[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 98 (Friday, June 26, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1609-E1610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. GENE GREEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 25, 2009

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2996) making 
     appropriations for the Department of the Interior, 
     environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2010, and for other purposes:

  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Madam Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 
2996, the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations 
Act for FY2010.
  This legislation provides a 17% increase over FY09 levels for 
critical programs that protect our public health and environment.
  Among other provisions, the legislation provides $605 million for the 
Superfund program which will assist sites across the country clean up 
hazardous substances, including potentially the San Jacinto River Waste 
Pits site.
  It also provides $3.3 million to help EPA monitor air toxics outside 
schools, which I hope will ultimately include schools in our district 
in East Houston, as well as $5 million to fund four new centers of 
excellence to study toxin and chemical impacts on children.
  Madam Speaker, I would also like to highlight two important projects 
I requested funding for in this bill, but did not receive funding.
  The first is the Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research 
Center to continue air quality public health research on air toxics in 
urban areas as directed by the U.S. Congress. The Center is a 501(c)(3) 
institution authorized by Congress in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 
1990.
  Americans want to know whether they are at risk from pollutants in 
the air that they breathe. People who live near sources of air toxics 
such as major roadways, industrial facilities, or small businesses, are 
often especially concerned about their risk.
  The purpose of air quality regulation and research is to protect 
public health. High quality air toxics research is the only way to 
assess peoples' risks and give policymakers the tools they need to 
protect public health. The Center develops and manages air toxics 
research with a focus on understanding the air toxics that people are 
exposed to in their daily activities, and how those compounds may 
impact their health.
  The Houston Exposure to Air Toxics Study (HEATS) is an on-going 
project designed to study the relationship between personal exposures--
the air people breathe as they go about their daily activities--and 
fixed site monitored concentrations of air toxics by measuring 
personal, residential indoor, and outdoor concentrations.
  HEATS studies residents who live in the 29th district of Texas, in 
close proximity to an industrial neighborhood near the Houston Ship 
Channel and a comparison group with similar demographics in Aldine. 
Because it has been conducted according to rigorous statistical 
principles, study results will be applicable to the study participants, 
their neighborhoods, and other, similar neighborhoods in Houston and 
nationwide.
  Federal support for this project is critical to ensure this research 
continues and I hope to work with the Chairman as this bill goes 
forward, and with EPA to get funding for this research in the budget as 
Congress intended when it created the Center.
  We also sought funding funding for a a six-year Capital Improvement 
Project that will rehabilitate and upgrade the City of Baytown, Texas's 
wastewater and water infrastructure to comply with federal and state 
regulations, maintain its condition and reliability and save costs. The 
City has implemented an asset management program to assess equipment 
condition, optimize work practices and ensure funding remains in place 
to sustain infrastructure improvements over time.
  The funding we requested under the State and Tribal Assistance Grant 
would help rehabilitate portions of the Central District Wastewater 
Treatment Plant to include elevation of redesign of critical components 
to reduce the storm surge impacts suffered during Hurricane Ike. These 
include the influent lift station, blower building, administration/
laboratory building, and grit removal process. The internal piping 
needs to be replaced to improve energy and operating efficiency, along 
with the chlorine contact basin and plant pumping/transfer systems. 
Installation of post-storm emergency power systems are also a part of 
this effort.
  This is an important project to help Baytown recover from damage 
caused by Hurricane Ike and overall to upgrade their wastewater system, 
and I look forward to working the Chair as we move forward to find 
assistance for this project.
  I do have some concerns, however, with provisions of the bill and 
report language.
  The bill defers $50 million in funding from the Ultra-Deepwater 
Research Fund that was a part of the 2005 Energy Policy Act of 2005. 
The ultra deepwater fund provides $50 million annually for research for 
recovering oil and gas from ultra-deepwaters in the Gulf of Mexico.
  It also includes report language urging EPA to ``review the risks 
that hydraulic fracturing poses to drinking water using the best 
available science, as well as independent sources of information.''
  I understand the concerns and desire to adequately protect the 
environment when developing our domestic resources, but hydraulic 
fracturing is a well-tested technology that has been used to develop 
energy for over 60 years.
  First used in 1947, hydraulic fracturing has become a standard 
practice for improving the process of natural energy extraction. The 
practice involves the pumping of fluid into wells at high pressure to 
create fractures in rock formations that allow for complete production 
of oil. Hydraulic fracturing is responsible for about 30 percent of our 
domestic recoverable oil and natural gas. About 90 percent of currently 
operating wells use this technology. Hydraulic fracturing, as used to 
produce natural gas from shale formations, has created new 
opportunities for clean energy and employment without causing 
environmental damage.
  Recent studies on fracturing conducted by the Environmental 
Protection Agency in 2004 found no confirmed evidence of contamination

[[Page E1610]]

of drinking water. The study concluded that the injection of hydraulic 
fracturing fluids poses ``little or no threat'' to humans or the 
environment (EPA).The EPA did not find a single incident of the 
contamination of drinking water wells by hydraulic fracturing fluid 
injection.
  The subject of hydraulic fracturing is adequately regulated by the 
states and needs no federal intervention. Hydraulic fracturing is a 
vital and safe technology that helps drive the United States towards 
energy security and independence. Congress should not restrict a 
technology that plays such an integral part of our nation's energy 
strategy.

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