[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 16, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E157-E158]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 3670

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 16, 2000

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing legislation to 
enhance the protection of the Great Lakes, and to begin the cleanup of 
our industrial legacy. My bill will reauthorize the Great Lakes Program 
of the Environmental Protection Agency, significantly increasing the 
authorization for this highly successful program, and authorize the 
funding for cleanup of contaminated Areas of Concern as provided in the 
President's budget.
  The Great Lakes are the Nation's largest fresh water resource and the 
largest system of fresh water on Earth, containing nearly 20 percent of 
the world supply. The Great Lakes contain 5,500 cubic miles of water 
and cover 94,000 square miles. Only the polar ice caps contain more 
fresh water.
  Great Lakes Basin is of critical importance to the economy of two 
nations. The Basin is home to more than one-tenth of the U.S. 
population, and one-quarter of the Canadian population. One of the 
world's largest concentrations of economic capacity is located in the 
Basin--some one-fifth of U.S. industrial jobs and one-quarter of 
Canadian agricultural production.
  Notwithstanding the immense size of the Lakes, outflows from the 
Lakes are less than 1 percent per year. When pollutants enter the lakes 
by pipe, as wet weather runoff, or as air deposition, they are retained 
in the system and become more concentrated with time. They settle in 
the sediments, and accumulate in the food chain.
  We may have restored certain fisheries, such as walleyes in Lake 
Erie, but these fish still bear the burden of pollution and 
contamination sediments. Fish continue to be found with cancers and 
sores and high levels of PCBs and dioxin. If you eat fish once a week

[[Page E158]]

and live within 20 miles of one of the Great Lakes, you are likely to 
have 440 parts per billion PCBs in your body. That is more than 20 
times higher than people living elsewhere in America and not exposed to 
Great Lakes fish.
  It is past time that we aggressively clean up the persistent 
pollution captured in the sediments of the Great Lakes. The 1987 
amendments to the Clean Water Act established the Great Lakes National 
Program Office and called for a demonstration project for the removal 
of toxic pollutants from sediments. The Great Lakes Critical Programs 
Act of 1990 required the establishment and implementation of Great 
Lakes water quality guidance. Now we should permanently address the 
problem of contaminated sediment.
  The United States and Canada have jointly identified 43 Areas of 
Concern in the Great Lakes. Thirty-one of these fall wholly or partly 
in U.S. waters. Even though over 1.3 million cubic yards of 
contaminated sediments have been remediated over the past 3 years, the 
challenge is so great that remediation is not complete at any U.S. Area 
of Concern.
  The bill I am introducing today, in support of the President's budget 
proposal, represents a dramatic increase in support for Great Lakes' 
states and communities. This bill will:
  Reauthorize the Great Lakes Program at $40 million annually for 2001-
2005.
  Authorize $50 million annually for 2001-2005 for projects to improve 
water quality at Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes. The federal share 
would be 60%.
  Amend the current Great Lakes Program to authorize projects to 
improve degraded fresh water estuary habitat. The federal share would 
be 65%.
  I will be working toward the swift enactment of this legislation, and 
I urge all of my colleagues to join me in protecting this precious 
fresh water resource.

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