Sen. Fritz Hollings' Online Office: Issues: Environment

Senator Hollings believes we must conserve our natural resources and use them efficiently to sustain South Carolina's high quality of life. As a Senator, he has earned a reputation as a practical conservationist who puts environmental issues on the forefront of the national agenda.

LEADER ON OCEAN POLICY

Sen. Hollings' record on ocean policy spans more than thirty years. In 1970, he played a major role in the establishment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is charged with managing, studying, and protecting the marine environment in a coordinated and comprehensive manner. For his work and advocacy, he is widely regarded as the "father of NOAA." More than 30 years later, NOAA still works to provide timely and precise weather as well as water and climate forecasts, to monitor the environment, to manage fisheries and build healthy coastlines, and to ensure safe navigation of waterways.

SUSTAINING MARINE RESOURCES

Thirty years after the establishment of NOAA, Sen. Hollings recognized the continued need to improve our understanding of oceans, their exploration and their conservation. To that end, he authored the Oceans Act of 2000, which passed both the Senate and the House unanimously, and was signed into law in August 2000. This legislation is a blueprint for protecting and sustaining our marine resources.

Under this law, President Bush is instructed to establish a 16- member Commission on Ocean Policy, charged with recommending to Congress and the President ways to sustain fisheries and other marine resources; to preserve U.S. leadership on coastal issues; and to help protect coastal residents from natural disasters. The Commission's work could not be more timely: by 2010 some 60 percent of Americans will live along the coast, placing ever increasing demands on our limited resources.

STOPPING POLLUTERS

Senator Hollings was instrumental in the passage of the Ocean Dumping Act of 1972, which seeks to regulate intentional ocean disposal of materials and authorizes related research. The law prohibits dumping in waters under U. S. jurisdiction, by any U. S. vessel, or by any vessel sailing from a U. S. port, except for that specifically allowed by permits.

ENSURING PROPER COASTAL HEALTH AND MANAGEMENT

In 1972, Senator Hollings wrote and steered through Congress the National Coastal Zone Management Act, which authorized grants to states that develop and implement federally- approved coastal zone management plans. The legislation authorized the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, which created a partnership between the Federal government and state and local entities in order to enhance informed management and scientific understanding of estuarine and coastal habitats. The creation of the ACE Basin in South Carolina is a direct result of Senator Hollings' efforts to protect National Estuarine Research Reserves.

Senator Hollings gained appropriations support for construction of the Marine Environmental Health and Research Laboratory (MEHRL) in Charleston. Groundbreaking took place in October 1998, and the laboratory is nearing completion. At this center, NOAA will partner with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, the College of Charleston, and the Medical University of South Carolina to promote collaborative, interdisciplinary research to assess marine environmental quality and its links to human health.

PROTECTING WILDLIFE IN COASTAL AND MARINE HABITATS

Since the 1970s, Senator Hollings has worked to protect the species that inhabit our waterways. A longtime opponent of commercial whaling, Hollings authored and successfully pushed for enactment of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, which has helped to protect and recover marine mammals throughout the nation. This piece of legislation has become a source for other countries in determining best practices for protecting marine mammals.

Having long understood that comprehensive solutions are required to save endangered species affected by both foreign and domestic actions, the Senator has worked to promote conservation measures that address all of these threats. In 1989, he successfully pushed for legislation to establish a level playing field for American shrimpers and require foreign nations to implement turtle protection programs that are comparable to U.S. requirements. In addition, he worked to secure passage of legislation prohibiting the import of fish caught using illegal high seas driftnets.

PRESERVING MARINE LIFE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

In 1996, Senator Hollings was instrumental in the passage of the Sustainable Fisheries Act. An update of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, this legislation caps fishery harvests at the maximum sustainable level and requires fishery management plans to rebuild any overfished fisheries. It also requires bycatch and waste reduction as well as the protection of essential fish habitats. This law is working to ensure that we can reap the commercial and recreational benefits of the sea for years to come. In addition, Hollings authored the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act in 1993 to preserve Atlantic coastal fisheries like weakfish, horseshoe crabs, and striped bass.

CONSERVING SOUTH CAROLINA'S UNIQUE LAND

For decades, Senator Hollings has worked to protect South Carolina's unique environment, so that South Carolinians and visitors from across the nation are able to see wildlife in its natural habitat. Through his seat on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, he has obtained funding to purchase unspoiled lands throughout the state, protecting many of South Carolina's unique landscapes for future generations to enjoy. They stretch from the mountains to the coast and include:

Jocassee Gorges within the Sumter National Forest

Congaree Swamp National Monument

ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge

Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge

Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge

Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests

COASTAL AND ESTUARINE LAND PROTECTION ACT

In the 107th session, Sen. Hollings introduced the Coastal and Estuarine Land Protection Act. The bill creates the Coastal and Estuarine Land Program, within the Department of Commerce, to protect important coastal and estuarine areas that have significant conservation, recreation, ecological, historical or aesthetic values and are threatened by development or conversion. The bill also authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to award competitive grants to coastal states with approved coastal management programs or National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERR) for the purposes of acquiring property or interests in property.

IMPROVING FUEL EFFICIENCY, DECREASING DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL

In 1975, Senator Hollings authored and held extensive hearings on the legislation that formed our nation's current Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. These standards have led to an approximate doubling in the fuel economy of the new car fleet. The unfortunate news, however, is that much of that progress was made in the 1970s and '80s - in the '90s we actually went backwards.

Senator Hollings' leadership on fuel economy in the 1970s arose out of the same concerns for the nation's energy security that we have today. Therefore, in 2002, Senator Hollings introduced legislation that would require automakers reach a 35 miles per gallon CAFE standard by 2013 - a 40 percent increase over the next 11 years, compared to the 85 percent increase in fuel efficiency that automakers achieved within the first 7 years of the enactment of the original CAFE standards. Moreover, the Hollings standards could save our nation 1.6 million barrels of oil per day by 2015 - the same amount we imported from Saudi Arabia in 2000 - and decrease our nation's dependence on foreign oil.

SAFE TREATMENT OF NUCLEAR WASTE

An original co-sponsor of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1987, Senator Hollings also continues to push for legislation establishing a permanent repository for high-level nuclear waste in a safe and timely manner. In the meantime, he does all that he can to safeguard South Carolina from becoming the nation's nuclear waste dumping ground, and he continues to support the Governor's efforts to do the same.