Irvine Basin Surface and Groundwater Improvement Act of 2004

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Wednesday, February 11, 2004, at 9:30 a.m. on Protecting Children From Violent and Indecent Programming.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on Wednesday, February 11 at 10:00 a.m. to consider pending calendar business.

Agenda Item 2: S. 213--A bill to clear title to certain real property in New Mexico associated with the Middle Rio Grande Project, and for other purposes with an amendment.

Agenda Item 3: S. 524--A bill to expand the boundaries of the Fort Donelson National Battlefield to authorize the acquisition and interpretation of lands associated with the campaign that resulted in the capture of the fort in 1862, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 5: S. 943--A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into one or more contracts with the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the storage of water in the Kendrick Project, Wyoming with an amendment.

Agenda Item 6: S. 960--To amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act and the Hawaii Water Resources Act of 2000 with an amendment.

Agenda Item 9: S. 1107--A bill to enhance the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program for the National Park Service, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 13: S. 1516--Salt Cedar Control Demonstration Act with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.

Agenda Item 14: S. 1576--A bill to revise the boundary of Harper's Ferry National Historical Park, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 15: S. 1577--A bill to extend the deadline for commencement of construction of hydroelectric project in the State of Wyoming.

Agenda Item 16: S. 1582--A bill to amend the Valles Preservation Act to improve the preservation of the Valles Caldera, and for other purposes with an amendment.

Agenda Item 17: S. 1848--A bill to amend the Bend Pine Nursery Land Conveyance Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to sell the Bend Pine Nursery Administration Site in the State of Oregon with an amendment.

Agenda Item 18: H.R. 408--To provide for expansion of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Agenda Item 19: H.R. 417--To revoke a Public Land Order with respect to certain lands erroneously included in the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, California with report language.

Agenda Item 20: H.R. 620--To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide supplemental funding and other services that are necessary to assist the State of California or local educational agencies in California in providing educational services for students attending schools located within the Park with an amendment.

Agenda Item 21: H.R. 708--To require the conveyance of certain National Forest System lands in Mendocino National Forest, California, to provide for the use of the proceeds from such conveyance for National Forest purposes, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 23: H.R. 856--To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to revise a repayment contract with the Tom Green County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1, San Angelo project, Texas, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 26: H.R. 1598--To amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in projects within the San Diego Creek Watershed, California, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 27: S. 1167--A bill to resolve the boundary conflicts in Barry and Stone Counties in the State of Missouri.

In addition, the Committee may turn to any other measures that are ready for consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 at 10 a.m. to hold a Business Meeting.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 at 9:30 a.m. in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing on the President's Fiscal Year 2005 Budget Request.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 at 2 p.m. on ``Judicial Nominations,'' in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226.

Panel I: Senators.

Panel II: Diane S. Sykes, to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; James L. Robart, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington; Juan R. Sanchez, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on ``Cable Competition--Increasing Price; Increasing Value?'' on Wednesday, February 11, 2004, at 10:30 a.m., in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. Michael Willner, Vice-Chairman, President and CEO, Insight Communications Company, Inc.;

Mr. Rodger Johnson, CEO, Knology;

Mr. Robert Sachs, President and CEO, National Cable and Telecommunications Association;

Ms. Coralie Wilson, President, National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors;

Mr. Scott Cleland, CEO, Precursor; and

Dr. Mark Cooper, Director of Research, Consumer Federation of America.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the Session of the Senate on Wednesday, February 11, 2004, at 1:00 p.m. to conduct a hearing on ``Economic and Financial Reconstruction in Iraq.''

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me the time.

The Irvine Basin Surface and Groundwater Improvement Act is a bill that, as its author, of course, I am very pleased to see on the floor, but one also that I am very very grateful to the committee for producing. This is going to make a very important contribution to improving water quality in southern California.

I would especially like to thank and recognize the efforts of the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo), the chairman of the Committee on Resources. I would like to thank the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Napolitano) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), the ranking member, for their support and leadership, and also my colleague from Orange County (Mr. Calvert), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Water and Power. I thank all of them for their active interest in and support of this important legislation.

This bill authorizes the Federal Government to assist in designing a series of wetlands. As the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Napolitano) has said, this is an innovative approach, one that has the support of environmentalists and government leaders alike. This series of wetlands is going to clean up polluted surface runoff within the San Diego Creek Watershed in Orange County, California.

