More Water, More Energy, and Less Waste Act of 2007

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 2739) to authorize certain programs and activities in the Department of the Interior, the Forest Service, and the Department of Energy, to implement further the Act approving the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America, to amend the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2003, and for other purposes.

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 resolution under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call up this legislation which is comprised of 61 separate measures that were already considered by this body, packaged by the Senate, and sent back to us for further and final consideration. This is a bipartisan package, almost evenly split between bills sponsored by Democrats and Republicans.

Further, I would note that 57 of the measures included in this package originated in the Committee on Natural Resources. In this regard, I salute the committee's Chairs who worked so hard on this legislation:

Raul Grijalva, chairman of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands; Grace Napolitano, chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Water and Power, and Donna Christensen, chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs.

In this body, these three Members did all of the heavy lifting, the hearings, the managing of the individual bills on the floor, the listening from other Members of this body that helped to make the package we are considering today possible.

The pending measures include new protections for wilderness, national parks, historic sites and trails, and precious water resources from sea to shining sea.

I will not speak to each and every provision of this legislation today but would like to highlight two in particular.

This bill will finally designate the long-awaited Wild Sky Wilderness in Washington State, championed by our colleague, Rick Larsen. As I noted last week when the House considered wilderness legislation for my home State of West Virginia, to be in a wilderness area is truly a humbling experience. To be part of designating the wilderness is even more humbling because wilderness is an effort to retain the landscape as God created it. And as with God's good graces, we are working toward designating new wilderness areas in West Virginia today.

Let this be the next-to-last action, other than the President's signature, on establishing the Wild Sky Wilderness in the State of Washington.

The other measure I would like to highlight would finally bring badly needed immigration, national security and labor protections for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Further, this legislation would also grant a nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives to the Northern Mariana Islands.

For too long, abuses took place in the CNMI, and for too long remedial legislation was held hostage in this body. Let this legislation bring forth a new dawn, the start of a new era with a delegate to this body, that the people of the CNMI's voices be heard.

Again, I want to thank the gentlelady from the Virgin Islands, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Dr. Donna Christensen, for her great work on this matter.

There are other issues of note in this bill. It would expand parks in Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Washington and Idaho. It would improve visitor transportation options at Denali National Park and Acadia National Park. And it would expand and increase the authorization for the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Three new national heritage areas and nine existing areas will receive Federal assistance under this measure. Seven other areas will be examined as possible new park units.

This bill would also authorize Federal participation in new and expanded water recycling projects around the west, projects which will provide an estimated 52,600 acre-feet of water annually in an area experiencing severe drought.

It's a good bill, Mr. Speaker. I urge all Members to vote for this package.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to a senior member of our Committee on Natural Resources, Mr. DeFazio from Oregon.

Mr. Speaker, I have already commended her profusely, but I want to once again thank the chairwoman of our Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Donna Christensen, from the Virgin Islands for the hard work and long hours that she has put in on this legislation. I now yield her 3 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I want to yield 2 minutes to another of our subcommittee chairwomen who has put in long hours and very hard work on this legislation, the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans (Ms. Bordallo).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a member of our Committee on Natural Resources, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee).

(Mr. INSLEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I have commended this gentleman in my opening remarks because he truly has worked hard over a number of years for a major part of this package. It is a highlight of the package, and I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Larsen) to explain it.

Mr. Speaker, a simple response to the gentleman who just spoke. There's no eminent domain authority whatsoever granted in this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut, a very valued Member that has worked hard on this bill and has done a superb job, and I want to commend Mr. Courtney for his leadership and work on this legislation.

I am prepared to close on this side, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, this is 60-some pieces of legislation in this bill, and it may not be perfect, but it's the nature of the beast, as the process is. Of the 60-some measures in this legislation, 57 that went through our committee on

Natural Resources were pretty well examined. They weren't just thrown into this bill without any consideration whatsoever. Either in this Congress or the previous Congress, these bills have had hearings on them. I mentioned the subcommittee process that worked its will in our Committee on Natural Resources. So this bill has had pretty careful scrutiny.

I'd like to conclude by commending the majority leader of the other body, Mr. Reid. He has called me on this legislation. It passed through the other body after a tortuous process. The final vote over there was 91-4. I also want to commend the Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee on the other side, Mr. Bingaman, for his work and his tenacity.

