[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 96 (Friday, July 17, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H5823-H5826]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND
INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1999
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 501 and rule
XXIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House
on the State of the Union for the further consideration of the bill,
H.R. 4194.
{time} 1320
In the Committee of the Whole
Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union for the further consideration of
the bill (H.R. 4194) making appropriations for the Departments of
Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and for sundry
independent agencies, boards, commissions, corporations, and offices
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1999, and for other purposes,
with Mr. Hulshof (Chairman pro tempore) in the chair.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. When the Committee of the Whole House rose
earlier today, the bill had been read through page 52, line 2.
The Clerk will read.
The Clerk read as follows:
CDBG PUBLIC SERVICES CAP
Sec. 209. Section 105(a)(8) of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(8)) is amended by
striking ``1998'' and inserting ``1999''.
TITLE III--INDEPENDENT AGENCIES
American Battle Monuments Commission
Salaries and Expenses
For necessary expenses, not otherwise provided for, of the
American Battle Monuments Commission, including the
acquisition of land or interest in land in foreign countries;
purchases and repair of uniforms for caretakers of national
cemeteries and monuments outside of the United States and its
territories and possessions; rent of office and garage space
in foreign countries; purchase (one for replacement only) and
hire of passenger motor vehicles; and insurance of official
motor vehicles in foreign countries, when required by law of
such countries; $26,431,000, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That where station allowance has been
authorized by the Department of the Army for officers of the
Army serving the Army at certain foreign stations, the same
allowance shall be authorized for officers of the Armed
Forces assigned to the Commission while serving at the same
foreign stations, and this appropriation is hereby made
available for the payment of such allowance: Provided
further, That when traveling on business of the Commission,
officers of the Armed Forces serving as members or as
Secretary of the Commission may be reimbursed for expenses as
provided for civilian members of the Commission: Provided
further, That the Commission shall reimburse other Government
agencies, including the Armed Forces, for salary, pay, and
allowances of personnel assigned to it.
Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
salaries and expenses
For necessary expenses in carrying out activities pursuant
to section 112(r)(6) of the Clean Air Act, as amended,
including hire of passenger vehicles, and for services
authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, but at rates for individuals not
to exceed the per diem equivalent to the maximum rate payable
for senior level positions under 5 U.S.C. 5376, $6,500,000:
Provided, That the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation
Board shall have not more than three career Senior Executive
Service positions.
Department of the Treasury
Community Development Financial Institutions
community development financial institutions
fund program account
For grants, loans, and technical assistance to qualifying
community development lenders, and administrative expenses of
the Fund, including services authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, but
at rates for individuals not to exceed the per diem rate
equivalent to the rate for ES-3, $80,000,000, to remain
available until September 30, 2000, of which $12,000,000 may
be used for the cost of direct loans, and up to $1,000,000
may be used for administrative expenses to carry out the
direct loan program: Provided, That the cost of direct loans,
including the cost of modifying such loans, shall be as
defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974: Provided further, That these funds are available to
subsidize gross obligations for the principal amount of
direct loans not to exceed $32,000,000: Provided further,
That not more than $25,000,000 of the funds made available
under this heading may be used for programs and activities
authorized in section 114 of the Community Development
Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994.
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Salaries and Expenses
For necessary expenses of the Consumer Product Safety
Commission, including hire of passenger motor vehicles,
services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, but at rates for
individuals not to exceed the per diem rate equivalent to the
maximum rate payable under 5 U.S.C. 5376, purchase of nominal
awards to recognize non-Federal officials' contributions to
Commission activities, and not to exceed $500 for official
reception and representation expenses, $46,000,000. No funds
shall be expended in promulgating a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking or Final Rule under the Flammable Fabrics Act,
which could directly or indirectly lead to increased chemical
treatment of upholstery fabrics, unless the published Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking or Final Rule includes the final
recommendations of the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel.
Corporation for National and Community Service
national and community service programs
operating expenses
Of the funds appropriated under this heading in Public Law
105-65, the Corporation for National and Community Service
shall use such amounts of such funds as may be necessary to
carry out the orderly termination of (1) the programs,
activities, and initiatives under the National and Community
Service Act of 1990 (Public Law 103-82); the Corporation; and
(3) the Corporation's Office of Inspector General: Provided,
That such sums shall be utilized to resolve all
responsibilities and obligations in connection with said
Corporation and the Corporation's Office of Inspector
General.
