allowing businesses to deduct certain cleanup
costs on environmentally contaminated lands. The Administration proposes
to make permanent this tax incentive, which otherwise expires at the end
of 2001.
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Making the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Work: Administration reforms
have increased the flexibility of the ESA, furthering its ability of the
ESA to provide earlier protection for at-risk species so, with these
earlier efforts, the species will not have to be listed as endangered at
a later point. These reforms include voluntary conservation agreements
(Candidate Conservation Agreements-CCAs) between the Fish and Wildlife
Service and private or public parties to implement conservation measures
and monitoring activities to prevent the need to add species to the
Endangered Species list. In 1999, the Federal Government entered into 10
CCAs with private landowners or State and local governments that,
together with other efforts, allowed seven species to be approved for
removal from the Candidate list. In addition, early intervention
processes implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service to
identify species before they become endangered and immediately implement
protection strategies will effectively eliminate the need to list five
threatened species.
The Administration also has supported the use of Habitat Conservation
Plans (HCPs) to address potential conflicts between development and
protection of listed species. HCPs give the private sector and State,
local, and Tribal governments the flexibility to propose solutions that
permit the protection of endangered species and conservation of habitat,
while allowing for development. HCPs will cover an estimated 325 species
by the end of 2000.
Improving Public Lands Management: Interior's Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) has been reforming and improving grazing management to
protect riparian and upland habitat by implementing regional and local
standards and guidelines to establish the condition, health, and uses of
lands it administers for grazing. The new standards and guidelines have
been developed in concert with innovative consensus-building public
Resource Advisory Councils. BLM will now begin a process of reviewing,
renewing, updating, and improving its overall land use and resource
management plans, many of which are over 20 years old.
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Just as with the standards and guidelines development, this process will
seek input from the public, including recreationists, ranchers, miners,
timber companies, environmentalists, hikers, campers, anglers, State and
community leaders, and experts in land management.
Environmental and Natural Resource Investments
The budget proposes to boost funding for high-priority environmental
and natural resource programs by 11 percent, compared to 2000 levels
(see Table 4-1).
Table 4-1. An 11-Percent Increase For High-Priority Environmental and Natural Resource Programs
(Budget authority, in millions of dollars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change: Change:
1993 1999 2000 2001 1993 to 2000 to
Actual Actual Estimate Proposed 2001 2001
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lands Legacy Initiative (DOI, USDA, NOAA)..... 380 473 727 1,400 +1,020 +673
Farm Conservation Initiative (USDA) 1,584 1,797 1,851 3,099 +1,515 +1,248
(mandatory) \1\..............................
Clean Energy Initiative (DOE, USDA, AID, DOC, 251 286 294 490 239 196
TDA, EX-IM)..................................
Greening the Globe Initiative (AID, Treasury, 82 65 80 150 +68 +70
USDA, DOI)...................................
Great Lakes Initiative (EPA).................. 18 18 17 67 +49 +50
Climate Change Technology Initiative (DOE, ......... 1,021 1,099 1,432 +1,432 +333
EPA, USDA, HUD)..............................
Clean Water Action Plan (EPA, USDA, DOI, NOAA, ......... 1,871 1,998 2,426 +2,426 +428
Corps).......................................
Salmon Habitat Restoration (NOAA, Corps)...... ......... 95 151 251 +251 +100
Endangered Species Act (DOI, NOAA)............ 75 129 152 170 +95 +18
Department of Transportation (DOT):
Mass Transit................................ 3,774 5,389 5,785 6,321 +2,547 +536
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) 601 1,408 1,509 1,557 +956 +48
Environmental Enhancements; Preservation 114 646 720 771 +657 +51
Pilots.....................................
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, DOT (Select programs)........... 4,489 7,443 8,014 8,649 +4,160 +635
Department of the Interior (DOI):
National Park Service Operating Program..... 984 1,286 1,364 1,454 +470 +90
Bureau of Land Management Operating Program. 638 716 743 819 +181 +96
Fish and Wildlife Service Operating Program. 531 660 703 762 +231 +59
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, DOI (Select programs)........... 2,153 2,662 2,810 3,035 +882 +225
Department of Agriculture (USDA):
Forest Service Operating Program............ 1,319 1,595 1,668 1,790 +471 +122
Natural Resources Conservation Service 577 641 661 747 +170 +86
Operating Program..........................
