[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 129 (Friday, August 4, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11437-S11438]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             LOOKING TO THE FUTURE OF VERMONT'S ENVIRONMENT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, one of the most important aspects of the 
quality of life in my native State of Vermont is the quality of our 
environment. We can swim in our lakes, fish in our streams, camp on 
public lands, hike through the woods, and breathe fresh air without 
risking our health. The quality of Vermont's environment is recognized 
nationally and drives much of the economy for us in Vermont.
  Vermont's environmental quality depends on Federal environmental laws 
to set standards and fund cleanups--this is an undisputed fact. The 
Clean Air Act has reduced air lead levels by 99 percent, carbon dioxide 
emissions by 50 percent, sulfur dioxide by 40 percent, and acid rain 
chemicals by 27 percent. However, many cities have experienced ozone 
levels this summer that are twice the maximum healthy limit. Some 
Americans simply cannot take an afternoon walk without experiencing 
breathing troubles. Polluters do not have the right to deprive people 
of an afternoon walk, and as a Senator from a State downwind of one of 
the country's biggest ozone generators in the country, New York City, I 
am concerned. Clearly, we have more work to do.
  In 1970, 60 percent of Vermont's communities discharged raw sewage 
into the State's waterways and bacteria consumed so much oxygen that 
many of the State's streams could not support fish. Through the Clean 
Water Act and other efforts, we have provided at least secondary waste 
treatment facilities for all communities and reduced point-source 
phosphorus pollution by 80 percent. With the Department of 
Agriculture's help, more than 400 Vermont farmers have contributed a 
total of $5.8 million to match $13.4 million of Federal funding to 
reduce the phosphorus runoff from farms. On the other hand, 1,500 
hazardous waste sites in Vermont threaten the groundwater for some of 
the 120,500 public and private wells, and the State recently had to 
issue a mercury warning for Vermont fish. We still have work to do to 
protect our children and our communities from water pollution.
  Vermont's fish and wildlife populations are relatively healthy 
because of international wildlife treaties and domestic efforts to 
protect habitat in Vermont. Where we once had abandoned farms and 
woodlots during the Depression, we now have the Green Mountain National 
Forest--350,000 acres of habitat for black bears, songbirds, and even 
Atlantic salmon. In 1985 Vermont had its first nesting pair of 
peregrine falcons since the 1950's; last year 11 pairs fledged 31 
peregrine chicks. Still, nine species of native mussels are threatened 
by the zebra mussel, and heavy metals such as cadmium have been found 
in moose and deer liver. Without constant vigilance, certain fish and 
wildlife populations may slip into decline as they have in other parts 
of the country.
  I am proud to share these successes, and  hope  that  others  will  
join  me  in enjoying the fruits  of our efforts to 
protect  the environment. The results of our hard 
work have made Vermont a better place to live for families. 
Vermont's quality environment provides activities like 
swimming, snowmobiling, boating, fishing, hunting, hiking, and camping 
that keep us refreshed and entertained all year long. Many of these 
activities are Vermont traditions which have been passed from 
generation to generation. I do not want to give these up.
  I also want to make people aware, however, of an effort to turn back 
the clock on these successes. There is a new four-part strategy in 
Congress to dismantle environmental protections in our great country. 
The antienvironment lobbyists and some Members of Congress are using 
indirect, backdoor efforts to gut the statutes that have helped us 
clean up and protect our environment. I want people to understand what 
the new majority is doing so that we can turn back these attacks.
  The first step in this strategy is to cut the funding of 
environmental and natural resource agencies. This year alone, the House 
of Representatives cut the Fish and Wildlife Service by almost 25 
percent, the National Biological Service by 30 percent, and the 
Environmental Protection Agency's [EPA] enforcement budget by 50 
percent. Without officially repealing the Endangered Species Act, the 
Clean Water Act, or the Clean Air Act, the new majority has made it 
nearly impossible for the Government to carry out these goals.
  Their second step is to create regulatory gridlock. The so-called 
Regulatory Reform Act forces agencies to do study after study, each one 
subject to lawsuits from well-financed corporate industries. The EPA 
estimates that the studies will require hundreds of new staff and delay 
new environmental rules by several years, if not indefinitely. By 
cutting the budget but increasing the workload, it is clear that some 
people want to tie the hands of the EPA so it is powerless to protect 
the environment. They are saying, ``Go ahead and pollute because we 
don't give a hoot.'' 

[[Page S 11438]]

  The third part of the attack on the environment is the unfunded 
mandates law that the 104th Congress has already passed. This bill says 
that the Federal Government cannot ask State governments to enforce 
environmental laws unless the Federal Government provides the funding 
necessary to implement and enforce them. While the bill does not affect 
current laws, we would not have our Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean 
Water Act, or Clean Air Act if this law had been in place 25 years ago.
  The final piece of the four-part attack is the so-called takings 
legislation. This legislation is based on the premise that anybody can 
do anything they want on their land, regardless of what the impact is 
on their neighbors, their community, and their country. Senator Dole's 
takings bill forces the Government to pay cash to landowners who are 
asked to do something to protect the environment, such as putting a 
filter on a smokestack or not cutting trees within 50 feet of a river. 
Essentially, the bill forces the Government to pay a landowner not to 
pollute, not to harm endangered species, and not to fill in wetlands. 
Since our Government has a deficit already, it is clear that the 
proponents of takings legislation believe that the bill will force the 
Government to allow polluting since we cannot afford to pay people to 
stop.
  This is only the tip of the iceberg. There are other bills to open 
hundreds of thousands of acres of wilderness to mining and oil 
drilling, perpetuate the golden giveaways in the 1872 mining law, turn 
over more public land to subsidized ranchers, and suspend environmental 
laws that regulate national forest logging. I am afraid that we face a 
difficult challenge protecting the environment in the 104th Congress. 
But I know that the environment is important to the American people. 
And I believe people will not tolerate these attacks. Everyone who 
shares even a remote concern for the environment and the world our 
children will inherit needs to be aware of the efforts underfoot. There 
are many ways that Americans can come together to stop the 
antienvironment effort. The people of this country did not ask this 
Congress to turn back the clock. They should not try and we should not 
let them.


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