Court of Veterans Appeals
Salaries and Expenses
For necessary expenses for the operation of the United
States Court of Veterans Appeals as authorized by 38 U.S.C.
sections 7251-7298, $10,195,000, of which $865,000, shall be
available for the purpose of providing financial assistance
as described, and in accordance with the process and
reporting procedures set forth, under this heading in Public
Law 102-229.
Department of Defense--Civil
Cemeterial Expenses, Army
Salaries and Expenses
For necessary expenses, as authorized by law, for
maintenance, operation, and improvement of Arlington National
Cemetery and Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery,
including the purchase of one passenger motor vehicle for
replacement only, and not to exceed $1,000 for official
reception and representation expenses, $11,666,000, to remain
available until expended.
Environmental Protection Agency
Science and Technology
For science and technology, including research and
development activities, which shall include research and
development activities under the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA),
as amended; necessary expenses for personnel and related
costs and travel expenses, including uniforms, or allowances
therefore, as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 5901-5902; services as
authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, but at rates for individuals not
to exceed the per diem rate equivalent to the maximum rate
payable for senior level positions under 5 U.S.C. 5376;
procurement of laboratory equipment and supplies; other
operating expenses in support of research and development;
construction, alteration, repair, rehabilitation, and
renovation of facilities, not to exceed $75,000 per project,
$656,505,000, which shall remain available until September
30, 2000: Provided, That the obligated balance of such sums
shall remain available through September 30, 2007 for
liquidating obligations made in fiscal years 1999 and 2000.
Environmental Programs and Management
For environmental programs and management, including
necessary expenses, not otherwise provided for, for personnel
and related costs and travel expenses, including uniforms, or
allowances therefore, as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 5901-5902;
services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, but at rates for
individuals not to exceed the per diem rate equivalent to the
maximum rate payable for senior level positions under 5
U.S.C. 5376; hire of passenger motor vehicles; hire,
maintenance, and operation of aircraft; purchase of reprints;
library memberships in societies or associations which issue
publications to members only or at a price to members lower
than to subscribers who are not members; construction,
alteration, repair, rehabilitation, and renovation of
facilities, not to exceed $75,000 per project; and not to
exceed $6,000 for official reception and representation
expenses, $1,856,000,000, which shall remain available until
September 30, 2000: Provided, That the obligated balance of
such
[[Page H5824]]
sums shall remain available through September 30, 2007 for
liquidating obligations made in fiscal years 1999 and 2000:
Provided further, That none of the funds appropriated by this
Act shall be used to develop, propose, or issue rules,
regulations, decrees, or orders for the purpose of
implementation, or in contemplation of implementation, of the
Kyoto Protocol which was adopted on December 11, 1997, in
Kyoto, Japan at the Third Conference of the Parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which
has not been submitted to the Senate for advice and consent
to ratification pursuant to article II, section 2, clause 2,
of the United States Constitution, and which has not entered
into force pursuant to article 25 of such Protocol: Provided
further, That none of the funds made available in this Act
may be used to implement or administer the interim guidance
issued on February 5, 1998 by the Environmental Protection
Agency relating to title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
and designated as the ``Interim Guidance for Investigating
Title VI Administrative Complaints Challenging Permits'' with
respect to complaints filed under such title after the date
of enactment of this Act and until guidance is finalized.
Nothing in the above proviso may be construed to restrict the
Environmental Protection Agency from developing or issuing
final guidance relating to title VI of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964.
Office of Inspector General
For necessary expenses of the Office of Inspector General
in carrying out the provisions of the Inspector General Act
of 1978, as amended, and for construction, alteration,
repair, rehabilitation, and renovation of facilities, not to
exceed $75,000 per project, $31,154,000, to remain available
until September 30, 2000: Provided, That the obligated
balance of such sums shall remain available through September
30, 2007 for liquidating obligations made in fiscal years
1999 and 2000.
Buildings and Facilities
For construction, repair, improvement, extension,
alteration, and purchase of fixed equipment or facilities of,
or for use by, the Environmental Protection Agency,
$60,948,000, to remain available until expended.
