[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 9, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6795-S6796]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Reid, Mrs. Boxer, and Mr. 
        Bryan):
  S. 1192. A bill to designate national forest land managed by the 
Forest Service in the Lake Tahoe Basin as the ``Lake Tahoe National 
Scenic Forest and Recreation Area,'' and to promote environmental 
restoration around the Lake Tahoe Basin; to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources.


                     THE LAKE TAHOE RESTORATION ACT

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I want to begin by thanking Senator 
Harry Reid who has worked so hard with me on the Lake Tahoe Restoration 
Act. I would also like to thank my friends and colleagues Senator 
Barbara Boxer and Senator Dick Bryan for cosponsoring this important 
legislation.
  This legislation really comes directly out of the Tahoe Summit. I am 
one that spent her childhood at lake Tahoe, but I had not been back for 
a number of years. When I went there for the Tahoe Summit in 1997 with 
the President, I saw things I had never seen before at Lake Tahoe.
  I saw the penetration of MTBE in the water. I saw the gasoline spread 
over the water surface. I saw that in fact 30 percent of the South Lake 
Tahoe water supply has been eliminated by MTBE. I saw 25 percent of the 
magnificent forest that surrounds the lake dead or dying. I saw land 
erosion problems on a major level that were bringing all kinds of 
sediment into the lake and which had effectively cut its clarity by 
thirty feet since the last time I had visited. And then I learned that 
the experts believe that in ten years the clouding of the amazing 
crystal water clarity would be impossible to reverse and in thirty 
years it would be lost forever.
  For me, that was a call to action, and today I am proud to introduce 
the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act. This legislation will designate federal 
lands in the Lake Tahoe Basin as a National Scenic Forest and 
Recreation area and will authorize $300 million of Federal monies on a 
matching basis over ten years for environmental restoration projects to 
preserve the region's water quality and forest health.
  Lake Tahoe is the crown jewel of the Sierra Nevada and its clear, 
blue water is simply remarkable. Some people may not know that Lake 
Tahoe contributes $1.6 billion dollars every year

[[Page S6796]]

to the economy from tourism alone. However, one in every seven trees in 
the forest surrounding Emerald Bay is either dead or dying. Insect 
infestations and drought have killed over 25 percent of the trees in 
the forests surrounding Lake Tahoe, creating a severe risk of wildfire.
  The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency estimates that restoring the lake 
and its surrounding forests will cost $900 million dollars over the 
next ten years. This is not a cursory evaluation but a careful 
evaluation made by this agency over several years.
  Local governments and businesses in Lake Tahoe have agreed to raise 
$300 million locally in the next ten years for this effort. The Tahoe 
Transportation and Water Quality Coalition, a coalition of 18 
businesses and environmental groups, including Placer County, El Dorado 
County, the City of South Lake Tahoe, Douglass County in Nevada and 
Washoe County in Nevada have all agreed. This is an extraordinary 
commitment for a region with only 50,000 year round residents.
  The Governors of California and Nevada have pledged to provide 
another $300 million, but only if the Federal government will step up 
and provide $300 million of its own because we must remember that 77 
percent of the forest is owned by the Federal Government.
  President Clinton took an important first step in 1997 when he held 
an environmental summit at Lake Tahoe and promised $50 million over two 
years for restoration activities around the lake. These commitments 
included: $4.5 million to reduce fire risk at the lake; $3.5 million 
for public transportation; $4 million for acquisition of 
environmentally sensitive land; $1.3 million dollars to decommission 
old, unused logging roads that are a major source of sediment into Lake 
Tahoe; $7.5 million to replace an aging waste water pipeline that 
threatens to leak sewage into the lake; and $3 million for scientific 
research.
  Unfortunately, the President's commitments lasted for only two years, 
so important areas like land acquisition and road decommissioning were 
not funded at the levels the President tried to accomplish. So what is 
needed is a more sustained, long-term effort, and one that will meet 
the federal government's $300 million dollar responsibility to save the 
environment at Lake Tahoe.
  The Lake Tahoe Restoration Act will build upon the President's 
commitment to Lake Tahoe and authorize full funding for a new 
environmental restoration program at the lake.
  The bill designates U.S. Forest Service lands in the Lake Tahoe basin 
as the Lake Tahoe National Scenic Forest and Recreation Area. This 
designation, which is unique to Lake Tahoe, is strongly supported by 
local business, environmental, and community leaders. The designation 
will recognize Lake Tahoe as a priceless scenic and recreational 
resource.
  The legislation explicitly says that nothing in the bill gives the 
U.S. Forest Service regulatory authority over private or non-federal 
land. The bill also requires the Forest Service to develop an annual 
priority list of environmental restoration projects and authorizes $200 
million over ten years to the forest service to implement these 
projects on federal lands. The list must include projects that will 
improve water quality, forest health, soil conservation, air quality, 
and fish and wildlife habitat around the lake.
  In developing the environmental restoration priority list, the Forest 
Service must rely on the best available science, and consider projects 
that local governments, businesses, and environmental groups have 
targeted as top priorities. The Forest Service also must consult with 
local community leaders.
  The bill requires the Forest Service to give special attention on its 
priority list to four key activities: acquisition of environmentally 
sensitive land from willing sellers, erosion and sediment control, fire 
risk reduction, and traffic and parking management, including promotion 
of public transportation.
  The Lake Tahoe Restoration Act also requires that $100 million of the 
$300 million over ten years be in payments to local governments for 
erosion control activities on non-federal lands. These payments will 
help local governments conduct soil conservation and erosion mitigation 
projects, restore wetlands and stream environmental zones, and plant 
native vegetation to filter out sediment and debris.
  I have been working on the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act for over a 
year, in conjunction with Senator Reid and over a dozen community 
groups at Lake Tahoe. The Lake Tahoe Transportation and Water Quality 
Coalition, a local consensus group of 18 businesses and environmental 
groups, has worked extremely hard on this bill, and I am grateful for 
their input and support.
  Thanks in large part to their work, the bill has strong, bi-partisan 
support from nearly every major group in the Tahoe Basin. The bill is 
supported by the League to Save Lake Tahoe, the South Lake Tahoe 
Chamber of Commerce, and the Lake Tahoe Gaming Alliance, to name just a 
few. Major environmental groups also support the bill, including the 
Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, and California League of Conservation 
Voters.
  The bottom line is that time is running out for Lake Tahoe. We have 
ten years to do something major or the water quality deterioration is 
irreversible.
  We have a limited period of time, or the 25 percent of the dead and 
dying trees and the combustible masses that it produced are sure to 
catch fire, and a major forest fire will result.
  Mr. President, this crown jewel deserves the attention, and the fact 
that the federal government owns 77 percent of that troubled area makes 
the responsibility all so clear.
  I am hopeful that the United States Senate will move quickly to 
consider the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act. I urge my colleagues in the 
Senate to join me in preserving this national treasure for generations 
to come.
                                 ______