[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 39 (Wednesday, April 13, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION TO AMEND RDA REQUIREMENTS FOR WATER 
  AND WASTE FACILITY GRANTS AND LOANS TO TIMBER-DEPENDENT COMMUNITIES

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                          HON. NORMAN D. DICKS

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 13, 1994

  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce legislation today 
that will help ensure that the economic assistance package associated 
with the President's forest plan has increased flexibility to assist 
timber-dependent communities in the Pacific Northwest States of 
Washington and Oregon, and northern California.
  Last year, the President announced a forest plan that would 
significantly reduce timber harvesting on the westside forest lands of 
the BLM and U.S. Forest Service in Washington, Oregon, and northern 
California. In fact, the President's plan as introduced, known as 
``Option 9,'' reduced timber harvesting on these westside Federal lands 
by at least 85 percent, creating circumstances whereby timber workers 
and businesses, and timber-dependent counties and communities would be 
greatly impacted by the economic implications of the plan. The 
President and his team recognized that the reductions in the 
availability of a traditional timber supply source such as Federal 
lands would have significant impacts, but argued that because of the 
limitations of biological science and the Endangered Species Act, and 
most significantly the reality of an ongoing court injunction, there 
was little room for flexibility.
  To help compensate for the impacts of the forest plan, the President 
developed an economic assistance package for the Northwest, which 
called for $1.2 billion in Federal assistance over a 5-year period, 
beginning with fiscal year 1994, relying on various loan and grant 
programs funded through the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, 
Rural Development Administration, Economic Development Administration, 
and other agencies.
  The intent of the economic assistance package is to help provide 
relief to those timber-dependent communities, workers, and businesses 
that have been and continue to be impacted by reduced timber harvesting 
as a result of efforts to protect listed species such as the spotted 
owl and marbled murrelet, and promote ecosystems management. The 
Northwest congressional delegation has worked closely with the 
administration in support of the economic assistance package, but has 
come to recognize that the assistance package is subject to certain 
unanticipated limitations under current statutes.
  The bill that I am introducing will make a small change in the Rural 
Development Administration's water and waste facility loan and grant 
funding program to ensure that timber-dependent communities currently 
restricted from being supported by the program will have the 
opportunity to receive the funding, as intended by the President. The 
small change provided by this bill simply changes the population 
threshold from a 10,000 population cap to a 25,000 population cap to 
qualify for RDA loan and grant funding through the water and waste 
facility program. The proposed change will allow timber-dependent 
cities such as Port Angeles, Aberdeen, Longview, and Eugene to qualify 
for moneys the President's package intends for them to receive.
  I have worked with the regional staff of the Rural Development 
Administration and received their support in developing this bill. This 
bill will provide a small but significant change in the current RDA 
program. This bill represents important and necessary legislation. I 
urge its support and swift passage.

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