Water/Wastewater Grants and Loans........... 508 645 631 648 +140 +17
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, USDA (Select programs).......... 2,404 2,881 2,960 3,185 +781 +225
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
Operating Program........................... 2,767 3,496 3,532 3,917 +1,150 +385
Clean Air Partnership Fund.................. ......... ......... ......... 85 +85 +85
Superfund Orphan Share (mandatory).......... ......... ......... ......... 150 +150 +150
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, All EPA......................... 6,923 7,589 7,563 7,407 +484 -156
Department of Energy (DOE):
Energy Conservation and Efficiency (gross).. 592 692 745 851 +259 +106
Solar and Renewable Energy R&D (net)........ 249 336 315 410 +161 +95
Federal Facilities Cleanup (Environmental 6,396 5,843 5,878 6,318 -78 +440
Management Program)........................
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, DOE (Select programs)........... 7,237 6,871 6,938 7,579 +342 +641
Department of Defense (DOD):
Cleanup..................................... 1,604 1,962 1,634 2,178 +574 +544
Environmental Compliance/Pollution 2,227 2,434 2,337 2,139 -88 -198
Prevention/Conservation....................
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, DOD (Select programs)........... 3,831 4,396 3,971 4,317 +486 +346
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA):
Fisheries and Protected Species............. 232 350 396 431 +199 +35
Ocean and Coastal Management................ 121 178 188 314 +193 +126
Ocean and Atmospheric Research.............. 202 287 301 303 +101 +2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, NOAA (Select programs).......... 555 815 885 1,048 +493 +163
Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles ......... 235 226 255 +255 +29
(DOE, DOC, NSF, EPA, DOT)....................
U.S. Global Change Research (NASA, DOE, NSF, 1,323 1,657 1,701 1,740 +417 +39
DOC, USDA, others)...........................
GLOBE--Global Environmental Education (NOAA, ......... 10 11 13 +13 +2
NASA, EPA, NSF)..............................
Montreal Protocol (State/EPA)................. 25 45 40 49 +24 +9
Global Environment Facility (Treasury)........ ......... 168 36 176 +176 +140
Multilateral and Bilateral Assistance 329 278 279 301 -28 +22
(International Programs/AID).................
=================================================================
Total \2\..................................... 31,226 37,685 38,404 42,527 +11,301 +4,123
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Increase over 2001 authorized level is $1.3 billion; includes funding for the Conservation Reserve Program
(CRP).
\2\ Total includes mandatory spending and is adjusted to eliminate double counts.
Preserving Our Natural Heritage: As we enter a new century, our Nation
continues to face new challenges to preserve the natural heritage,
historic sites, and green spaces that Americans have come to treasure.
The budget again proposes a Lands Legacy initiative, to protect natural
treasures and historic places and provide the tools for States,
localities, and Tribes to plan for smart growth (see Table 4-2). The
initiative also provides funding for States and other entities to
conserve important lands for recreation, open space, and wildlife
habitat, plus preserve forests, farmland, and coastal areas.
The budget includes $1.4 billion in discretionary funding for Lands
Legacy ($673 million over 2000), and proposes a new budget category to
provide dedicated and protected funding for the programs included in the
initiative. Funds not appropriated to programs within the proposed cap
of $1.4 billion will be unavailable to offset spending under other
discretionary funding caps.
Lands Legacy comprises three components:
The first component provides $450 million for Federal land
acquisition of precious natural and historic sites, including
national parks, national forests, refuges, and environmentally
sensitive lands throughout the Nation.
The second component provides $521 million targeted to State,
local, and Tribal governments throughout the Nation for
planning and for open space acquisition; habitat and wildlife
conservation; and preservation of forest lands, urban and
suburban parks and greenways, riparian areas, and wetlands. A
new non-game wildlife conservation grant program will be
developed to help States promote and protect indigenous non-
game wildlife through land acquisition, habitat conservation,
and non-game recreation projects. A new open space planning
program to support State, regional, and local planning for
smart growth (which integrates open space conservation
planning with other economic, transportation, and development
planning) will be coordinated with similar activities being
proposed under the Livable Communities Initiative. Also, while
a continuing part of Lands Legacy, USDA's Farmland Protection
Program will be proposed at $65 million in mandatory funding
within the Farm Conservation initiative. (For more
information, see the Farm Safety Net discussion.)
