COMMENTING ON THE DEPARTMENTS OF INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES FISCAL YEAR 2000 CONFERENCE REPORT -- HON. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO (Extensions of Remarks - October 26, 1999)

[Page: E2186]
---

HON. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO OF MASSACHUSETTS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1999

Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in opposition to the FY 2000 Interior and Related Agencies Conference Report. This report represents poor environmental policy as it significantly weakens existing regulations and undermines current progress in environmental protection.

Most notably, the conference report fails to fully fund the administration's request for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The fund is one of the most important environmental sources of revenue made available to States and is the primary tool that allows for the purchase of threatened land. As a strong proponent of this program, I am pleased with the fact that H.R. 2466 includes $30 million in funding for the stateside LWCF grant program, however, the report provides only $266 million of the $800 million requested by the White House. Since 1995, the stateside LWCF grant program, the principal source of funds that allows States to acquire recreation lands, has received no funding. This has led to all statewide efforts to promote conservation projects to be halted. As we enter the 21st century, I hope Congress can continue to increase the level of funding for the LWCF.

On another note, this conference report provides only one-third of the funds requested by the administration for the President's Lands Legacy Initiative. This initiative is used to purchase lands that protect national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges which add significantly to the beauty and capacity of our national parks and forests. I believe that the Lands Legacy Initiative is a good program and that this conference report threatens to derail the administration's efforts to promote environmental preservation.

Additionally, the conference report contains several anti-environmental riders. Among these riders is a provision that rewrites the 1872 mining law to allow mill operators to dump toxic mining wastes on sites larger than 5 acres without being subject to environmental restrictions. Moreover, this report precludes the Interior Department's regulation that imposes more stringent cleanup responsibilities on mine operations being conducted on public lands and weakens current laws for forest management by instituting a 1-year moratorium on regulations intended to improve environmental compliance in the operation of hardrock mines.

The conferees also added an anti-environmental rider in the conference report that involves rural agricultural lands. This provision would allow for grazing permits to be automatically granted 10-year renewals regardless of whether or not environmental impact studies have been completed. The effect of this
```
[Page: E2187]
```
provision would prove extremely harmful to grazing land and its surrounding environment.

Furthermore, the report blocks the Interior Department's regulation that requires major oil companies to pay closer to the fair value of oil pumped on public lands and waters. This practice ends up costing the taxpayers millions of dollars each year.

Finally, this report fails to adequately provide funding for culturally important organizations to encourage development in the field of arts. Both the National Endowment for Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) are funded at much less than the President's request of $150 million each. Conferees provided $115.7 million for NEH and only $98 million for NEA. Without adequate funding, projects that focus on public education, understanding and appreciation of arts, including drama, music, art, and literature will face serious cutbacks.

Mr. Speaker, I am frustrated and disappointed that this conference report contains numerous provisions that undermine environmental protections and funding for cultural programs and I urge my colleagues to oppose final passage. If this report passes, I urge the President to veto this legislation so that we may have another opportunity to correct this seriously flawed bill.
END