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   Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, S. 25, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, offers a unique opportunity for the entire nation to enjoy the tangible benefits of Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas production. It redirects a portion of royalties from Outer Continental Shelf production directly back to States and local communities for environmental and conservation programs.

   The effect of this bill will be to provide States and local communities

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   In addition, this bill would redirect a portion of Outer Continental Shelf Royalties back to the States which have endured the risks of production through the bill's Coastal Impact Assistance program. This program will provide dedicated funding to coastal States for air quality, water quality and to mitigate the environmental effects of Outer Continental Shelf infrastructure developments.

   Alabama might use these funds to help ensure water quality in Mobile Bay, part of the National Estuary Program, and for the preservation and restoration of oyster beds and other sensitive environments areas along our coast. States may choose to establish a protected trust fund, as Alabama has with existing state royalties, in order to use the revenues in perpetuity for environmental and conservation purposes.

   Alabama is one of only six States with active Outer Continental Shelf natural gas production off its shore and onshore infrastructure to refine and transport those resources. Alabama ranks ninth in the country for natural gas production and produced over 430 billion cubic feet of natural gas in 1994. There are four onshore refineries and numerous natural gas pipelines to process Outer Continental Shelf natural gas. The State has made a significant investment in providing the land and infrastructure to handle this production, yet has not been able to enjoy any direct royalty benefits from Outer Continental Shelf production.

   This bill takes a step towards ensuring Alabama and the entire nation receive at least a part of the direct benefits of Outer Continental Shelf production.

   I commend the Senator from Alaska, Mr. MURKOWSKI, and the Senator from Louisiana, Ms. LANDRIEU, for their tremendous leadership on this issue and look forward to the passage of this bill soon.

   I express my appreciation to Senators MURKOWSKI and LANDRIEU for working on this legislation. I have worked with them from the beginning. It has good potential to allow States to retain some of the oil and gas money for remediating environmental damage from production and for improving their environmental quality in general.

   I thank the Chair.

   Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I appreciate this opportunity to participate in today's discussion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Senator LANDRIEU and Senator MURKOWSKI deserve great credit for their efforts to restore the LWCF's important conservation goals, as does Senator LOTT for his commitment to addressing this issue on a bipartisan basis.

   Congress originally intended that revenues from off-shore oil and gas drilling be deposited into a Land and Water Conservation Fund to allow the federal and state governments to protect green space, improve wildlife habitat, and purchase lands for conservation purposes. I have come to appreciate this program, as the Land and Water Conservation Fund has been used by local and state governments in South Dakota to purchase park lands and develop many of the facilities that exist in municipal and state parks throughout the state.

   For the past five years, however, the state side of the LWCF has not been funded, the revenues from off-shore oil and gas drilling have been used to fund other federal programs. As a result, much-needed local and state park improvement projects have been held back, and there has been growing pressure in recent years to divert these funds back to their original purpose.

   Americans depend increasingly on parks and open spaces for recreation because they allow all of us to deal better with the stress of modern life. Therefore, it is important that states are given the resources they need to improve parks and public lands, and I am prepared to work in a bipartisan fashion to enact legislation this year to ensure greater annual funding of conservation efforts from off-shore oil and gas drilling revenues.

   A number of proposals, many of which are bipartisan, have been proposed by the administration and members of Congress to ensure that future off-shore oil and gas drilling revenues are dedicated to conservation purposes. A consensus appears to be developing that considerably more resources should be invested to protect and maintain rural and urban parks, preserve farmland and forests, provide incentives for the protection of endangered species on private lands, fully fund payments-in-lieu-of-taxes, and protect coastal resources.

   I believe that this legislation could have a tremendous positive impact on local, state, and national parks, and greatly enhance outdoor recreation and environmental education projects throughout South Dakota and the nation. It is my strong hope that Congress will produce compromise legislation reflecting many of the basic objectives contained in these proposals and ensure a strong future for our nation's natural resources. I am dedicated to working with Senators LANDRIEU, MURKOWSKI, and LOTT to achieve this goal.

   Mr. KERREY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleagues, Senator LANDRIEU, Senator BREAUX, Senator LOTT, and others in supporting the Conservation and Reinvestment Act of 1999. This important legislation will provide consistent funding to state fish and wildlife conservation programs to help maintain our precious natural resources, and will help to bring more Nebraskans back to the river--in our case, the Missouri River. This legislation will give states the necessary funding to carry out a flexible, non-regulatory approach to conservation that prevents species and their habitats from becoming endangered and to restore fish and wildlife populations to healthy numbers. This legislation is consistent with and fully complementary to the Missouri River Valley Improvement Act of 1999 that I recently introduced, along with my colleagues Senator DASCHLE and Senator JOHNSON.

   The most important provisions of the Conservation and Reinvestment Act for my home state of Nebraska are Titles II and III, the Land and Water Conservation Fund reform provisions. Title III of this legislation would restore state-side funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund--funding that has been diverted in recent years for other uses. However, as emphasized by the bill's authors and supporters, restoration of these funds to states is more important now than ever before, as Nebraska and all states are faced with accelerated population growth and urban sprawl, and increased demand by families, communities, and the business sector for recreation and conservation areas--areas that draw people and economic growth. Nebraska, as well as other states, has relied on hunters and anglers to provide the bulk of financial support for fish and wildlife programs--particularly through the purchase of hunting and fishing licenses and through excise taxes on sporting goods. However, these funds have not been adequate to address the needs of declining nongame species. Titles II and III of the Conservation and Reinvestment Act would provide a permanent Federal funding source to meet these needs in Nebraska and other states, and would revitalize the state matching grants program.

   The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, as passed in 1965, utilized a portion of the proceeds from Outer Continental Shelf mineral leasing revenues to give to state and local governments for recreation and conservation purposes as those governments deemed necessary and beneficial for their communities. In 1997, a record $5.2 billion in royalties, rents, and bonus payments from new lease sales was collected by the Federal government. Significant federal revenues from Outer Continental Shelf leasing and production has been designated by law for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, but since 1995, Congress has not appropriated these monies to the states, but rather has transferred most of these funds to the U.S. Treasury for other uses. This important legislation would rectify this, and bring the funding source back to Nebraska and to local Nebraska communities. State and local governments match, dollar for dollar, Federal Land and Water Conservation funds for open space conservation and recreation in our communities. This act would restore the state and local funding, bolster the federal funding component, and also secure funding for urban parks and recreational areas.

   While this act would currently provide 7 percent of Land and Water Conservation Funds to the states, I signed

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   Additionally, wildlife conservation, conservation education, and wildlife-associated recreational programs--all of which contribute increasingly significant tourism and recreational dollar returns to the state of Nebraska--are traditionally underfunded. The International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies estimates these needs nationally to be approximately one billion dollars per year.

   Increasing Title III funding to 10 percent of Outer Continental Shelf receipts would give Nebraska approximately an additional $1.7 million annually--money that I know from the people of Nebraska is both needed and would be well-spent.

   The Nebraska State Legislature passed a resolution this year in support of this bill, as did the City of Grand Island in Nebraska. Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns is one of 27 Governors to officially support this legislation. All 50 state fish and wildlife agencies, including the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and more than 3,000 local entities, businesses, clubs, and conservation organizations have endorsed the Conservation and Reinvestment Act of 1999. Nationwide, more than 200 state and local ballot initiatives sought to commit billions of dollars for conservation, farmland protection, and urban revitalization policies. More than 70 percent of these initiatives were supported by voters. I enthusiastically add my support to this impressive list of supporters, and look forward to working with Senator LANDRIEU and our colleagues to finalize and pass this important legislation.

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