[House Report 111-433]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
111th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 111-433
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INLAND EMPIRE PERCHLORATE GROUND WATER PLUME ASSESSMENT ACT OF 2009
_______
March 11, 2010.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
together with
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 4252]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 4252) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to
conduct a study of water resources in the Rialto-Colton Basin
in the State of California, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment
and recommend that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 4252 is to direct the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct a study of water resources in the Rialto-
Colton Basin in the State of California.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Perchlorate is both a naturally occurring and man-made
chemical. Most of the perchlorate manufactured in the United
States is used as the primary ingredient of solid rocket
propellant. Perchlorate is also used in the manufacture of
pyrotechnic and roadside flares. Improper disposal of
perchlorate-containing chemicals are increasingly being
discovered in soil, leading to the contamination of local
aquifers and groundwater. High doses of perchlorate have severe
health affects to both adults and children.
Perchlorate has been detected in 20 water supply wells at
concentrations above the California action level of four parts
per billion (ppb) in the Rialto-Colton Basin. The basin is the
source of water for thousands of citizens living in San
Bernardino County.
The introduction of perchlorate into the Rialto-Colton
Basin can be directly traced to the B.F. Goodrich Site, a 160-
acre area in Rialto, California. This site was used for
construction of rockets and fireworks. An additional source of
contamination to the basin is the San Bernardino Landfill. In
September 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed
adding the B.F. Goodrich site to the Superfund National
Priorities list.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 4252 was introduced on December 9, 2009 by
Representative Joe Baca (D-CA). It was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on Water and Power. On September 22, 2009 the
Subcommittee held a legislative hearing on a precursor to this
legislation (H.R. 2316). Subsequent changes resulted in the
legislation being resubmitted as H.R. 4252. On February 24,
2010 the Subcommittee was discharged from further consideration
of H.R. 4252 and the full Natural Resources Committee met to
consider the bill. The bill was ordered favorably reported to
the House of Representatives by voice vote.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 provides that this Act may be cited as the
``Inland Empire Percholorate Ground Water Plume Assessment Act
of 2009''.
Section 2. Rialto-Colton Basin, California, water resources study
Section 2 directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting
through the U.S. Geological Survey, to complete a study of the
water resources in the Rialto-Colton Basin in California within
2 years of funds being made available.
The ground water survey will include a delineation of the
aquifers in the basin, the availability of ground water for
human uses, the quality of the groundwater and the flushing
rates of perchlorate, the identification of source areas, the
potential for recharge, the interactions between ground water
and surface water, the susceptibility of the aquifers to
contamination, and a characterization of the surface and
bedrock geology of the basin.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to is to direct the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct a study of water resources in the Rialto-
Colton Basin in the State of California.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
H.R. 4252--Inland Empire Perchlorate Ground Water Plume Assessment Act
of 2009
H.R. 4252 would direct the U.S. Geological Survey to
conduct a study of water resources in the Rialto-Colton Basin
located east of Los Angeles, California. The study would
identify the location of aquifers in the basin, evaluate the
impact of perchlorate contamination in the basin, and include
analysis of other related water issues in the basin. Based on
information from the U.S. Geological Survey and assuming
appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that
implementing H.R. 4252 would cost $4 million over the next two
years.
Enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending
or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not
apply.
H.R. 4252 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Aurora Swanson.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
EARMARK STATEMENT
H.R. 4252 does not contain any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9 of rule XXI.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.
ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF REPRESENTATIVE TOM McCLINTOCK
H.R. 4252 is a well-intentioned bill that attempts to force
the Administration into making groundwater clean-up in the
Rialto-Colton Basin in California a priority. Everyone
acknowledges that the bill is a re-statement of current law and
that new funding is not authorized, so I support the bill.
However, once again, we have a situation where one part of
California is being helped on a bi-partisan basis while another
part of California is being strangled because of partisan
intransigence. I'm referring to the federal diversion of 200
billion gallons of water away from the San Joaquin Valley--
where communities and farms are desperate--in order to dump
that water into the Pacific Ocean to serve the Left's pet
cause, the three-inch Delta Smelt.
