BUDGET BILL FIGHT MOVES ON TO EPA ENFORCEMENT FUNDS
AND EPA WETLANDS CONTROLS -- URGENT ACTION NEEDED
Fisheries and Conservation News from the Pacific
Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and the
Insititute for Fisheries Resources
===================================================
PLEASE REPOST TO YOUR NETWORKS
===================================================
The following urgent message came to us from the Clean Water
Network. The Senate Omnibus Budget Reconcilation Bill rider fight
now turns from lifting the ESA moritorium and repealing the salvage rider
(both lost) to EPA cleanup enforcement and EPA review authority
over wetlands permits. Both issues are of vital interest to fishermen
everywhere since these programs protect fish habitat and clean up
water pollution sources. The draft organization sign up letter is
attached at the end. --
-- The Editor
****************************************************************************
URGENT ACTION NEEDED!!
To: Clean Water Network Members
From: Kathy Nemsick, Clean Water Network at 202-624-9357
Last night, the House and Senate approved a spending measure to
extend the current continuing resolution (CR) for one-week to
avoid another partial government shutdown and buy more time to
iron out problems with the White House over FY 96 appropriations
in the Omnibus bill. President Clinton is expected to sign the
one week CR today.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on final passage of the Omnibus
bill on Tuesday, March 19. It should go right to conference with
the house bill and then to the President before Friday 3/22.
Negotiations are taking place to write a bill that the President
can sign. Late last night, Senator Bond (R-MO) and chair of the
VA, HUD Appropriations subcommittee and Senator Mikulski (D-MD),
ranking member of that subcommittee, announced a tentative
agreement to restore $727 million to EPA's budget, but the White
House had not yet signed off on that deal. This means that Sen.
Lautenberg's amendment to restore $966 million to EPA's budget
won't be offered, but EPA will get more than the additional $240
million previously being offered by Sen. Bond.
While it is great that EPA may receive more money, the damaging
environmental riders are still part of the bill. And as the bill
becomes sweeter, it is more difficult for members to oppose it,
and for Clinton to veto it.
ACTION: NOW IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER TO SEND
THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS THE MESSAGE THAT THESE
RIDERS WILL DAMAGE THE ENVIRONMENT. A STRONG SHOW
OF PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
IS OUR LAST HOPE. Call Clinton at 202-446-1414. Capitol
Switchboard is 202-224-3121.
TIMING: We have until Tuesday (3/19) to ask the Senate to drop
the riders). If they stay on the bill, we'll have until Wed. to
get through to House and Senate members because they'll all vote
on a conference bill. And we have until maybe Thurs. or Friday
(3/22) to ask President Clinton to veto any bill with these
riders.
In December, we asked you all to sign onto a letter to President
Clinton thanking him for vetoing the previous conference bill. We
specifically highlighted our concern over the section 404(c) veto.
Over 122 CWN groups signed onto it in 24 hours!
We are going to send another letter to President Clinton asking
him to veto the bill if it contains the environmental riders, and
we will highlight the 404(c) rider again. We will attach the Dec.
letter and a press clip from some CWN members in Florida who held
a press event yesterday at the site of the first 404(c) veto in
Miami. They got a great story in the Miami Herald today! If you
have already written letters on 404, or have press clips on 404,
send them too. We will also drop these materials off to Senate
offices on Monday afternoon.
ORGANIZATIONAL SIGN-ON LETTER
ACTION: PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE WILLING TO SIGN
ONTO THE FOLLOWING LETTER. THIS LETTER IS INTENDED FOR
GROUPS, SO PLEASE RESPOND BY E-MAILING YOUR
ORGANIZATION, TITLE AND ORGANIZATION NAME.
Respond by email to: cleanwaternt at igc.apc.org
Below a sign-on letter to Clinton regarding the our concern over
Congress' attempts to remove EPA's veto authority over wetlands
permits.
1) Write your own letter on your group's letterhead and send it
to Pres. Clinton by Tuesday 3/19 to: fax at (202) 456-2461, or
e-mail at: president at whitehouse.gov
2) Call the White House Comment Line at (202) 456-1111 and leave
a message informing the President that you hope he holds firm to
his commitment to the environment and does not give up EPA's veto
authority over wetlands permits in the budget negotiations or
appropriations bills.
3) Respond by email that you'll sign onto the letter. Please
send an email message with your name and affiliation. THIS
LETTER IS INTENDED FOR GROUPS RATHER THAN
INDIVIDUALS.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Honorable William J. Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
The undersigned local, regional and national public-interest
organizations are writing to you to express our strong opposition
to the legislative riders on the Omnibus Appropriations bill of
1996. We appreciate your past vetoes of the appropriations bill
which contained these riders. Your actions in the past have sent
a strong message to the American public about your commitment to
protect the quality of our nation's environment. We are counting
on you again to veto any bill which contains damaging legislative
environmental riders.
We are concerned with many of the provisions in this
appropriations bill. One of the most egregious provisions would
strip the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its authority
to protect the nation's wetlands, As the lead federal agency
charged with protecting the environment, EPA plays an essential
role in ensuring the effective implementation of the wetlands
provisions of the Clean Water Act. We appreciate the
Administration's recent letter from the Administrator of the U.S.
EPA and the Secretary of the Army to the National Wetlands
Coalition emphasizing the essential need for Section 404 (c) of
the Clean Water Act demonstrating the fact that both agencies
involved in wetlands permitting agree that EPA's role is
essential to protect water quality.
As you continue to work with the Congress in developing a final
federal budget and an agreement on the Omnibus appropriations
bill, we urge you to maintain your steadfast position opposing
the elimination or reduction of EPA's important role in
protecting our nation's wetlands.
- end of letter-
For more information contact: The Clean Water Network,
Kathy Nemsick, Clean Water Network at 202-624-9357
=========================================================
END OF ALERT
=========================================================