Again, I commend my ranking member, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) and the subcommittee ranking member, Mr. Bishop, and the staffs on both sides of our committee on Natural Resources for the long hours that they have put in on this legislation. It is indeed, as the process goes, an excellent piece of legislation, and I am very proud and highly commend it to my colleagues for passage and on to the President for his signature.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this Senate- passed bill, and urge that it be passed and sent to the President for signing into law.

It gathers into one omnibus measure some 60 bills--dealing with various public land, national park, water, and territorial issues--that have already been passed by the House but on which the Senate has not taken separate action. To expedite their consideration, Senator Bingaman, the Chairman of the other body's Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, gathered them into one package after most if not all of them had been favorably reported by that committee and been pending on the Senate calendar for some time. Each part of the package is important, but I want to highlight three.

produced water legislation

Section 514, entitled ``More Water, More Energy, Less Waste,'' is based on my bill, H.R. 902, the ``More Water and More Energy Act,'' which passed the House last year.

Its purpose is to facilitate the use of water produced in connection with development of energy resources for irrigation and other uses in ways that will not adversely affect water quality or the environment.

I think there is a possibility that it can help change an energy- industry problem into an opportunity, not just for oil and gas producers but for everyone else who would benefit from increased supplies of useable water. And especially in the arid west, that covers everyone--not least our hard-pressed ranchers and farmers.

The focus of the section is the underground water extracted in connection with development of energy sources like oil, natural gas or coalbed methane. It would do two things:

First, it would direct the Bureau of Reclamation and the USGS to identify the obstacles to greater use of produced water and how those obstacles could be reduced or eliminated without adversely affecting water quality or the environment.

Second, it would provide for Federal help in building pilot plants to demonstrate ways to treat produced water to make it suitable for irrigation or other uses, again without adversely affecting water quality or the environment. At least one of these pilot plants would be in each of the States in the Upper Basin of the Colorado River--that is, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming--and at least one would be in one of the States in the Colorado River's lower basin--Arizona, California, and Nevada. This is to assure that, together, the plants would demonstrate techniques applicable to a variety of geologic and other conditions. The Federal Government could pay up to half the cost of building each plant, but no more than $1 million for any one plant. No Federal funds could be used for operating the plants.

The extent of the potential benefits was shown by the testimony of Mr. David Templet at a hearing on the similar bill of mine the House considered in the 109th Congress.

Testifying on behalf of the Domestic Petroleum Council and several other groups, including the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, he noted that produced water is the most abundant byproduct associated with the production of oil and gas, with about 18 billion barrels being generated by onshore wells in 1995. And he pointed out that if only an additional 1 percent of that total could be put to beneficial use, the result would be to make over 75 billion gallons annually available for use for irrigation or other agriculture, municipal purposes, or to benefit fish and wildlife.

Now, remember that in the west we usually measure water by the acre- foot--the amount that would cover an acre to the depth of one foot--and an acre-foot is about 328,560 gallons, so an additional 75 billion gallons is more than 230,000 acre feet--more water, indeed.

And at the same time making produced water available for surface uses, instead of just reinjecting it into the subsurface, can help increase the production of oil and gas.

At the hearing, this was illustrated by the testimony of Dr. David Stewart, a registered professional engineer from Colorado. He cited the example of an oil field in California from which an estimated additional 150 million barrels of oil could be recovered if water were removed from the subsurface reservoir. And he pointed out that where oil recovery is thermally enhanced, a reduced amount of underground water means less steam--and so less cost--is needed to recover the oil.

The potential for having both more water and more energy is also illustrated by the example of a project near Wellington, Colorado, that treats produced water as a new water resource. I had the opportunity to visit it last year, and found it very interesting. An oil company is embarking on the project to increase oil production while a separate company will purchase the produced water to supplement existing supplies, eventually allowing the town of Wellington and other water users in the area to have increased water for drinking and other purposes.

In view of its potential for leading to both ``more water'' and ``more energy'' as well as ``less waste,'' I was pleased but not surprised that the Administration, through the Interior Department, has testified that it ``agrees that the goals of the bill are commendable and the needs that could be addressed are real.'' So, I welcome the fact that the Senate has followed the lead of the House in approving this legislation, and I look forward to its enactment.

platte river recovery implementation legislation

Section 515 of this Senate-passed bill is also based on a bill (H.R. 1462) I introduced last year. It will authorize the Interior Department to participate in the implementation of the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Species in the Central and Lower Platte River Basin.

