[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 22, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1595-S1596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-440. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Washington relative to pipeline safety; to the 
     Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

                       Senate Joint Memorial 8017

       Whereas, Ensuring the safety of citizens residing near 
     pipelines carrying hazardous substances and protecting the 
     surrounding environment from the deleterious effects of 
     pipeline spills are vital state and local responsibilities, 
     yet the oversight of interstate pipelines has been largely 
     preempted by federal law; and
       Whereas, Several significant pipeline spills have occurred 
     in Washington State in recent years, including a major 
     petroleum spill in the City of Bellingham, resulting in a 
     fire which killed three people and destroyed much of a city 
     park; and
       Whereas, Washington Governor Gary Locke thereafter formed a 
     study team of local and state fuel accident response 
     agencies, which in course of numerous meetings, briefings, 
     and public hearings learned that current federal oversight of 
     pipeline safety is inadequate in many respects; and
       Whereas, Washington State through its Legislature and 
     Governor are developing a strong, coordinated program of 
     state and local oversight of pipeline safety that will be 
     well integrated with concurrent federal oversight; and
       Whereas, such a program cannot be fully implemented without 
     action by the Congress and the President to modify existing 
     statutes and provide necessary administrative and budgetary 
     support: Now therefore,
       Your Memorialists respectfully pray that:
       (1) The Congress enact legislation amending the federal 
     Pipeline Safety Act (49 U.S.C. Section 60101, et seq.) to 
     allow states to adopt and enforce standards stricter than 
     federal standards where to do so would not interfere with 
     interstate commerce;
       (2) Such Act be further amended to allow states at their 
     option to seek authority to administer and enforce federal 
     pipeline safety standards;
       (3) As an interim measure pending congressional 
     consideration of such legislative enactments the President 
     direct the federal Office of Pipeline Safety to grant 
     authority to states that qualify to enforce federal 
     standards; and
       (4) The Congress increase funding to assist states in 
     responding to pipeline accident emergencies, to implement 
     pipeline safety measures, to support states with delegated 
     authority to enforce federal standards, and to the Office of 
     Pipeline Safety for additional research and development of 
     technologies for testing, leak detection, and oversight 
     operations, be it
       Resolved, That copies of this Memorial be immediately 
     transmitted to the Honorable William J. Clinton, President of 
     the United States, the Secretary of the United States 
     Department of Transportation, the President of the United 
     States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
     and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.
                                  ____

       POM-441. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Washington relative to the environmental clean-
     up project at the Hanford site; to the Committee on 
     Appropriations.

                       House Joint Memorial 4022

       Whereas, the United States government in the throes and 
     peril of World War II and the following cold war did 
     confiscate and use five hundred sixty square miles of desert 
     on the banks of the Columbia River in Washington State, which 
     came to be known as the Hanford site, to produce plutonium 
     for use in nuclear weapons, which did not contribute to 
     bringing both wars to conclusion; and
       Whereas, The peace and well-being of the citizens of the 
     United States was furthered for over forty-five years by the 
     work done at the Hanford site; and
       Whereas, The Hanford site is now the nation's biggest 
     environmental clean-up project; and
       Whereas, Sixty percent of the nation's defense nuclear 
     waste is stored at Hanford in one hundred seventy-seven 
     underground storage tanks, most of which are beyond their 
     design life, and one-third of which have leaked one million 
     gallons to the ground; and
       Whereas, The tanks are seven miles south and ten miles west 
     of the Columbia River, the largest river in the Pacific 
     Northwest and a national treasure; and
       Whereas, The site is currently in the process of cleaning 
     up the legacy left by the above stated work, which was in the 
     best interests of the American people; and
       Whereas, The Hanford site is the only one of the United 
     States Department of Energy sites without a waste treatment 
     facility; and
       Whereas, The Department of Energy Office of River 
     Protection was created by Congress

[[Page S1596]]

     in 1998 to manage all aspects of the tank waste remediation 
     project; and
       Whereas, Full funding of this environmentally necessary 
     clean-up effort is imperative and overdue: Now, therefore
       Your Memorialists respectfully pray that, with due respect 
     for other clean-up projects' needs, full funding as necessary 
     to build a vitrification treatment plant, retrieve waste from 
     the tanks, feed waste into said vitrification treatment 
     plant, and dispose of resulting glass logs be forthcoming on 
     schedule to meet the negotiated dates contained in the Tri-
     Party Agreement between the Washington State Department of 
     Ecology, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 
     and the United States Department of Energy, be it
       Resolved, That copies of this Memorial be immediately 
     transmitted to the Honorable William J. Clinton, President of 
     the United States, the Secretary of the Department of Energy, 
     the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 
     House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from 
     the State of Washington.

                          ____________________