Hazardous Substance Superfund
(including transfers of funds)
For necessary expenses to carry out the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of
1980 (CERCLA), as amended, including sections 111(c)(3),
(c)(5), (c)(6), and (e)(4) (42 U.S.C. 9611), and for
construction, alteration, repair, rehabilitation, and
renovation of facilities, not to exceed $75,000 per project;
not to exceed $1,500,000,000, consisting of $650,000,000 as
appropriated under this heading in Public Law 105-65,
notwithstanding the second proviso under this heading of said
Act, and not to exceed $850,000,000 (of which $100,000,000
shall not become available until September 1, 1999), all of
which is to remain available until expended, consisting of
$1,175,000,000, as authorized by section 517(a) of the
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA),
as amended by Public Law 101-508, and $325,000,000 as a
payment from general revenues to the Hazardous Substance
Superfund for purposes as authorized by section 517(b) of
SARA, as amended by Public Law 101-508: Provided, That funds
appropriated under this heading may be allocated to other
Federal agencies in accordance with section 111(a) of CERCLA:
Provided further, That $12,237,000 of the funds appropriated
under this heading shall be transferred to the ``Office of
Inspector General'' appropriation to remain available until
September 30, 2000: Provided further, That notwithstanding
section 111(m) of CERCLA or any other provision of law,
$74,000,000 of the funds appropriated under this heading
shall be available to the Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry to carry out activities described in
sections 104(i), 111(c)(4), and 111(c)(14) of CERCLA and
section 118(f) of SARA: Provided further, That $40,000,000 of
the funds appropriated under this heading shall be
transferred to the ``Science and Technology'' appropriation
to remain available until September 30, 2000: Provided
further, That $75,000,000 of the funds appropriated under
this heading shall be available only for grants to State,
local, and tribal governments for ``Brownfields'' site
assessment projects; grants to State, local, and tribal
governments for the development of State, local, and tribal
cleanup programs; and related Environmental Protection Agency
personnel and administrative expenses: Provided further, That
none of the funds appropriated under this heading shall be
available for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry to issue in excess of 40 toxicological profiles
pursuant to section 104(i) of CERCLA during fiscal year 1999.
Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund
For necessary expenses to carry out leaking underground
storage tank cleanup activities authorized by section 205 of
the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, and
for construction, alteration, repair, rehabilitation, and
renovation of facilities, not to exceed $75,000 per project,
$70,000,000, to remain available until expended: Provided,
That hereafter, the Administrator is authorized to enter into
assistance agreements with Federally recognized Indian tribes
on such terms and conditions as the Administrator deems
appropriate for the same purposes as are set forth in section
9003(h)(7) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
oil spill response
(including transfer of funds)
For expenses necessary to carry out the Environmental
Protection Agency's responsibilities under the Oil Pollution
Act of 1990, $15,000,000, to be derived from the Oil Spill
Liability trust fund, and to remain available until expended.
State and Tribal Assistance Grants
For environmental programs and infrastructure assistance,
including capitalization grants for State revolving funds and
performance partnership grants, $3,233,132,000, to remain
available until expended, of which $1,250,000,000 shall be
for making capitalization grants for the Clean Water State
Revolving Funds under title VI of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act, as amended, and $775,000,000 shall be for
capitalization grants for the Drinking Water State Revolving
Funds under section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act, as
amended; $55,000,000 for architectural, engineering,
planning, design, construction and related activities in
connection with the construction of high priority water and
wastewater facilities in the area of the United States-Mexico
border, after consultation with the appropriate border
commission; $15,000,000 for grants to the State of Alaska to
address drinking water and wastewater infrastructure needs of
rural and Alaska Native Villages as provided by section 303
of Public Law 104-182; $253,475,000 for making grants for the
construction of wastewater and water treatment facilities and
groundwater protection infrastructure in accordance with the
terms and conditions specified for such grants in the report
accompanying this Act (H.R. ); and $884,657,000 for grants,
including associated program support costs, to States,
Federally recognized tribes, interstate agencies, Tribal
consortia, and air pollution control agencies for multi-media
or single media pollution prevention, control and abatement
and related activities, including activities pursuant to the
provisions set forth under this heading in Public Law 104-
134, and for making grants under section 103 of the Clean Air
Act for particulate matter monitoring and data collection
activities: Provided, That, consistent with section 1452(g)
of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j-12(g)),
section 302 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996
(Public Law 104-182) and the accompanying joint explanatory
statement of the committee on conference (H. Rept. No. 104-