As I said when the House debated that bill, I consider myself fortunate to have the honor of introducing it, and am gratified that it was cosponsored by my Colorado colleagues, Representatives DeGette, Salazar, and Perlmutter, as well as the entire House delegations of our neighboring States of Wyoming and Nebraska.

Its purpose is to continue a cooperative effort involving the Federal Government and the States of Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming (and other entities and groups) aimed at recovery of endangered species in ways that will not involve the creation of Federal water rights or requiring the grant of water rights to Federal entities. It is the result of 14 years of negotiations that culminated in 2006 when the Governors of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska joined Secretary Kempthorne in signing the agreement.

The program is modeled after a somewhat similar program for the recovery of several endangered species of fish in the upper basin of the Colorado River. I have strongly supported that program because it has enabled us in Colorado and other participating States to meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act while allowing continued development and use of water for other purposes as well. While such arrangements are not easy to work out, I think doing so is far better than alternative approaches that are more likely to be marked by conflicts or litigation. So, I think all concerned in the negotiation of this important agreement are to be congratulated.

The Program has three main elements--(1) increasing stream flows in the central Platte River during relevant periods through retiming and water conservation/supply projects; (2) enhancing, restoring and protecting habitat lands for the target bird species; and (3) accommodating certain new water related activities. Its purpose is to benefit three endangered species (interior least tern, whooping crane, and pallid sturgeon) and one threatened species (piping plover) referred to as the ``target species.'' The Federal Government is to pay half the cost, for which the total authorization would be $157.14 million plus any needed inflation adjustments. Implementation of the Program will mitigate the adverse impacts of certain new water related activities through the implementation of state and federal depletions plans. This will allow continued growth and water development to occur in the Platte River basin along with improving conditions for the target species.

The legislation is important for Colorado and our neighbors in Wyoming and Nebraska. I am glad that the Senate has approved it and look forward to its becoming law.

Northern Marianas Legislation

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I want to note that Title VII of the bill before us includes important provisions related to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or CNMI.

Subtitle A of that Title responds to longstanding Federal concerns regarding immigration, labor, and law enforcement in the CNMI.

Its enactment will bring completion, at long last, to more than a decade of congressional and executive branch efforts to extend the U.S. immigration laws to the CNMI including the establishment of Federal border control as anticipated by the 1976 covenant agreement between the CNMI and the United States.

And Subtitle B will enable the citizens of the CNMI--who have been U.S. citizens and members of the U.S. family for over 20 years--to elect a Delegate to the House of Representatives, a necessary step if we are to keep faith with our Nation's founding principle of representative government.

The CNMI, a U.S. Territory located in the western Pacific Ocean, is an archipelago comprised of fourteen islands. The majority of CNMI's population lives on three of the most southern islands: its capital Saipan, Rota, and Tinian. At the end of World War II, along with most of the other islands in the Micronesian region, they were included in a United Nations Strategic Trust Territory administered by the United States. In the early 1970's, the Northern Marianas sought greater self- government, and in 1975 submitted a ``Covenant'' proposal to the U.S. for final approval. After favorable consideration by Congress, that Covenant, which established the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in political union with the United States, was signed into law in 1976 by President Gerald Ford.

During the negotiations over the Covenant, island officials expressed concern about possible adverse effects on their culture and economic development that could come from application of certain U.S. laws. In response, the Marianas government was given temporary responsibility for determining minimum wage laws, immigration standards, and an income tax system.

Beginning in the late 1980s, the CNMI focused on developing a garment industry and used its local control of immigration policy to allow for the recruitment and importation of foreign guest workers. But there were increasing reports of abuses.

For example, after visiting the islands in July, 1997, the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform reported it had found problems ``ranging from bureaucratic inefficiencies to labor abuses to an unsustainable economic, social and political system that is antithetical to most American values,'' including exploitation of foreign workers with retaliation against protesters, suppression of basic freedoms, and flagrant abuses of household workers, agricultural workers, and bar girls. The Commission said the CNMI's guest-worker policy had created major policy problems and resulted in a two-class system where the majority of workers were denied political and social rights.

That and similar reports prompted efforts to achieve reforms through Federal legislation, and both the George H. W. Bush Administration and the Clinton Administration were concerned about repeated allegations that foreign guest workers were being mistreated and exploited. Both Administrations supported addressing the problem through legal reforms.

I have long supported those reforms. In 1999--my first year as a Representative from Colorado--I joined as a cosponsor of a bill a bill entitled the ``United States-Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Human Dignity Act'' to bar use of the ``Made in the USA'' label on textiles produced in the CNMI unless they were produced in plants that conformed with American labor laws, including those aimed at protecting health and safety and guarding against exploitation.

