[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 189 (Tuesday, December 11, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H15227-H15229]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1230
SAN GABRIEL BASIN RESTORATION FUND AUTHORIZATION ACT
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (H.R. 123) to authorize appropriations for the San Gabriel
Basin Restoration Fund, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 123
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
[[Page H15228]]
SECTION 1. SAN GABRIEL BASIN RESTORATION FUND.
Section 110 of division B of the Miscellaneous
Appropriations Act, 2001 (114 Stat. 2763A-222), as enacted
into law by section 1(a)(4) of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 106-554, as amended by
Public Law 107-66), is further amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by inserting after clause
(iii) the following:
``(iv) Non-federal match.--After $85,000,000 has
cumulatively been appropriated under subsection (d)(1), the
remainder of Federal funds appropriated under subsection (d)
shall be subject to the following matching requirement:
``(I) San gabriel basin water quality authority.--The San
Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority shall be responsible
for providing a 35 percent non-Federal match for Federal
funds made available to the Authority under this Act.
``(II) Central basin municipal water district.--The Central
Basin Municipal Water District shall be responsible for
providing a 35 percent non-Federal match for Federal funds
made available to the District under this Act.'';
(2) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Interest on funds in restoration fund.--No amounts
appropriated above the cumulative amount of $85,000,000 to
the Restoration Fund under subsection (d)(1) shall be
invested by the Secretary of the Treasury in interest-bearing
securities of the United States.''; and
(3) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated
to the Restoration Fund established under subsection (a)
$146,200,000. Such funds shall remain available until
expended.
``(2) Set-aside.--Of the amounts appropriated under
paragraph (1), no more than $21,200,000 shall be made
available to carry out the Central Basin Water Quality
Project.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
California (Mrs. Napolitano) and the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
General Leave
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
H.R. 123 was introduced by our colleague and good friend, Congressman
David Dreier of California, to provide additional funds for the San
Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund. This bill, which is a very important
bill for my whole area, has worked to clean up a contamination, a
Superfund site, that has cleaned up much of the contamination in an
area that comprises probably around 30 cities, and as amended will
raise the appropriation ceiling by an additional $61.2 million.
We need this to further continue to provide the cleanup on this water
to millions of people in dozens of cities. This bill has been worked on
in a bipartisan basis. Both my colleague, Mr. Dreier, myself, our
staffs have worked diligently for a long time to carry this bill to
where it is.
When H.R. 123 was introduced earlier this year, it only included
funds for cleanup in the San Gabriel Basin. Since then, my staff,
committee staff and Congressman Dreier's staff have worked together to
amend the bill to include additional funds for cleanup in the central
basin as well. While this legislation provides a central basin with
access to much-needed additional funds, all funds left under the
original authorization should remain dedicated to the Water Quality
Authority, the entity which is responsible for coordinating cleanup
efforts in the San Gabriel Basin.
Mr. Speaker, we have no objection to this noncontroversial,
bipartisan bill and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 123, as
amended.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 123 was introduced by our
distinguished colleague, the gentleman from California, the
distinguished ranking member of the Rules Committee, David Dreier; and
it extends a highly successful water cleanup effort in Southern
California. This legislation as amended authorizes additional Federal
dollars for groundwater remediation aquifers that provide drinking
water to the Los Angeles area residents.
As explained by the Democrat bill manager, this amended bill will
allow the central basin water authorities to pursue their own
appropriations while not harming what remains of the original San
Gabriel Restoration Fund. This aspect of the bill is very important
when it comes to protecting the San Gabriel water supply. This bill has
enjoyed bipartisan support and dialogue throughout the legislative
process, and I urge my colleagues to support this result-oriented bill.
I will reserve at this moment.
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I have no speakers waiting. I still
remain committed to reserving my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. It is only right that I yield as much time as he
chooses to consume to the gentleman from California, the sponsor of
this wonderful piece of legislation, Mr. Dreier.
(Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by rising to compliment my
distinguished California colleague, the Chair of the subcommittee, for
her amazing and festive outfit which includes shoes and earrings which
I hope very much our colleagues will seize the opportunity to see
during this holiday season.
