[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 125 (Thursday, September 23, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S11367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. 
        Moynihan):
  S. 1632. A bill to extend the authorization of appropriations for 
activities at Long Island Sound; to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works.


            reauthorization of the long island sound office

 Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a 
reauthorization bill of critical importance to the future of 
Connecticut's most valuable natural resource, the Long Island Sound. 
This bill, which I offer with my colleagues Mr. Dodd, Mr. Schumer, and 
Mr. Moynihan, reauthorizes the Long Island Sound Office through the 
year 2005, and increases the grant authorization amount to $10 million.
  The Long Island Sound is among the most complex estuaries in the 
National Estuary Program, both in terms of the physical features and 
scientific understanding of the estuary system, and in the context of 
ecosystem management. Unlike most estuaries, Long Island Sound has two 
connections to the sea. Rather than having a major source of fresh 
water at its head, flowing into a bay that empties into the ocean, Long 
Island Sound is open at both ends, flowing to the Atlantic Ocean to the 
east and to New York Harbor to the west. Most of its fresh water comes 
from a series of south-flowing rivers, including the Connecticut River, 
the Housatonic, and the Thames, whose drainages reach as far north as 
Canada. The Sound's 16,000 square mile drainage basin also includes 
portions of New York City and Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk Counties 
in New York State. The Sound combines this multiple inflow/outflow 
system with a diverse and complex shoreline, and an uneven bottom 
topography. Taken together, they produce unique and complex patterns of 
tide and currents.
  The interaction between the Sound and the local human population is 
also complex. The Sound is located in the midst of the most densely 
populated region of the United States. In total, more than 8 million 
people live in the Long Island Sound watershed and millions more flock 
yearly to the Sound for recreation. The Sound provides many other 
valuable uses, such as cargo shipping, ferry transportation and power 
generation. It is largely because the Sound serves such a concentrated 
population that the economic benefits of preserving and restoring the 
Sound are so substantial. More than $5.5 billion is generated annually 
in the regional economy from water quality-dependent activities such as 
boating, commercial and sport fishing, swimming, and beach going.
  In 1994, the Long Island Sound Management Conference, sponsored by 
the EPA, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 
and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, completed a 
$15 million Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP). That 
plan was adopted by the Governors of New York and Connecticut and the 
EPA Administrator.
  The EPA Long Island Sound Office coordinates the implementation of 
the plan among the many program partners, consistent with the Long 
Island Sound Improvement Act of 1990. The office is small, staffed by 
two EPA employees, whose salaries are covered by EPA's base budget, and 
a Senior Environmental Employment Program secretary. In addition, the 
office supports two outreach positions, with one in each state. It 
avoids duplicating existing efforts and programs, instead focusing on 
better coordination of federal and state funds, educating and involving 
the public in the Sound cleanup and protection, and providing grants to 
support implementation of the Long Island Sound restoration effort. By 
coordinating the activities of numerous stakeholders involved in the 
Sound's management program, in addition to serving as an educational 
and informational interface with the public, the Long Island Sound 
office provides an integral local outreach and meeting point.
  While the quality of the Sound has improved dramatically over the 
years, there is still much work to be done. Implementation of the CCMP 
will help restore fish populations that have been impacted by hypoxia, 
will improve and restore degraded wetlands, and will begin to address 
the toxic mercury pollution that has lead to health advisories for fish 
consumption in many of the Sound's waters. Specific near term goals of 
the office include reducing nitrogen loadings which degrade water 
quality by depleting the Sound of oxygen, supporting local watershed 
protection efforts to reduce nonpoint source pollution, monitoring and 
expanding scientific understanding of the Sound, and educating the 
public and regional stakeholders about the sound and cleanup 
activities. Federal, State, and private funds have been well-spent over 
the years to research the conditions in the Sound and to identify 
conservation needs. We are now moving to apply critical funding toward 
implementing these projects, directly improving the water quality and 
habitat of the Long Island Sound.
  Overall, recent federal funding of the program and the office are 
small relative to state commitments. New York State has approved $200 
million for Long Island Sound as part of a $1.75 billion bound act. 
Connecticut has awarded more than $200 million in the past three years 
to support upgrades at sewage treatment plants and is a national leader 
on wetlands restoration. The Long Island Sound Office now faces a 
daunting task, orchestrating a multi-billion dollar effort to implement 
efforts to reduce nitrogen loadings that degrade the waters of the 
Sound. The modest increase in the authorization levels, and the 
reauthorization of the Long Island Sound Office, therefore represent 
timely, important contributions to the cooperative regional effort to 
restore the waters of the Long Island Sound.
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