[House Report 111-433]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


111th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     111-433

======================================================================



 
  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.

                                  
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