Land Legacy's third component directs $429 million
specifically to coastal and Great Lakes areas to protect their
unique and fragile resources, which are faced with threats due
to population growth, economic development, and pollution and
other potential damage from both inland and outer continental
shelf (OCS) oil and gas development. In addition to
significant increases for existing Coastal Zone Management Act
programs, the budget proposes new funding for grants directed
to States having OCS oil and gas development off their shores.
These special grants would be available for environmental
monitoring, mitigation, and enhancement of coastal areas
affected by existing OCS activity. Lands Legacy also includes
funds to restore the Pacific northwest salmon, enhance the
National Marine Sanctuaries and Estuarine Reserves systems,
and expand coral restoration efforts.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 4-2. A Doubling of the Lands Legacy Initiative
(Discretionary budget authority, in millions of dollars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change: Change:
1993 1999 2000 2001 1993 to 2000 to
Actual Actual Estimate Proposed 2001 2001
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal Land Acquisition:
Federal Land Acquisition (DOI).............. 193 211 264 320 +127 +56
Federal Land Acquisition (FS/USDA).......... 62 78 95 130 +68 +35
Baca Ranch (NM) One-time Acquisition (FS/ ......... 40 61 ......... NA NA
USDA)......................................
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Total, Federal Land Acquisition......... 255 329 420 450 +195 +30
DOI/USDA State Conservation Programs:
LWCF State Conservation Grants (NPS/DOI).... 28 ......... 40 150 +122 +110
State Non-Game Wildlife Grants (FWS/DOI).... ......... ......... ......... 100 +100 +100
Cooperative State Planning (USGS/DOI)....... ......... ......... ......... 50 +50 +50
Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation 7 14 23 65 +58 +42
Fund (FWS/DOI).............................
North American Wetland Conservation Fund 9 15 15 30 +21 +15
(FWS/DOI)..................................
Urban Parks and Recreation Recovery Grants ......... ......... 2 20 +20 +18
(NPS/DOI)..................................
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, DOI............................. 44 29 80 415 +371 +335
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Forest Legacy Program (FS/USDA)............. 10 7 30 60 +50 +30
Urban and Community Forestry (FS/USDA)...... 25 31 31 40 +15 +9
Smart Growth Partnership (FS/USDA).......... ......... ......... ......... 6 +6 +6
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal, USDA............................ 35 38 61 106 +71 +45
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Total, State Conservation Programs...... 79 67 141 521 +442 +380
NOAA/DOC Coastal Programs:
National Marine Sanctuary Program........... 7 14 26 35 +28 +10
Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) Program.. 35 58 59 159 +123 +99
Coastal Impact Assistance Grants............ ......... ......... ......... 100 +100 +100
Pacific Northwest Salmon Fund............... ......... ......... 58 100 +100 +42
National Estuarine Research Reserves System. 3 4 12 20 +17 +8
Coral Restoration........................... ......... ......... 6 15 +15 +9
Dredging and other NOAA Programs............ ......... 2 5 ......... ......... -5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Total, Coastal Programs................... 46 78 165 429 +383 +263
=================================================================
Total, Lands Legacy Discretionary Funding..... 380 473 727 \1\ 1,400 +1,020 +673
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NA = Not applicable
\1\ In addition, while part of the overall Lands Legacy initiative, USDA's Farmland Protection Program will be
funded in 2001 at $65 million in mandatory funding within the Farm Conservation initiative. The 2000 request
was $50 million in discretionary funding; none was appropriated.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Promoting Clean Energy at Home and Abroad: Both at home and abroad,
there are urgent environmental needs and significant economic
opportunities in accelerating the shift to clean and efficient energy
technologies and practices. To this end, the budget proposes a new Clean
Energy for the 21st Century initiative. The initiative provides a $103
million increase over 2000 for new and expanded demonstration and export
promotion measures to accelerate the development and deployment of clean
energy technologies in developing coun
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tries. Energy use by developing countries is expected to double between
1990 and 2020, and quadruple by 2050, accounting for three-fourths or
more of the increase in global energy use. Clean energy technologies can
provide energy services in these countries efficiently and cost-
effectively, with reduced emission of pollutants or greenhouse gases.
U.S.
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firms could capture a significant portion of the $10 trillion worldwide
market for energy supply technologies over the next 20 years. The budget
also provides $289 million ($93 million over 2000) in discretionary
spending in 2001 and $976 million in tax incentives over five years to
support Executive Order 13134 and to help meet the President's goal of
tripling U.S. use of biobased products and bioenergy by reducing the
cost of converting crops, trees, and biological wastes into fuels,
electric power, chemicals, and consumer goods.