741 to accompany S. 1316, the Safe Drinking Water Act
Amendments of 1996), and notwithstanding any other provision
of law, beginning in fiscal year 1999 and thereafter, States
may combine the assets of State Revolving Funds (SRFs)
established under section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water
Act, as amended, and title VI of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act, as amended, as security for bond issues to
enhance the lending capacity of one or both SRFs, but not to
acquire the State match for either program, provided that
revenues from the bonds are allocated to the purposes of the
Safe Drinking Water Act and the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act in the same portion as the funds are used as
security for the bonds: Provided further, That hereafter, the
Administrator is authorized to enter into assistance
agreements with Federally recognized Indian tribes on such
terms and conditions as the Administrator deems appropriate
for the development and implementation of programs to manage
hazardous waste, and underground storage tanks: Provided
further, That beginning in fiscal year 1999 and thereafter,
pesticide program implementation grants under section
23(a)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and
Rodenticide Act, as amended, shall be available for pesticide
program development and implementation, including enforcement
and compliance activities: Provided further, That,
notwithstanding the matching requirement in Public Law 104-
204 for funds appropriated under this heading for grants to
the State of Texas for improving wastewater treatment for the
Colonias, such funds that remain unobligated may also be used
for improving water treatment for the Colonias, and shall be
matched by the State funds from State resources equal to 20
percent of such unobligated funds.
Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that
the remainder of title III through page 65, line 16, be considered as
read, printed in the Record and open to amendment at any point.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. Are there any amendments to that portion of
the bill?
Amendment No. 19 Offered by Mr. Stokes
Mr. STOKES. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment on behalf of myself
and the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette).
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Amendment No. 19 offered by Mr. Stokes:
Page 61, line 13, strike the colon and all that follows
through ``expenses'' on line 20.
[[Page H5825]]
(Mr. STOKES asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. STOKES. Mr. Chairman, I am sorry it is necessary to offer this
amendment. I wish the committee had not included the language limiting
the amount and usage of the Environmental Protection Agency's
brownfields money.
I think the provision included in the reported bill that reduces
brownfields funds from the administration's request of $91 million to
$75 million is misguided; and I think the language restricting the
brownfields money to assessments, prohibiting the capitalization of
local government and revolving fund loan funds for cleanup, is also
misguided.
My amendment is very simple: By deleting the brownfields limitation,
it would allow the EPA to spend up to the budget request of $91 million
for the program. This is approximately the same amount as was made
available for the program in each of the last 2 years. It would also
allow brownfields funds to be used for revolving fund capitalization.
That is to say, the funds could be used not only for assessments but
also for cleanups.
This past January, the United States Conference of Mayors issued a
report entitled ``Recycling America's land: A National Report on
Brownfields Redevelopment.'' I am going to read three statements from
the executive summary of the report.
First, the report shows that a failure to address brownfields
redevelopment will result in a wasted opportunity for America to
recycle its land, create jobs, increase local tax bases and revitalize
neighborhoods.
Second, the report also finds that the proliferation of brownfields
is a problem that affects communities of all sizes. Fifty-three cities,
or 36 percent of respondents, were communities with populations of less
than 50,000. Eighty-eight cities, or 56 percent of respondents, were
communities with less than 100,000 population. These responses confirm
that brownfields are not an isolated problem and can be found in
communities of various sizes and locations.
Finally, cities participating in the study identified several major
obstacles to the redevelopment of brownfields. Cities noted the lack of
cleanup funds as the number one impediment.
Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. STOKES. I yield to the gentlewoman from Colorado.
Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Chairman, before I make the rest of my statement, I
would like to thank our distinguished ranking member for working so
closely with me and my office on this brownfields amendment. I would
also like to thank the chairman of the subcommittee for assisting in
this matter.
As written, the bill prohibits the EPA from giving much-needed, much-
sought-after assistance to localities and jeopardizing the cleanup of
sites. Our amendment gives local communities the tools they need to
clean up decaying and sterile brownfield sites, creating jobs and
revitalizing our neighborhoods.
Brownfields are abandoned and often contaminated properties that can
be found in urban, suburban and rural areas across the United States.
We all have brownfields in our communities; the abandoned gas station
on the corner, the dormant steel plant in the valley, the old mill by
the river.
