[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 59 (Thursday, May 8, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


      AUTHORIZING A CALIFORNIA URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 8, 1997

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, today I am reintroducing legislation to 
authorize the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] to establish a 
California Urban Environmental Research and Education Center [CUEREC].
  I am honored to be joined in this effort by nine California 
colleagues: Mr. Dellums, Mr. Matsui, Mr. George Miller, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. 
Torres, Mr. Brown, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. Berman, and Mr. Filner.
  Legislation to authorize EPA research programs was unfortunately not 
acted upon in the last Congress. However, CUEREC did receive a line 
item in the 1995 Department of VA, HUD and independent agencies 
appropriations bill to cover start-up costs. This line item has allowed 
CUEREC to begin its first year of operation and the Center was 
dedicated on October 21, 1994 at a tree planting ceremony on the Cal 
State Hayward campus.
  The bill requests $4.5 million for fiscal year 1998 because CUEREC is 
mandated to work with all 22 California State Universities in its 
second year of operation and because CUEREC will need this level of 
support to carry out the activities set out for it in the legislation.
  Currently, CUEREC is in the process of linking California's major 
university system--the Cal State University [CSU] campuses, the 
University of California [UC] campuses, as well as private universities 
and colleges--to deal with the employment and environmental challenges 
of California's military base closures and defense conversion. Among 
other activities CUEREC will: help remove market barriers for small 
environmental business enterprise development; help in military base 
conversion and utilization focused on increasing sustainable economic 
development and job creation throughout California; encourage the 
transfer of government developed and/or sponsored environmental 
technology to the private sector while working closely with such 
laboratories as Lawrence Livermore, Sandia, and Lawrence-Berkeley; 
encourage the funding of viable environmental projects throughout 
California; assist women and minority owned small businesses in 
complying with local, state, and federal environmental regulations and 
taking advantage of opportunities in sustainable economic development; 
avoid duplication in environmental research and education programs by 
developing an on-line data base of such activities available to all 
California universities and colleges; help coordinate Cal State and UC 
environmental applied research and education programs; and advise 
local, state, and federal officials on the economic and environmental 
implications of development programs throughout California.
  Prior to CUEREC, no EPA sponsored research center had been 
established in California, Seventeen such EPA sponsored research 
centers have already been established in other states. CUEREC would be 
the first to focus on urban environmental policy, base closures, and 
defense conversion environmental problems. CUEREC would also be the 
first to include all of the universities and colleges in a single 
state.
  Both Senators were very supportive of the legislation last year. 
CUEREC is a unique program, providing many important benefits for 
California and a cost effective model university based program for the 
nation and I urge my California colleagues to support it.

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