Addressing Global Climate Change Through Technology: The budget
proposes $1.6 billion for the third year of the Climate Change
Technology Initiative (CCTI), which is designed to promote energy
efficiency, develop low-carbon energy sources, and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. Led by the Department of Energy (DOE) and EPA, the effort
also includes USDA, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and
the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Of the amount
proposed, $1.4 billion is for R&D spending on energy efficiency and
renewable energy technologies, and $0.2 billion is for tax credits to
stimulate use of energy efficient technologies in buildings, industrial
processes, vehicles, and power generation.
Conserving Forests Around the Globe: The Greening the Globe initiative
seeks to increase the conservation of tropical and other significant
forests around the world. The budget includes an increase of $70 million
for this
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initiative. The Agency for International Development will work with host
countries and partners to expand the conservation of and improve the
management of biologically significant areas. Environmental damage in
developing countries is often driven by poverty and food insecurity. In
an effort to address these causes of deforestation, the Treasury
Department will work with developing countries to develop debt-for-
nature swaps that will provide local currency resources to conserve
globally-significant tropical forests. The Forest Service and the Fish
and Wildlife Service will use their expertise to help developing
countries conserve their forests through technical assistance and
disaster coordination.
Restoring the Great Lakes: The Great Lakes are the largest system of
fresh surface water on earth, and one of the Nation's most valuable
natural resources. Although significant progress has been made, the
Great Lakes still have serious pollution problems, particularly from
toxic pollutants that have contaminated sediments. As a result of these
toxic pollutants, advisories have been issued to not consume fish caught
in many areas in the Great Lakes. The budget includes a $50 million
increase for new competitive grants to help restore polluted ``areas of
concern'' in the Great Lakes, as defined in the bi-national Great Lakes
Water Quality Agreement. These funds will be used to implement specific
actions identified in restoration plans for each area of concern,
including remediating contaminated sediments, controlling storm water
pollution, and restoring wetlands.
Strengthening the Farm Safety Net Through Conservation: The
Administration recognizes the importance of providing assistance to
farmers and ranchers who practice environmentally sound land management,
particularly when they are faced with financial hardship. The
Administration's Farm Safety Net proposal includes the Farm Conservation
Initiative, helping farmers and ranchers continue to protect the
environment from agricultural pollution while providing them with
economic help. The initiative will allow the USDA's Wetlands Reserve and
Conservation Reserve Programs to enroll 250,000 annual acres and 40
million cumulative acres, respectively; fund the Farmland Protection
Programs at $65 million annually; provide $50 million annually for the
Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program; increase authorized annual funding
for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program by $125 million, to
$325 million; and, propose $600 million in annual funding for a new
Conservation Security Program. Through these programs, participants will
receive cost-share assistance, technical assistance, and in many cases,
annual payments for high-priority activities including wetlands
restoration, farmland protection, and comprehensive nutrient management
(see Table 4-3).
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Table 4-3. $1.3 Billion Increase for the Farm Conservation Initiative
(Mandatory budget authority, in millions of dollars)
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Change:
2000 2001 2001 Authorized
Estimate Authorized Proposed Level to
Level Proposed
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Conservation Security Program........................... ............ ............ 600 +600
Environmental Quality Incentives Program................ 174 200 325 +125
Wetlands Reserve Program................................ 165 46 259 +213
Farmland Protection Program............................. ............ ............ 65 +65
Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program..................... ............ ............ 50 +50
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Continuous Sign-up 10 13 138 +125
Bonuses................................................
Conservation Technical Assistance....................... 35 ............ 110 +110
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Total, Farm Conservation Initiative \1\............... 384 259 1,547 +1,288
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\1\ This initiative would also increase cumulative CRP enrollment to 40 million acres, allowing an additional
1.2 million acres to sign up annually in 2001 through 2003. The first payments for these additional acres
would be made in 2002.
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Making America More Livable through Better America Bonds: As part of
the Livable Communities initiative, the Administration is again
proposing a new financing tool to preserve green space for future
generations and provide attractive settings for economic development.