To make matters worse, the bill before us today was re-
drafted since it was heard in the Water and Power Subcommittee
specifically to keep us from offering amendments that would
address the agony of the Central Valley.
Time and again, the Democratic majority--using
parliamentary gimmicks--has prevented any attempt to restore
normal water deliveries to the San Joaquin Valley.
By the Obama Administration's own numbers, it has spent
$1.5 billion as part of the so-called ``stimulus'' in the
Central Valley's six congressional districts to ``save or
create'' 1,600 jobs. If you do the math, that's $900,000 per
job.
The Committee on Natural Resources had the ability at a
recent markup of this bill to restore tens of thousands of jobs
lost because of the water diversions at no cost to taxpayers.
But, as usual, it studiously avoided exercising that power.
One of my colleagues in the majority cited an article from
The Los Angeles Times that downplayed the economic losses
associated with the massive water diversions from the San
Joaquin Valley.
The article ignored the acute and unprecedented suffering
that is occurring in the Valley. For example, according to
University of California-Davis Professor Richard Howitt, over
21,000 jobs have been lost in the Valley due to the water
cutbacks. Yet by submitting this article, the Democrat Majority
seems to think that all is well in the San Joaquin Valley. That
is far from the truth. Had they attended our recent Water Forum
in Fresno, California, they would have quickly learned of the
human toll that the pumping restrictions have caused.
But, perhaps Robert Silva and Amarpreet Dhaliwal, the
Mayors of Mendota and San Joaquin, California, respectively
said it best when it comes to data dismissing the man-made
drought's impact on the San Joaquin Valley:
Reciting data does not adequately describe the hardship of
unemployment caused by drought. Times are particularly
difficult for those on the bottom rung of the economic ladder--
those who do not have the means to withstand a prolonged
downturn. Talking to real people in our cities makes it clear
there is much firsthand, eyewitness evidence of the hardship
caused by man-made drought.
It is overwhelming for many people to see, much less
endure, such conditions. Recent food handouts in Mendota and
nearby Firebaugh drew lines more than a half-mile long. Dozens
of people recently camped out or arrived in the middle of the
night to line up for a handful of short-term jobs. People wait
for hours outside grocery stores, not to buy food but to accept
produce that's thrown out because it is too old to sell.
Ironically, many lawns are overgrown with weeds because it is
the only vegetation that can grow without water.
Now add to this misery ``economic forecasts'' that suggest
the unemployment rate, which has put a stranglehold on our
state, has somehow skipped farming. To suggest that our jobless
residents are not impacted by the drought conditions is an
outrageous, outright fallacy. What's more, these reports are
harmful to the people suffering most--unemployed farmworkers.
It takes nothing more than a look at employment data for the
whole state compared with farm communities in and around Fresno
to completely discredit this argument.
Recently, the Obama Administration crowed about how it
would deliver water to the parched Valley, but once again left
details to be determined.
I was extremely disappointed that on the same day we
learned that the Northern Sierra snowpack is at 125% percent of
normal, the Administration has only actually committed to
releasing 5% percent of water deliveries owed to the Central
Valley, with the remaining 25% contingent on future
precipitation.
The Administration has acknowledged that in a similar
weather year, the allocation would be as much as 20 percent
higher, or enough water to grow food for 145,000 families for a
year, if it were not for two biological opinions on smelt,
salmon and killer whales that restrict delta water deliveries.
Republicans on the Water and Power Subcommittee will
continue efforts to bring about relief to the tens of thousands
of unemployed in California's Central Valley.
Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley are faced with making
planting decisions now and despite near-record precipitation in
the Northern Sierras there is still no water certainty. The
people of the San Joaquin Valley need real solutions and a real
debate in this chamber. The Majority party has done everything
possible to avoid that debate and providing real relief.
Tom McClintock.