And ever since, I have supported similar legislation, including the bill (H.R. 3079, the ``Northern Mariana Islands Immigration, Security, and Labor Act'') which passed the House last year and which is the basis for Subtitle A of Title VII of the bill before us today.

I did so, in part, because in September, 1999, the Committee on Resources (as it was then named) held an oversight hearing regarding the enforcement of federal laws and the use of federal funds in the CNMI at which officials of the Interior Department and the Departments of Justice and Labor, testified that reform legislation was needed.

As the witness from the Justice Department put it, ``in order to control crime in the CNMI, the U.S. government must be able to prevent criminals from gaining unlimited access to the islands. We cannot expect to stop the flow of drugs, or guns, or trafficking in women and forced prostitution, unless we keep out the people who we know are already committing these crimes'' and ``the only way to fight effectively the larger crime problem on the CNMI is to apply the Act as it is applied in other U.S. jurisdictions with appropriate transitional phase-in provisions to prevent avoidable adverse impacts on the economy.'' And the witness from the Labor Department told our committee that ``there are extremely serious, pervasive, and stubbornly persist[ing] immigration, labor, and human rights problems in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas'' which ``derive from systematic, structural weaknesses in the legal framework in the Commonwealth and any solution to these problems demands a comprehensive, structural solution.''

In short, in the words of the witness from the Interior Department, ``current Federal law is insufficient to correct the continuing inadequacies caused by CNMI immigration and labor policy'' and ``the need to apply . . . Federal immigration, wage, and trade standards is inescapable.''

Unfortunately Mr. Speaker, while responsible Federal officials saw the need as inescapable, for too long Congress did not act to meet that need. In part, that was because those responsible for some of the worse abuses had friends in powerful positions here in the House of Representatives.

That evidently was why the then-leadership of the House refused to even allow the House to debate a reform bill (S. 1052 of the 106th Congress) sponsored by the Republican Senator who chaired the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that passed the Senate without dissent in 2000.

Instead of being brought to the House floor, like this bill, that measure was bottled up in the Resources Committee and Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist who represented some of its most important opponents, reportedly informed his clients that ``We erected a roadblock in the House to stop the bill from moving.''

But now that roadblock is gone, and today we can write an end to that sad chapter by approving reforms that have been delayed far too long.

Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill that deserves enactment, and I urge the House to approve it.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I am here to support H.R. 902 introduced by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Udall). I have cosponsored legislation authorizing the Department of the Interior to study the potential use of extracted water from oil and gas production for irrigation and other purposes.

It will not surprise anyone in this Chamber that water is the most important resource in the West. Water is the lifeblood of the American West and the foundation of its economy. Yet it is also the scarcest resource in some of the fastest-growing areas of the country. But we can go beyond that and declare that water is the most strategic asset in the entire world. It may surprise some in this Chamber that the potential source of good-quality water lies just beneath the surface and is being wasted every day.

During the process of oil and gas development, approximately 924 billion gallons of water is extracted throughout the year, with most of that water being pumped back underground. Some significant share of that water is already being used for irrigation and livestock watering, but converting just 1 percent more of that total to additional beneficial use would yield over 75 billion gallons of more usable water for irrigation, ranching, fish and wildlife enhancement, stream augmentation or drinking water. The produced water that contains the lowest concentration of total dissolved solids, or TDS, less than 10,000 parts per million, is found in the western United States where water is a critical resource.

Often the largest hurdle to beneficial use of water produced from oil and gas production is finding the technology to accomplish water treatment in a cost-effective manner. Water treatment must compete with the lower-cost option of deep well injection. And while deep well injection is the most environmentally sound method of disposal, it forgoes the opportunity to use millions of gallons as a resource.

Beneficial use of this water in these arid environments will be a win-win situation for the energy industry, water consumers, and oil and gas consumers. This legislation will facilitate the potential use of this abundant water for irrigation uses and other beneficial purposes. It could potentially help us find new water from what is now a virtually untapped water resource.

I thank the gentleman from Colorado for introducing this legislation, and urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, many times people have asked exactly how does this work on the ground. For instance, in my home county of Lea County, New Mexico, we have the Ogallala Aquifer. We are right at the very edge of it. And in the 50 years we have been pumping out of the aquifer, we have used about 50 percent of the water that is available to us. There is no surface water available, only that aquifer water is available. We have used 50 percent of it, and it would take 1,900 years to recharge what has been used, and so we understand that we are on the downward slide for having water available to us.