For those of my colleagues who are not familiar with southern California, the San Diego Creek is one of our region's major watersheds. It empties into Upper Newport Bay, one of the largest wetlands in the entire coastal region between Los Angeles and San Diego.

The Upper Newport Bay is home to over 75 species of fish, nearly 200 species of birds, and a number of threatened and endangered species, including the light-footed clapper rail, Belding's Savannah sparrow, the American osprey, the California brown pelican and California's least tern. In addition, the Bay is an important stop on the Pacific Flyway for 50,000 migratory birds each year.

Unfortunately, the Upper Newport Bay is threatened by silt and polluted runoff from the San Diego Creek that flows into the Bay. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency has declared the water quality of San Diego Creek and its tributaries to be limited. That is a bureaucratic euphemism for hazardous to swim in or drink. The reason for this designation is that drainage from urban surfaces flows unfiltered into the watershed.

Thankfully, there is a solution on the horizon to save the Upper Newport Bay. This legislation will use a natural treatment system to reduce the amount of silt and pollutants that gets dumped into San Diego Creek and, in turn, into Upper Newport Bay. The plan was developed by environmentalists and local officials, and it relies on wetlands, nature's own system for filtering pollutants out of the water. Specifically, the plan calls for the creation of an entire network of wetlands to be developed along the San Diego Creek basin.

The natural, beneficial bacteria in the soils of these wetlands, along with

plants such as bulrush and cattails, will remove nitrogen and other pollutants from surface runoff. It is expected that this natural treatment system will reduce fecal coliform levels by over 26 percent and each year remove 126,000 pounds of nitrogen and 21,000 pounds of phosphorus from the San Diego Creek.

In this way, the natural treatment system will help prevent unwanted sediment, nutrients and contaminants from polluting and clogging up San Diego Creek and Upper Newport Bay. It will also provide another major benefit. The creation of all these new wetlands will provide considerable additional wildlife habitat and open space, including habitat for the many threatened and endangered species of the Upper Newport Bay.

For all of these reasons, the Natural Treatment System established by this legislation is strongly supported by local environmental groups, including Orange County Coastkeepers and the Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends. This legislation is also fully supported by our local public officials, including the Irvine Ranch Water District, the County of Orange and the cities of Newport Beach, Lake Forest, Irvine, Orange, Santa Ana, and Tustin.

This bill, Mr. Speaker, will be of tremendous help to our local environmental efforts. By allowing the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which has extensive experience in wetlands restoration, to serve as a partner in this important regional project, H.R. 1598 is an important step toward assuring that the Natural Treatment System moves forward as quickly and cost effectively as possible.

Finally, I would like to point out that the Natural Treatment System will also provide significant cost savings for the Federal Government. Since the Upper Newport Bay is a Federal waterway, the U.S. Corps of Engineers regularly dredges the bay to remove the accumulation of silt and pollutants. By significantly reducing silt runoff into Upper Newport Bay, the Natural Treatment System will reduce both the Corps of Engineers' dredging expenses and the bill to Federal taxpayers.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1598 so that we can move forward with this important environmental initiative for Southern California.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mrs. NAPOLITANO asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1598. Communities throughout the Nation are finding technologically advanced and innovative ways to solve their water supply and water quality problems. H.R. 1598 is an excellent example of how we can help those communities.

With only a small amount of financial assistance from the Federal Government, we can save water by building water recycling and desalting projects, and may I add, also recycling projects, that are important to southern California. Not too long ago, Congress would have rushed to support an expensive dam and reservoir project. We now have the option to help our cities who understand that the future to securing a reliable water supply is through the promotion of water recycling, conservation and desalination.

Mr. Speaker, I hope the administration can understand how important these projects are, especially water recycling, and how they can help communities solve their water problems that are so urgently needed, even now, especially in the area where there is tremendous drought.

I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 1598.

Mr. Speaker, I have no speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1598) to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in projects within the San Diego Creek Watershed, California, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 1598, sponsored by the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox), authorizes Federal assistance for the design and construction of a de- salter and a regional brine line to treat brackish groundwater. The bill also provides for strategic placement of wetlands to naturally clean surface water in the San Diego Creek Watershed. All Federal assistance would be limited to 25 percent of the overall project's cost.

This bill is yet another step towards ``drought proofing'' southern California and will decrease the region's overdependence on imported Colorado River water.

I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bills H.R. 1442, H.R. 1092, H.R. 1598, and H.R. 1521.