[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 82 (Monday, May 19, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H4074-H4075]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LAKE HODGES SURFACE WATER IMPROVEMENT AND RECLAMATION ACT OF 2008
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 2649) to make amendments to the Reclamation Projects
Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2649
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Lake Hodges Surface Water
Improvement and Reclamation Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. PROJECT AUTHORIZATION.
(a) In General.--The Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater
Study and Facilities Act (Public Law 102-575, title XVI; 43
U.S.C. 390h et seq.) is amended by inserting after section
16__ the following:
``SEC. 16__. LAKE HODGES SURFACE WATER IMPROVEMENT AND
RECLAMATION PROJECT.
``(a) Authorization.--The Secretary, in cooperation with
the Olivenhain Municipal Water District, California, is
authorized to participate in the design, planning, and
construction of projects to treat, reclaim, and reuse
impaired surface water from Lakes Hodges in San Diego County,
California.
``(b) Cost Share.--The Federal share of the costs of the
projects authorized by this section shall not exceed 25
percent of the total cost.
``(c) Limitation.--The Secretary shall not provide funds
for the operation or maintenance of a project authorized by
this section.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections in section 2
of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act
of 1992 is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 163__ the following:
``Sec. 163__. Lake Hodges surface water improvement and reclamation
project.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Guam (Ms. Bordallo) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Guam.
General Leave
Ms. BORDALLO. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 days to revise and extend their remarks and
include
[[Page H4075]]
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Guam?
There was no objection.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
H.R. 2649, as amended, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior,
acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to participate in the Lake
Hodges Surface Water Improvement and Reclamation Project. This project
would pretreat 13,000 acre-feet of impaired Lake Hodges water currently
unavailable for consumptive use.
We have no objection to this noncontroversial bill, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation. The
author of the bill, who will speak in a moment, and I share the very
banks of this water area of Lake Hodges. But, most importantly, at a
time in which gas prices have risen to $4 a gallon, it's very clear
that importing water or desalinating water in southern California,
although necessary, should be avoided. We need to find ways to do
better work, have more water, with less consumption of gasoline,
diesel, and all the other fuels that are in such short supply and so
expensive. So I strongly support this bill.
I would yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from
California, the author of the bill, Mr. Bilbray.
Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2649, a bill that
is looking at a precious resource that needs to be cleaned up and used.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you in working and speaking with me
about other challenges we have environmentally around this country, one
of them being the fact the Federal Government is still mandating the
polluting of our air and the picking of our pockets with the mandate of
corn and ethanol going into our gasoline. I don't know about in your
State, but in our State, that impact has reached $6 a comparable gallon
untaxed ethanol being forced into our fuel system by the misguided
approaches here in Washington.
I look forward to working with you in eliminating that mandate and
protecting our air and protecting consumers when we go to the pump. But
as we talk about liquid gold, out west it is not just gasoline and
ethanol that are liquid gold, but actually clean drinking water. This
bill would address a problem that has actually been created by a well-
intentioned but misguided application of the Endangered Species Act and
other Federal regulatory activities.
{time} 1245
Where Lake Hodges had traditionally had a clean watershed kept clear
from debris and undergrowth, because of the Federal agencies' misguided
application of our environmental regulations, such as the Endangered
Species Act, the local agencies and community were not allowed to clear
the watershed while the water was low so that once the water did rise
up we did not have rotting organic material in our water source. Sadly,
Mr. Speaker, that has occurred, and the water quality of the lake is
now in violation of the Clean Water Act, 303(d). This bill will allow
us to give a portion of the money, probably around one-quarter of it,
to allow the local community now to purify the water so that it can be
compatible with 303 of the Clean Water Act.
I hope that we will be able to work together, pass this bill, and be
able to work with the local community. I look forward to working with
you, Mr. Speaker, at not only cleaning up our water, but cleaning up
our air and taking that ethanol out of our gasoline.
Mr. ISSA. I have no additional speakers at this time. I would urge
strong support for this bill which, like so many, will help California
deal with its water shortage.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I again urge all Members to support the
bill, and yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 2649, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not
present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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