The GAO has estimated there are approximately 450,000 brownfields
sites around the country. Cleaning up these sites and returning them to
productive use will not only benefit the public health and the
environment, but it will create jobs and economic opportunities. In
urban areas like Denver, redevelopment of brownfields can also prevent
urban sprawl and development of pristine areas called greenfields.
The EPA's brownfields initiative has been tremendously successful. It
has awarded 2-year brownfields pilots intended to bring together public
and private efforts at all levels of government. In fact, the EPA has
awarded more than 228 project grants, including 71 new pilots that the
Vice President just announced this week.
However, this bill has three problems. First of all, it prevents any
of these funds from being used by localities to set up revolving loan
programs.
Secondly, it provides only $75 million in funding, $16.3 million
below the administration's request, and, frankly, well below the real
needs in this country for brownfields redevelopment.
Thirdly, the legislation prohibits the funds from being used for
research and community outreach, a vital component of the program which
furthers understanding of brownfields and gives community tools to
redevelopment.
Many communities in the country have benefitted from brownfields
redevelopment, and we need to make sure that we do not limit them by
the language in this legislation.
I have received numerous letters from mayors across the country,
including Denver, Commerce City, Colorado, and Salt Lake City,
expressing the need for full funding for the studies and for the money
to be used for redevelopment.
This is a widely supported bill by communities across the country. I
urge adoption of our amendment so that it can be used to its fullest
potential.
Mr. STOKES. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Stokes amendment and would
associate myself with the gentleman's remarks.
Many of us who represent the northeast have come to value the
importance of the brownfields program at the Environmental Protection
Agency. The program funded in this bill will give communities with
abandoned industrial sites the opportunity to assess these problems
more closely and to find alternatives to clean up these sites.
Brownfields need to be redeveloped, whether they are in urban centers
or elsewhere, and this program goes a long way towards addressing this
national problem. Unfortunately, the language contained in this bill
would have the unintended consequences of prohibiting any use of the
funds for education, outreach or technical assistance.
I believe that the National Conference of Mayors, who strongly
supports the brownfields program, put it best when they said, ``This
provision would take brownfields redevelopment efforts in the wrong
direction.''
It is imperative that our communities have access to these funds in
order to educate themselves about how to best achieve the goal of
rebuilding their communities and putting these sites back into
productive commercial use.
Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite
number of words.
Mr. Chairman, I believe the brownfields program is a good program and
the committee supports efforts to turn abandoned and possibly
contaminated properties into thriving commercial areas. On the other
hand, both the GAO and the Inspector General have issued reports
questioning some past EPA grants to nongovernmental organizations,
where scarce dollars have gone for case studies, conferences and
workshops.
{time} 1330
The committee's intent is to ensure that brownfields funds are used
appropriately within the boundaries of the law that my colleague, the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Stokes), has done so much to develop in the
first place.
In that spirit, but with those reservations, I reluctantly support
the amendment.
Mrs. KENNELLY of Connecticut. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support
of the Stokes-Degette Amendment, which would remove restrictive anti-
environmental language in the bill which would prevent the clean up of
contaminated brownfield sites. The Committee has reduced President
Clinton's request for Brownfields by more than ninety million dollars,
a sixteen percent cut from last year. Additionally, the bill would
prevent EPA from providing brownfields program support for brownfields
site cleanup, research, and job training.
In January 1998, the U.S. Conference of Mayors stated that cities
ranked the lack of clean up funds as the number one impediment to the
redevelopment of brownfields. My home state of Connecticut is one of
the oldest industrialized states in the union, and unfortunately the
caretaker of many of these contaminated sites. We in the state have
been working over
[[Page H5826]]
the last several years to identify, clean and recapture these sites for
public use. However, the language in this bill would work to prevent us
from carrying on this important work.
With the inability of this Congress to reach a compromise on a
bipartisan Superfund reform and reauthorization bill, continued funding
for the Brownfields Initiative is imperative to the health and safety
of America. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. Does any other Member wish to be heard on the amendment
number 19 of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Stokes)?
If not, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman
from Ohio (Mr. Stokes).
The amendment was agreed to.
The CHAIRMAN. Are there other amendments to this title?
Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
Mr. Chairman, I wonder if the distinguished chairman of the
Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies is willing to engage
in a colloquy with me regarding the amendment just passed.
Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will yield, I
guess I will have a colloquy with my friend.
Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Chairman, I want to be clear in the legislative
history, I would say to the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) that
the enactment of that amendment that just passed does not give EPA any
new or additional statutory authority to conduct its brownfields
programs.
As chairman of the Subcommittee on Finance and Hazardous Materials,
which has primary jurisdiction over the Superfund law in the House, I
do not want the EPA or anyone else to think that the current Superfund
law authorizes the Agency to use brownfields money to capitalize
revolving loan funds. Moreover, brownfields money may be used pursuant
to section 311(c) of CERCLA to fund only, and I quote, ``Research with
respect to the detection, assessment and evaluation of the effects on
and risks to human health of hazardous substances and detection of
hazardous substances in the environment.''
The language of section 311(c) does not, I emphasize, does not,
authorize the Agency to use brownfields money to fund conferences,
seminars, meetings, workshops, or other activities that have nothing to
do with actual research.
Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will yield, I
concur with the gentleman's view that the current text of the bill
before us does not authorize activities not currently authorized under
CERCLA.
Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, that being the case, I
hope that the gentleman will make the permissible scope of the
activities clear in his work in conference.
Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will yield
further, we will do everything we can to ensure that EPA is not
permitted to exceed the scope of its current authorized activities.
I might add that we have made serious effort to put pressure on EPA
in a number of other areas, and they are not always as responsive as I
might like.
Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman.
Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
Mr. Chairman, I would just like to be clear that the use of the EPA
funding that is contemplated in the brownfields program, we have no
objection to it being used for the purposes which the statute was
intended, but I think it is a little inaccurate to say that there has
been legal authority saying that it is not intended to be used for
revolving funds and other purposes.
First of all, the Inspector General audited pilot programs issued by
the EPA and in March 1998 issued a report that said there was not any
misuse of funds. In fact, the Inspector General's report concluded that
the activities reviewed were authorized under CERCLA.
The Inspector General's only recommendations were administrative in
nature, such as the recommendation to revise the EPA's ranking
criteria. None of the recommendations implied, as I understand it, that
the grant should be terminated, or that the grant program itself was at
all questionable. In fact, the Inspector General praised the program.
The EPA has agreed, I would like to stress, to all of the Inspector
General's recommendations and states, ``We believe the corrective
actions underway and planned by the agency address the report's
recommendations. Therefore, we are closing this report upon
recommendation.''
The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Bliley), our Chairman, asked the GAO
to review grants and agreements awarded by the EPA since 1993, the
first year the Agency began the brownfields efforts. The GAO found
during its 1998 on-site audit of financial records that overall, the
recipients were spending the funds in accordance with guidance of OMB.
So I guess I would just like to state for the record that I agree
that EPA should not be able to use these funds for any illegal purpose
beyond its legal authority, but I think that to state that they have
been using them for illegal purposes goes beyond what the Inspector
General and GAO have, in fact, said.
Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?
Ms. DeGETTE. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.
Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and
would concur in what she said, pointed out that she was not referring
to any case to revolving loan funds and the money therein, because
obviously, they could not be conducted under the current law, and as
long as we clarify that, I think that is important to put in the
record.
Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, in 1997, EPA issued 24
grants to States and local governments to establish revolving loan
funds, and on October 2, 1997, the general counsel issued a legal
memorandum identifying the EPA's legal authority to set up the
brownfields cleanup revolving loan request programs.
The EPA legal authority for these revolving loan funds has never been
independently evaluated or challenged by the GAO or the Inspector
General.
Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?
Ms. DeGETTE. I yield to the gentleman from California.
Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I must say we welcome the
authorizers presence when we have our bill on the floor any time. I
know authorizers often like to use appropriations bills to effectively
implement their work, especially when these kinds of disagreements
occur from time to time.
Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time again, I would like to
thank the distinguished chairman for working with us on these issues.
Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, I think it is important for
the Members who are present to know that our bill will be taken up one
more time on Tuesday of the coming week. Further discussion regarding
matters that relate to the bill will be taking place at that time in
case there are those present who might have been expecting some further
activity on the part of the committee this afternoon.
Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.
The motion was agreed to.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr.
Pease) having assumed the chair, Mr. Hulshof, Chairman pro tempore of
the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, reported
that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R.
4194) making appropriations for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and
Housing and Urban Development, and for sundry independent agencies,
boards, commissions, corporations, and offices for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 1999, and for other purposes, had come to no
resolution thereon.
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