In Lea County, New Mexico, we produce over 150,000 barrels of water yearly, and that water is reinjected. If that water were available to be cleaned up, that water would be available for development, industry and jobs. It is a very important thing.

The county right next is Eddy County. Water is produced there that is fresher than water in the Pecos River, and yet law and regulation requires the disposal of that water back down into salt zones. Everyone in the West understands that at some point we are going to go back and repump that water to the surface, this time for use as water. Right now it is free at the surface. It is a by-product of the oil and gas exploration, and yet we are required to put that water back down into wells, into the salt zones, where it is going to be very much harder to clean up the next time we use it.

So this bill represents a great opportunity for us to take a step forward to benefit the industry in the West, to benefit the residents of the West, and to help lower the cost of production of oil and gas. It seems to be a win-win situation every way that we look at it.

I compliment the gentleman from Texas and the gentleman from Colorado for introducing this legislation.

Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Madam Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 902, the ``More Water and More Energy Act, and to express my thanks to Chairman Rahall and Ranking Member Don Young of the Natural Resources Committee for making it possible for the House to consider it today.

The bill's purpose is to facilitate the use of water produced in connection with development of energy resources for irrigation and other uses in ways that will not adversely affect water quality or the environment.

It is similar to a bill I introduced in the 109th Congress that passed the House last year but on which the Senate did not complete legislative action. It is cosponsored by Representative Pearce of New Mexico, who is the ranking Republican member on the Natural Resources Committee's Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources and also by Representative Edwards of Texas. I greatly appreciate their support.

I think the bill may help change an energy-industry problem into an opportunity, not just for oil and gas producers but for everyone else who would benefit from increased supplies of useable water.

Especially in the arid west, that covers everyone--not least our hard-pressed ranchers and farmers.

The focus of the bill is the underground water extracted in connection with development of energy sources like oil, natural gas or coalbed methane. It would do two things:

First, it would direct the Bureau of Reclamation and the USGS to identify the obstacles to greater use of produced water and the how those obstacles could be reduced or eliminated without adversely affecting water quality or the environment.

Second, it would provide for Federal help in building 3 pilot plants to demonstrate ways to treat produced water to make it suitable for irrigation or other uses, again without adversely affecting water quality or the environment.

At least one of these pilot plants would be in Colorado, Utah, or Wyoming. At least one would be in New Mexico, Arizona or Nevada. And there would be at least one each in California and Texas. This is to assure that, together, the plants would demonstrate techniques applicable to a variety of geologic and other conditions.

Under the bill, the federal government could pay up to half the cost of building each plant, but no more than $1 million for any one plant. No federal funds could be used for operating the plants.

The bill's goal is reflected in its title--the ``More Water and More Energy Act of 2006.''

The extent of its potential benefits was shown by the testimony of Mr. David Templet at a hearing on the similar bill of mine the House considered last year.

Mr. Templet testified in support of that bill on behalf of the Domestic Petroleum Council and several other groups, including the Colorado Oil & Gas Association. He noted that produced water is the most abundant byproduct associated with the production of oil and gas, with about 18 billion barrels being generated by onshore wells in 1995.

And he pointed out that if only an additional 1 percent of that total could be put to beneficial use, the result would be to make over 75 billion gallons annually available for use for irrigation or other agriculture, municipal purposes, or to benefit fish and wildlife.

Now, remember that in the west we usually measure water by the acre- foot--the amount that would cover an acre to the depth of one foot--and an acre-foot is about 32,8560 gallons, so an additional 75 billion gallons is more than 230,000 acre feet--more water, indeed.

And at the same time making produced water available for surface uses, instead of just reinjecting it into the subsurface, can help increase the production of oil and gas.

At last year's hearing, this was illustrated by the testimony of Dr. David Stewart, a registered professional engineer from Colorado. He cited the example of an oil field in California from which an estimated additional 150 million barrels of oil could be recovered if water were removed from the subsurface reservoir. And he pointed out that where oil recovery is thermally enhanced, a reduced amount of underground water means less steam--and so less cost--is needed to recover the oil.

The potential for having both more water and more energy is also illustrated by the example of a project near Wellington, Colorado, that treats produced water as a new water resource. I had the opportunity to visit it just last week, and found it very interesting.

