[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 75 (Wednesday, May 9, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2593-S2594]
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-219. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature 
     of the State of Louisiana urging the United States Congress 
     to allow for variances on certain projects regulated by the 
     Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act; to the 
     Committee on Environment and Public Works.

                  Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 41

       Whereas, the federal Clean Water Act establishes a program 
     to regulate the discharge of dredged or fill material into 
     waters of the United States, including wetlands; and
       Whereas, the federal Rivers and Harbors Act requires 
     authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the 
     construction of any structure in or over any navigable waters 
     of the United States, the excavation and dredging or 
     deposition of material, or any obstruction or alteration to a 
     navigable water; and
       Whereas, protection of the coast and mitigation of wetland 
     loss is vital to the future of this state and the many 
     projects designed to protect and preserve the state's coast 
     invariably require dredging, obstructing, or altering of 
     waters of the United States; and
       Whereas, the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act 
     mandate that local, municipal, and state projects aimed at 
     mitigating coastal wetland losses require permits from the 
     U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and
       Whereas, like federal law, Louisiana law requires 
     compensatory mitigation at a level sufficient to replace the 
     ecological value of the wetlands lost as a result of 
     permitted projects, but allows for variances to this 
     requirement when the permittee has demonstrated that the 
     required mitigation would

[[Page S2594]]

     render the proposed project impracticable if the project has 
     a clearly overriding public interest; and
       Whereas, the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act 
     do not allow for such variances when a project to mitigate 
     coastal wetland loss is being considered, even when that 
     project has a clearly overriding public interest; and
       Whereas, in an effort to help the state protect its 
     valuable coast and wetlands, federal law should allow for a 
     variance for a project that has a clearly overriding public 
     interest. Therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Legislature of Louisiana memorializes 
     the Congress of the United States to allow for variances on 
     certain projects regulated by the Clean Water Act and the 
     Rivers and Harbors Act. Be it further
       Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution shall be 
     transmitted to the secretary of the United States Senate and 
     the clerk of the United States House of Representatives and 
     to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United 
     States Congress.
                                  ____

       POM-220. A resolution adopted by the House of 
     Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urging 
     the Secretary of Health and Human Services to select former 
     Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove and the 
     former Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster and Horsham, 
     Warrington and Warminster Townships for an exposure 
     assessment and study on human health implications of 
     perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances contamination; 
     to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

                        House Resolution No. 682

       Whereas, The United States military used foam containing 
     perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid 
     (PFOA), unregulated contaminants, in firefighting training at 
     two former bases, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow 
     Grove in Horsham Township, Montgomery County, and Naval Air 
     Warfare Center Warminster in Warminster Township, Bucks 
     County, Pennsylvania; and
       Whereas, The former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base 
     Willow Grove is the location of Horsham Air Guard Station, an 
     active base of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard; and
       Whereas, The chemicals have appeared in elevated levels in 
     public and private water wells; and
       Whereas, PFOS and PFOA are ``extremely persistent in the 
     environment and resistant to typical environmental 
     degradation processes,'' according to the Environmental 
     Protection Agency (EPA), which has also stated: ``The 
     toxicity, mobility and bioaccumulation potential of PFOS and 
     PFOA pose potential adverse effects for the environment and 
     human health''; and
       Whereas, A growing body of science has established 
     associations between PFOS and PFOA and a range of health 
     effects, including a variety of cancers; and
       Whereas, The chemicals were first discovered in local 
     public water supplies near the former military bases by an 
     EPA testing program, resulting in several public water wells 
     being taken offline; and
       Whereas, On May 19, 2016, the EPA issued an update to its 
     health advisory for PFOS and PFOA that significantly reduces 
     the amount considered safe in drinking water: in the worst 
     possible case, water containing the chemicals at an amount 
     previously deemed safe would now be more than eight times 
     over the recommended limits; and
       Whereas, The new recommended levels have resulted in 
     officials from the Horsham Water and Sewer Authority, 
     Warminster Municipal Authority and Warrington Township Water 
     and Sewer Department shutting down contaminated public 
     drinking water wells, including 16 municipal wells in 
     Horsham, Warrington and Warminster Townships and nearly 150 
     private wells; and
       Whereas, Section 316 of the National Defense Authorization 
     Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115-91, 131 Stat. 1283 
     requires the United States Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services to conduct an exposure assessment of at least eight 
     current or former domestic military installations known to 
     have perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) 
     contamination, which includes PFOS and PFOA, in addition to 
     commencing a study on the human health implications of PFASs 
     contamination in sources of water and relevant exposure 
     pathways; therefore be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives of the 
     Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the United States Secretary 
     of Health and Human Services to select these two 
     installations and Horsham, Warrington and Warminster 
     Townships for the exposure assessment and the study on human 
     health implications; and be it further
       Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to 
     the President of the United States, to the presiding officers 
     of each house of Congress, to each member of Congress from 
     Pennsylvania, to the United States Secretary of Health and 
     Human Services and to the United States Secretary of Defense.
                                  ____

       POM-221. A resolution adopted by the City Council of South 
     Portland, Maine memorializing its opposition to any plan or 
     legislation that would open the coast of Maine to offshore 
     drilling for gas and oil; to the Committee on Energy and 
     Natural Resources.
       POM-222. A petition from a citizen of the State of Texas 
     relative to an amendment to the United States Constitution; 
     to the Committee on the Judiciary.

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