[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 39 (Thursday, March 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   DeLAURO-LOWEY WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AND ESTUARY RESTORATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NITA M. LOWEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 11, 1999

  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, today Congresswoman DeLauro, Congressman 
Shays, and I are once again joining with a geographically diverse group 
of our colleagues in reintroducing legislation to renew and expand the 
Federal Government's role in controlling pollution and in stewarding 
our coastal resources.
  Without question, much remains to be done to take our Nation's 
estuaries off the endangered list. Nationally, we face an appalling 
backlog of water quality infrastructure upgrade needs that threatens to 
choke our economy just as it is robbing our waters of life-giving 
oxygen. Quite simply, we need leadership at the Federal level to match 
the energy and ingenuity of our communities that are working toward a 
better environmental and economic future. Without strong Federal 
leadership and substantial funds to back it up, we run the risk of 
squandering over 20 years of progress in cleaning up and protecting our 
waters.
  Therefore, our legislation will re-ignite Federal, State, and local 
cooperation in water pollution control by significantly increasing 
annual authorization levels for the State Revolving Fund [SRF] Program 
to $4 billion in 2005, thereby providing the resources to expand and 
modernize the Nation's water pollution control infrastructure.
  Moreover, our legislation would strengthen section 320 of the Clean 
Water Act, which authorizes the National Estuary Program. First 
established under the Water Quality Act of 1987, the NEP provides a 
mechanism for bringing together Federal, State, and local authorities--
and interested citizens--to develop comprehensive, watershed-based 
plans for cleaning up and protecting nationally significant estuaries. 
In Long Island Sound, Puget Sound, Massachusetts Bay, and a number of 
other estuaries, the NEP has helped bring about unprecedented 
cooperation aimed at saving these threatened waters and the economies 
that rely on them.
  Our bill would build on the success of the NEP by clarifying the 
funding and staffing responsibilities of Federal agencies concerned 
with the program, including the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] 
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA]. 
Specifically, the bill states that implementation of estuary management 
plans is a nondiscretionary duty of the EPA. The measure seeks to 
improve Federal leadership in the NEP by directing the EPA to 
promulgate guidelines for development, approval, and implementation of 
comprehensive management plans. Other important proposed changes 
include measures to improve coordination of clean-up efforts with other 
Federal activities in estuaries. In short, this bill is designed to 
make certain that those plans do not end up on shelves in bureaucrats' 
offices, but instead truly clean up these critical bodies of water.
  Mr. Speaker, our legislation is a call to action that says through 
sensible investments in water pollution control we can help ensure our 
economic and environmental future. Without Federal assistance, our 
estuaries will die while the long-term growth of our economies suffers.
  The time has come to act, Mr. Speaker.

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