The proposal would provide authority for State, local, and Tribal
governments to issue $2.15 billion in Better America Bonds in 2001 and
$10.8 billion over five years. Investors in these 15-year bonds will
receive Federal tax credits in lieu of interest payments from State and
local governments over the life of the bonds, thereby significantly
reducing the cost to States and local governments of preserving green
spaces. The estimated revenue loss to the Treasury is about $0.7 billion
over five years. Better America Bonds will be available to help State,
local, and Tribal governments finance a range of environmental projects
such as: enhancing green space (urban parks, suburban green spaces,
farmland, forests, and wetlands); protecting water quality (including
measures on publicly owned land to control runoff or erosion or to
protect endangered species); and, cleaning up brownfields (environmental
assessment and remediation of contaminated property).
Recovering Pacific Salmon: In June 1999, the United States and Canada
signed the historic U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Agreement, providing for
international cooperation, new and necessary fishing regimes, further
science and research, and other projects designed to better understand
the causes for decline of at-risk salmon species. These efforts are
aimed at stemming the decline of the at-risk salmon species in the
Pacific Northwest. The budget proposes a total of $60 million, an
increase of $35 million, to implement this agreement in 2001.
In addition, the budget continues the Federal Government's broad
interdepartmental Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Initiative to assist
in the conservation and recovery of at-risk Pacific salmon runs in the
western States of California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. In 2001,
this initiative will be included as part of Lands Legacy and the new
discretionary budget cap. The initiative responds to the proposed
listings of these runs under the ESA by forming lasting partnerships
with State, local, and Tribal efforts for saving Pacific salmon and
their important habitats. To finance this initiative, the budget
proposes $100 million, an increase of $42 million over 2000, for the
Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund to continue to help share the costs
of State, Tribal, and local conservation initiatives in California,
Oregon, Washington, and Alaska in recovering severely at-risk salmon.
These two efforts are in addition to ongoing Columbia and Snake River
(Washington, Oregon, Idaho) salmon restoration activities, including $91
million requested for the Army Corps of Engineers in 2001, a $23 million
increase over 2000.
Rewarding Early Pollution Reductions: The budget proposes $85 million
in 2001 for the new Clean Air Partnership Fund to finance projects that
achieve innovative and early air pollution and greenhouse gas emission
reductions. This fund will provide the opportunity for State, local, and
Tribal governments to partner with other parties and the Federal
Government to demonstrate the most creative ideas for cleaning the air.
The goal of this program is to help implement environmental protection
in a common sense, flexible, and cost-effective manner, encouraging the
development of smart multi-pollutant strategies to reduce greenhouse
gases, air toxics, soot, and smog to protect our climate and our health.
Implementing the Clean Water Action Plan (CWAP): To mark the 25th
anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the President and Vice President
announced the Clean Water Action Plan (CWAP) in February 1998. The CWAP
focuses on three remaining challenges for restoring and protecting the
Nation's waterways: preventing polluted runoff; protecting public
health; and, ensuring community-based watershed management.
The budget provides $2.4 billion in discretionary funding for the
third year of this multi-agency initiative, a 21-percent increase over
the 2000 level, as well as a $151 million, or 87-percent, increase in
mandatory funding for USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program,
to help farmers prevent polluted runoff. An increase of $45 million, or
39 percent, is provided to help States develop water pollution
allocation plans (known as TMDLs), and an increase of $50
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million, or 25 percent, is provided to reduce polluted runoff through
EPA State grant programs. The budget also includes increases for the
Forest Service to better address water quality problems on Federal
lands; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help
States and local communities protect their coasts from the pollution
that leads to degradation; and, $20 million for the Army Corps of
Engineers to begin an initiative--Challenge 21--to restore riverine
ecosystem functions while providing flood hazard mitigation for
communities.
To support the joint State-Federal CALFED initiative addressing
environmental and water management problems associated with the
California Bay-Delta, the budget proposes $60 million for the Bureau of
Reclamation's Bay-Delta Program. In addition, the budget includes
continued funding for a number of ongoing Federal activities that
support CALFED's long-term goals.
Enhancing the Stewardship of National Treasures: The Administration
continues to invest in national parks, wildlife refuges, national
forests, and other public lands to ensure that future generations are
afforded the opportunity to enjoy these national treasures. It will
again work with Congress to target resources to high-priority projects
that maintain and restore facilities in national parks, forests,
refuges, and public lands. The budget also supports permanent
authorization of the recreation fee demonstration program, which
provides almost $200 million annually in revenue for land management
agencies to reinvest in visitor facilities and services. To provide for
stewardship of newly acquired treasures, the Administration is studying
ways to address transitional start-up cost requirements for newly
acquired lands, such as stabilizing historic structures, cleaning up
hazardous wastes, and inventorying newly acquired resources. This could
help to ensure that the near-term costs for newly acquired lands do not
divert funds needed for the long-term maintenance of existing
facilities.