An oil company is embarking on the project to increase oil production while a separate company will purchase the produced water to supplement existing supplies, eventually allowing the town of Wellington and other water users in the area to have increased water for drinking and other purposes.

In view of its potential for leading to both ``more water'' and ``more energy'' I was pleased but not surprised that last year the Administration, through the Interior Department, testified that it ``agrees that the goals of the bill are commendable and the needs that could be addressed are real'' and that the roles the bill would assign to the Bureau of Reclamation and the USGS are consistent with the missions and expertise of those agencies.

In view of all this, Madam Speaker, I submit that this bill--and its promise of helping provide our country with both more water and more energy--deserves the support of the House, and I urge its approval.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, on Monday my colleagues, Senator Bingaman, Senator Domenici, Senator Thomas and I introduced legislation, S. 1116, the More Water, More Energy, and Less Waste Act of 2007, to facilitate the use of water produced in connection with development of energy resources for irrigation and other beneficial uses in ways that will not adversely affect water quality or the environment.

The bill is similar to one that has been introduced during this Congress in the House by Representative Mark Udall, H.R. 902, More Water and More Energy Act of 2007.

The bill's purpose is to help turn what is today an energy-industry problem into an opportunity. The development of energy resources frequently results in bringing to the surface water from underground sources. Energy producers seek to minimize the waters that are produced during extraction operations, but inevitably waters are produced and they must either be treated before being released to the surface or returned to the ground. In a few cases, the waters are clean enough to be used for livestock watering, irrigation or other beneficial purposes.

Especially in the water-short West, increasing the amount of water that can be used without adversely affecting water quality or the environment can increase water supplies for irrigation of crops, livestock watering, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities. Everyone will benefit from increased supplies of useable water, even if the supplies are temporary in nature, provided that the new water is of good quality and will not adversely affect the environment now or in the future.

Our bill would do two things:

First, it would direct the Commissioner of Reclamation, the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management to conduct a study to identify the technical, economic, environmental, and other obstacles to, one, reducing the quantity of produced water and, two, increasing the extent to which produced water can be used for irrigation and other purposes, without adversely affecting water quality or the environment, during or after energy development. The study would consider the legislative, administrative, and other actions that could reduce or eliminate those obstacles and the costs and benefits associated with reducing or eliminating those obstacles. Results of the study are to be reported to Congress within a year after enactment.

Second, it would provide grants for at least five projects to demonstrate, one, ways to optimize energy resource production by reducing the quantity of produced water generated or, two, feasibility, effectiveness, and safety of processes to increase the extent to which produced water may be recovered and made suitable for use for irrigation, municipal, or industrial uses, or other purposes without adversely affecting water quality or the environment.

The bill directs these pilot plants to be located in each of the Upper Basin States of the Colorado River, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico, and in at least one of the Lower Basin States of the Colorado River, Arizona, Nevada or California. This is to assure that, together, the projects would demonstrate techniques applicable to a variety of geologic and other conditions.

Under the bill, the Federal Government could pay up to half the cost of building each plant. However, no more than $1 million would be paid for anyone project, and no Federal funds would be used for operating the projects.

In the water-short West, the produced waters are a virtually untapped resource, and the benefits of using them for irrigation and other purposes could be substantial. It is estimated

that up to 18 million barrels of produced waters are generated each year from oil and gas operations. Finding ways to minimize the waters that are produced during oil and gas extraction and then putting to beneficial use those waters that are produced, is a win/win for everyone.

However, there are significant hurdles that must be overcome before produced waters can be used as a water resource in ways that do not adversely affect our water quality or harm our environment. The study required in our bill will bring our country closer to using this important untapped resource.

For the benefit of our colleagues, here is a summary of the bill's provisions:

Section by Section Summary of the ``More Water, More Energy, Less Waste

Act of 2007''--S. 1116

Section One--provides a short title (the ``More Water, More

Energy, Less Waste Act of 2001''), sets forth several

findings regarding the basis for the bill, and states the

bill's purpose: ``to optimize the production of energy

resources by minimizing the amount of produced water, and by

facilitating the use of produced water for irrigation and

other purposes without adversely affecting water quality or

the environment, and to demonstrate ways to accomplish these

results.''

Section Two--defines terms used in the bill.