The importance of stating that is matched by my praise for her work
and the work of her staff on this important legislation. It has been
nearly a decade, actually back in 1999, that we were able to first pass
legislation designed to deal with a horrendous tragedy that came in the
aftermath of the Cold War. It was during the Cold War that we had a
wide range of defense contractors, some of which are in business today,
and some of which no longer are in business; but during that period of
time, they legally disposed of spent rocket fuel. They did it legally.
No one knew what the ramifications of that would be at the time.
And so, Mr. Speaker, what happened? Well, in the mid-1990s there was
this discovery of perchlorate which was a byproduct of the disposal of
that spent rocket fuel. Unfortunately, it created the potential to
contaminate the water for as many as 7 million Californians.
That is why I want to join in praising Mrs. Napolitano for her work
in expanding this cleanup effort, and I want to thank all the members
of her staff. I also want to express appreciation to our colleague,
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who also has worked very hard on this. And I
know that the discovery of perchlorate is something that has hit other
parts of the country.
Well, we in the San Gabriel Valley have put together what clearly is
the best model for not only our area, Mr. Speaker, but for other parts
of the country, Dallas, Texas, other parts of California, where this
has been found. What does that partnership consist of? It is the
Federal Government, and there was a lot of litigation that was
initiated in the 1990s over this problem. I decided back then in the
1990s, why should we wait for litigation to go through the courts when
perchlorate was seeping into the groundwater when it was very clear
that the Federal Government had contracted with these people and we won
the Cold War.
And so it was obvious that this was a Federal responsibility for us
to step up to the plate. But there, obviously, were a lot of others who
did want to take on some of the responsibility, so companies like
Aerojet and other companies did agree to participate in the cleanup
effort. And the State of California and local governments as well have
been part of this process.
Again, our bipartisan staffs have worked so closely together on this
issue that to me, Mr. Speaker, it is a great demonstration of the
willingness of Chairwoman Napolitano to reach out and work on an issue
where we could find areas of agreement. Again, I can't thank her enough
for that. And I will say that as we look at this challenge down the
road, we hope very much that it is taken care of. But I am well aware
of the fact that we will see further environmental difficulties in the
future, and I believe that this legislation, H.R. 123, will be a model
that can be utilized for many of the other environmental challenges
that we face beyond the issue of water in the future.
So again I thank all of my colleagues who have been involved, Mr.
Speaker,
[[Page H15229]]
and I thank those in our local area, the Water Quality Authority and
other entities that have stepped up and are working with us, because
they really were key in putting together this model; and I urge my
colleagues to support the gentlewoman's resolution here.
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, my colleague has very well outlined the
background of the bill. Due to his vision, this started over a decade
over ago, brought all the parties together, had many hurdles that were
accomplished only when people were brought to the table and were able
to seek the solution to be more expediently cleaning up that area. And
I can tell you that this has been, as he has outlined, a very hard-
worked, joint effort, not only at the local level with the State, the
locals, the Fed, the EPA, all the water districts, but also our staffs
who have run into difficulties and had been able to work to iron them
out. So kudos also, Mr. Speaker, to Chairman Dreier's staff in being
willing to work with our staff in bringing this to the solution where
we are now.
I have no further speakers, Mr. Speaker, and I reserve the balance of
my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. We have no other speakers, Mr. Speaker. I did not
have the opportunity of giving my life history on the last bill, and I
really am disappointed Mr. Dreier didn't give his life history in his
bill; but beside that disappointment, I also am grateful to be here
with the distinguished subcommittee chairwoman who is dressed in as
festive an outfit for this time of year as is possible to do, and we
simply yield back the balance of our time in urging my colleagues to
approve this piece of legislation.
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments about my
dress and demeanor. I only feel that we are hoping to wrap it up this
week and not be here through Christmas.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill's
passage. H.R. 123 is an important continuation of the successful
federal-state-local partnership that already exists in providing one of
the most basic necessities of life--clean drinking water. The bill
extends the current authorization of the San Gabriel Basin Restoration
Fund by a total of $61.2 million--$50 million for the San Gabriel Basin
Water Quality Authority (WQA), and $11.2 million for the Central Basin
Municipal Water District (Central Basin).
