[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 21 (Friday, February 8, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S817-S818]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SALAZAR:
  S. 2613. A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to require the 
Secretary of the Treasury to transfer certain amounts to the State of 
Colorado, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Armed Services.
  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation--a 
companion bill will be introduced in the House by my colleague 
Representative Salazar--to ensure that the communities in northwestern 
Colorado most affected by the enormous recent increase in oil and gas 
drilling activities, especially those in Garfield and Rio Blanco 
Counties, immediately receive their fair share of the surplus funds 
from the Anvil Points cleanup fund. Our legislation will direct 
Colorado's share of those surplus funds to land, water and wildlife 
protection and conservation efforts, and for repair, maintenance and 
construction of roads and other infrastructure affected by oil and gas 
development in those counties.
  Under the Transfer Act, Public Law 105-85, Colorado has not and will 
not receive any of the leasing revenues from oil and gas production on 
former Naval Oil Shale Reserve land until cleanup of the Anvil Points 
Superfund Site is complete. Normally these substantial revenues would 
be shared 50-50 between the State and Federal government under the 
Mineral Leasing Act. Today the trust fund set aside for the cleanup of 
Anvil Points is in surplus, and that surplus currently amounts to 
approximately $66.5 million. The Salazar-Salazar legislation amends the 
Transfer Act to immediately release Colorado's share of the surplus 
funds to Western Slope communities to mitigate development impacts in 
and around the former Naval Oil Shale Reserve in Garfield and Rio 
Blanco Counties.
  The Anvil Points trust fund currently accrues approximately $1.5 
million per month.

[[Page S818]]

  Under this legislation half of those incoming funds will go to 
Garfield and Rio Blanco Counties and half will go to the Federal 
Government. After the cleanup of the Anvil Points site is complete and 
the Secretary of the Interior certifies that the Federal Government has 
collected enough money to pay for the cleanup, the Anvil Points trust 
fund will cease to exist and oil and gas leasing revenues from the area 
will be divided 50-50 between the State of Colorado and the Federal 
Government.
  The oil and gas industry provides Colorado with much-needed revenue 
that enables our State to flourish. We must ensure that some of those 
revenues go back to the communities from which they originated. Our 
bill will ensure that the oil and gas industry does not leave the 
counties of Garfield and Rio Blanco looking like a spoiled moonscape 
but instead allows the watersheds and wildlife there to prosper and 
continue to be a haven for sportsmen and recreationists from across 
Colorado.
  Yesterday, I along with Congressmen Mark Udall and John Salazar also 
introduced legislation that repeals the eleventh-hour money grab by the 
Federal Government in last year's omnibus appropriations bill that 
would reduce from 50 percent to 48 percent the share of total royalties 
paid to Colorado and other States. The core underlying principle of the 
Mineral Leasing Act--that our Nation and our States share equal claim 
of our precious mineral resources--should be maintained. Our bill 
restores each State's share to its full, coequal 50 percent of mineral 
leasing revenues.
  Together these bills restore Colorado's share of oil and gas leasing 
revenue to its full 50 percent. With respect to the excess funds now 
held by the Federal Government for the cleanup of Anvil Points, our 
legislation will direct Colorado's share of those surplus dollars to 
land and water conservation, wildlife protection, and roads and other 
infrastructure affected by oil and gas development in the local 
communities most affected by these activities.
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