Section Three--requires the Secretary of the Department of

Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, the

Director of the United States Geological Survey, and the

Director of the Bureau of Land Management, to conduct a study

to identify (1) the technical, economic, environmental, and

other obstacles to reducing the quantity of produced water;

(2) the technical, economic, environmental, legal, and other

obstacles to increasing the extent to which produced water

can be used for irrigation and other purposes, without

adversely affecting water quality or the environment; (3) the

legislative, administrative, and other actions that could

reduce or eliminate those obstacles; and (4) the costs and

benefits associated with reducing or eliminating those

obstacles. Results of the study are to be reported to

Congress within a year after enactment.

Section Four--provides that, subject to appropriation of

funds, the Interior Department is to provide financial

assistance for development of facilities to demonstrate the

feasibility, effectiveness, and safety of processes to

increase use of produced water for irrigation, municipal or

industrial uses, or other purposes without adversely

affecting water quality or the environment. The section

specifies that assistance shall be provided for at least one

project in each of the Upper Basin States (Colorado, Utah,

Wyoming, and New Mexico) and one project in one of the Lower

Basin States (Arizona, Nevada or California). Assistance to

any facility cannot exceed $1 million and cannot be used for

operation or maintenance. The section specifies that

assistance under this bill can be in addition to other

federal assistance under other provisions of law.

Section Five--requires the Interior Department to--(1)

consult with the Department of Energy, EPA, and appropriate

Governors and local officials; (2) review relevant

information developed in connection with other research; (3)

include as much of that information as Interior finds

advisable in the report required by section 1; (4) seek the

advice of people with relevant professional expertise and of

companies with relevant industrial experience; and (5)

solicit comments and suggestions from the public.

Section Six--specifies that nothing in the bill is to be

construed as affecting--(1) the effect of any State law, or

any interstate authority or compact, regarding the use of

water or the regulation of water quantity or quality; or (2)

the applicability of any Federal law or regulation.

Section Seven--authorizes appropriation of--(1) $1 million

for the study required by section 1; and (2) $7.5 million to

implement section 4.

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

Mr. Speaker, Senate bill 2739 contains around 62 provisions, and I am pleased to see that they're finally on their way to the President's desk. However, this bill is also a testament to the dysfunction of a certain body on the other side of this Rotunda.

Many of the sections of this bill are unable to stand on their own and have subsequently been bundled into a $300 million brew to avoid individual scrutiny. To solve the problem and avoid the discomfort of saying ``no,'' this omnibus was created with enough prizes that inevitably the bad will be overlooked and everything, the good, the bad and the ugly, will be able to cross the finish line.

Many of these provisions were passed by this House last year, so it's nice to say that finally something is coming out of the Senate, even if it's coming in this very poor form. But in other ways this bill is also symbolic of this session. We have wasted time and then glob everything together and throw it together with one fell swoop without the ability of scrutinizing it as individual issues, and at the same time miss essential bills that address critical needs.

This legislation deals with land where energy opportunities do exist, and yet once again we are moving forward with gas approaching $4 a gallon. Today, the average price of gasoline in the United States was $3.61. That's $1.28 for gasoline, $1.57 for diesel, 55 and 59 percent above what it was at the beginning of the 110th Congress. And still, with no plan to solve this issue, we pass bills that exacerbate this conundrum.

This particular bill is full of new designations intended to draw tourists, but the only sightseeing that's going to be done in this country will be from the couch watching the Travel Channel if we don't address our fuel crisis. Every time we pass feel-good natural resource legislation with warm and fuzzy titles, we must consider the damage being done to our ability to provide for ourselves. We have locked up so much of our public land from energy development that we are now seeing the results at the pump, and these are our priorities.

What else do we do? Our solution is to offer biofuels; in other words, we want to burn food to power cars. Not only is this immoral, it is devastating Third World countries now unable to afford food to feed their starving children. These are our priorities.

We could have used forest mass that's dead every year, it would have been perfect cellulose for production of energy and at the same time save our forests from catastrophic fires, but such was specifically prohibited in the ``no energy'' bill that passed this Congress recently. So, these are our consequences.

We discussed many of the sections in this bill individually when they first came to the House floor in 2007. We did it the right way, even if I disagreed with some of the outcomes we decided. Unfortunately, they are back without improvements that would have made them palatable.

I don't believe private property rights are adequately protected in any of the heritage areas in this bill. And I question why the amendment to protect second amendment rights, which was overwhelmingly passed on the House floor, was stripped from this package. It is flat out wrong to have done that. It is almost unfathomable that the Senate would do such a thing and that we would consider passing this bill with that significant provision not there. Yet again, the second amendment and property rights take a back seat to misguided priorities of the other body.