Funding the EPA Operating Program: The budget proposes $3.9 billion,
an 11-percent increase over 2000, for EPA's operating program, which
includes most of EPA's research, regulatory, and enforcement programs,
and partnership grants with States and Tribes. The operating program,
which has grown 42 percent during this Administration, represents the
backbone of the Nation's efforts to protect public health and the
environment through sound science, 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 fully funds the third year of
EPA's part of the CCTI ($227 million) and the CWAP ($762 million). The
budget also provides $30 million for a major multi-year environmental
initiative to better integrate and enable substantially greater use of
EPA and State environmental data systems.
Financing Water Quality Infrastructure: The budget proposes $825
million ($5 million over 2000) in EPA capitalization grants for Drinking
Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs), which make low-interest loans to
help municipalities meet the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act
Amendments. These funds will help ensure that Americans have a safe,
clean drinking water supply--our first line of defense in protecting
public health. Every State has now successfully established a Drinking
Water SRF and begun disbursing loans to its communities.
The budget also proposes $800 million in capitalization grants to
Clean Water SRFs to help municipalities comply with the Clean Water Act,
thus helping to reduce beach closures and to keep our waterways safe and
clean. Those levels for the two SRFs will keep the programs on track
toward achieving the Administration's goal of providing sufficient
capital for the two SRFs to offer $2.5 billion a year in financial
assistance to municipalities over the long run. The Clean Water SRFs are
on schedule for reaching that goal in 2005.
Accelerating Endangered Species Act Efforts: The budget proposes a 12-
percent increase, an additional $18 million, for a total of $170
million, in Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service and Commerce's National
Marine Fisheries Service, for the endangered species program. These
funds will support the Administration's efforts to encourage private
landowners to protect species, and recover salmon in the Pacific
Northwest. The Endangered Spe
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cies program increases are designed to encourage cooperative
partnerships between the Federal Government and States, localities,
Tribes, and private parties to recover listed species and prevent the
need to list more.
Supporting the Global Environment Facility (GEF): U.S. participation
in the GEF is a cornerstone of our foreign policy on the environment.
The GEF has become the world's leading institution in aiding developing
countries in protecting the global environment by working to prevent
global climate change, massive extinction of valuable species, and the
collapse of the oceans' fish population. The $176 million proposal for
2001 includes $107.5 million for the 2001 contribution to the GEF's
second four-year replenishment program, from 1999 to 2002, and $68.5
million for contributions previously due. U.S. funding for this program
is crucial if the United States hopes to continue influencing GEF's
policies and lending strategies.
Expanding Federal Facilities Cleanup and Compliance: The Federal
Government continues to address the huge challenge of cleaning up
Federal facilities contaminated with radioactive or hazardous waste. DOE
faces the most complex and costly problems from over 50 years of
research, production, and testing of nuclear weapons and reactors, which
resulted in thousands of areas of known contamination and buildings
requiring decontamination and decommissioning. At the beginning of 1993,
of the 113 DOE sites to be cleaned up, only 23 were complete. By the end
of 2001, an additional 51 DOE sites will have been cleaned up.
The budget proposes $6.3 billion for DOE's Environmental Management
program, including $1.2 billion to clean up quickly and return excess
Federal property to beneficial use in local communities. The budget also
proposes $515 million to continue to privatize waste remediation at such
sites as the Hanford, Washington and Idaho facilities, for which DOE
pays for the delivery of treated waste that meets approved
specifications. Privatization will help speed cleanups, reduce health
risks, and cut costs at these sites.
The Department of Defense (DOD), which operates one of America's most
diverse environmental programs, is focusing its efforts on reducing
relative risk at its active and closing installations. DOD is in the
process of conducting restoration studies or cleanups at 678 military
installations and over 2,000 formerly-used properties. Moreover, it has
determined that over 16,000 sites require no further action. DOD also is
making progress in its compliance and pollution prevention,
conservation, and environmental technology programs. The budget proposes
$4.3 billion for all DOD environmental activities, an amount that
reflects a commitment to consistent and wise stewardship of DOD lands.
The Administration is committed to making all current and former DOD
property safe and clean.