The San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund was created because of the
critical need to quickly implement a plan that would address the
contaminated groundwater in the San Gabriel Valley. Before important
environmental laws were put into place, the Federal Government had
contracted with defense companies that were, at that time, legally
permitted to dispose of spent-rocket fuel without proper safeguards for
groundwater. There had already been clean-up efforts in the region for
other contaminants but in 1997, perchlorate contamination was
discovered in the groundwater in the San Gabriel Valley. Unfortunately,
at the time of discovery, many of those contractors and other
responsible parties had either moved their businesses to other
locations, or had simply gone out of business. The region's groundwater
remained threatened while mounting litigation between the Environmental
Protection Agency and private parties potentially responsible for the
contamination delayed any hope for a solution.
In 1999, the Federal Government rightfully stepped in with the
creation of the Restoration Fund to provide a mechanism for those
responsible for the contamination to partner with local, state and
federal agencies to solve the crisis and immediately implement the
clean-up. The willingness of the Federal Government to partner with
local and state agencies proved to be the impetus for private
investment and participation in the ongoing cleanup efforts.
I am proud to say that this partnership is an example of good
stewardship of taxpayer money. Initially in 1999, when we first began
the process for creating the Restoration Fund, the total cost of
cleaning up the basin was estimated at $320 million. Congress created
the Restoration Fund in 2000, with an initial authorization of $85
million, or a 25 percent investment. To date, a little over $70 million
has been appropriated, with approximately 83 percent of the cleanup
provided by local sources and responsible parties, with about 12
percent federal funding.
After recent evaluation of the total project, accounting for
increased levels of detected contamination, increased energy costs and
inflation, the total cost of cleanup now, almost a decade later, is
approximately $1 billion. With a modest increase of $61.2 million,
bringing the total federal investment to $146.2 million, or
approximately 14 percent, the WQA and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
can continue jointly administering this cleanup program.
Their outstanding work is why this project is cost effective and such
a huge success. In working with the WQA and the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation over the past decade on this regional solution, there is no
doubt that this increase is warranted and will be utilized in the most
effective way to continue to provide safe drinking water.
The cost-effectiveness of the original authorization of the
Restoration Fund is clear. And without a doubt, that cost-effective use
of the federal investment will be continued in this new authorization.
The federal partnership will continue to hold the coalition of local
water agencies and private parties together to finish the job that we
started a decade ago.
It is important to note that this bill, while originally introduced
to authorize additional funds for the WQA, was amended to include
additional funding for the Central Basin. The WQA and Central Basin
were jointly authorized to implement the cleanup by the original
Restoration Fund. These two agencies have worked side by side for many
years to ensure that the millions of residents in our region have safe
drinking water. While the Central Basin has realized its full
authorization under the Restoration Fund, there are funds yet to be
appropriated to the WQA under the original authorization. Therefore,
the WQA is not responsible to provide the Central Basin with any
further appropriations that are secured under the original $85 million
ceiling.
However, we all recognize Central Basin's desire to seek additional
funds beyond what they have already been fully provided under the
original authorization to ensure the safety of the region's
groundwater. Central Basin has stepped forward in committing to
providing the 35 percent local cost share on any future appropriations
they secure. Once the WQA receives its full appropriation under the
original authorization, should the WQA and Central Basin decide to
pursue and split a single appropriation as they've done in the past,
then the WQA and the Central Basin have mutually agreed that the WQA
will receive 90 percent, and Central Basin will receive 10 percent of
any annual appropriation to the Restoration Fund under the new
authorization ceiling outlined in this bill. I want to commend the
cooperation between these two agencies in working out the details of
the implementation of this bill and for their continued service to the
residents of the San Gabriel Valley.
This bill is a product of strong bipartisan cooperation with the
Chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power,
Ms. Napolitano, an original cosponsor of the bill and great partner
throughout the years in addressing the very serious challenge of
keeping our groundwater supply safe for southern Californians. I am
very proud to have the support of our friends Gary Miller, Lucille
Roybal-Allard, Adam Schiff, Hilda Solis and Linda Sanchez. I also want
to thank Ranking Member Cathy McMorris-Rodgers for her support
throughout the legislative process as well as recognize the hard work
of the very able Majority and Minority subcommittee staff including
Steve Lanich, Kiel Weaver, Emily Knight and from Chairwoman
Napolitano's personal office, Daniel Chao.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support passage of this
legislation.
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Napolitano) that the House suspend
the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 123, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________