As I stated earlier, there are a few positives I am pleased to support. Congressmen Wilson and Brown of South Carolina have worked to get the ``Swamp Fox'' General Francis Marion Memorial to the President. I congratulate them. Minority Whip Blunt has labored to authorize the Newtonia Civil War Battlefields study that we will move today. I thank him for his fine work. My Resource Committee colleague, Congressman Louis Gohmert from Texas, has an important study to honor the Space Shuttle, Columbia, and I'm pleased that this is included in Senate 2739. Resource Committee Ranking Member Don Young has several provisions that will benefit the country and his constituents in Alaska, and I thank him for his tireless efforts and advocacy on their behalf.

Finally, of all the provisions, probably the best one is a dam bill provision for my congressional district. This

provision would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to do a feasibility study on raising the height of the Arthur V. Watkins Dam in Box Elder County. And given the shortage of water in the West, by increasing storage capacity of this vital reservoir, the residents of my congressional district will have a more secure water supply and water future.

Having already spent too many hours debating these bills when they came before us that now make up this legislative Frankenstein, I see no need to prolong this much longer.

I will reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentlelady from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).

(Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Broun).

(Mr. BROUN of Georgia asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

I continue to reserve.

Mr. Speaker, this Frankenstein bill that we have before us has a whole lot of good stuff in it. It also has a whole lot of bad stuff in there, things that could be cataclysmic consequences to this particular country.

One of the things that is so sad is the process in which we are involved. I realize it's regular order, but it's still a sad process. We have germaneness rules that are very loose. The Senate has germaneness rules that are even looser. Former Senator Gene McCarthy said, The Senate has rules, but no one knows what they are so it doesn't really matter.

Bringing a bill in this pattern with these many provisions over here is something that would never be allowed in most legislative bodies within our States. One of the things we should learn as a body is sometimes it is best if we actually deal with bills on an individual basis in a timely manner. I realize part of this problem cannot be laid at the hands of the chairman of our committee because it's actually dealing with the other body on the other side, which decided to lump everything together as a big glob and just throw it at us.

At the same time, it should be a lesson for us to learn that if we really want to reform the system so that we have actual input on bills in a timely fashion and timely manner, we should have one issue, one bill, one vote, and plumping everything together is simply poor parts of legislation. For all the good that is in this bill, and there is much good, as well as the bad, and there is some bad, it still is the wrong process that we should be engaged.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry be authorized to conduct a hearing during the session of the Senate on April 25, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. in SD-106. The title of this committee hearing is, ``Challenges and Opportunities Facing American Agriculture Producers Today, Part III.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to hold a business meeting during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, April 25, 2007, at 2:30 p.m., in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

The purpose of this meeting will be to consider and approve the following legislation following bills: S. 294, S. 428, S. 924, S. 311, S. 675, S. 1142, the Identity Theft Prevention Act, and the promotion of Mr. Gribbin, in the United States Coast Guard.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a markup on Wednesday, April 25, at 10 a.m. in Dirksen Room 226.

I. Committee Authorization: Authorization of Subpoenas in Connection with Investigation into Replacement of U.S. Attorneys.

II. Bills: S. 376, Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2007; Leahy, Specter, Grassley, Kyl, Sessions, Cornyn, S. 119, War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007; Leahy, Feinstein, Feingold, Schumer, Durbin, Cardin, S. 1079, Star-Spangled Banner and War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission Act; Cardin, Warner, Kennedy, S. 735, Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act of 2007; Kennedy, Kyl, Coleman, Schumer, Leahy, Grassley, Cornyn, H.R. 740, Preventing Harassment through Outbound Number Enforcement (PHONE) Act of 2007; Scott, Conyers, Forbes, Boucher, Jackson-Lee, Gutierrez, Sherman, S. 221, Fair Contracts for Growers Act of 2007; Grassley, Feingold, Kohl, Leahy, Durbin, S. 495, Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2007; Leahy, Specter, Feingold, Schumer, S. 239, Notification of Risk to Personal Data Act of 2007; Feinstein, S. 879, No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2007; (Kohl, Specter, Leahy, Grassley, Feingold, Schumer, Coburn, Durbin.

III. Nominations: Robert Gideon Howard, Jr. to be United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Arkansas; Frederick J. Kapala to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois; Benjamin Hale Settle to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Washington; John Roberts Hackman to be United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia.

IV. Resolutions: S. Res. 125, designating May 18, 2007 as ``Endangered Species Day''; Feinstein, Collins, Feingold, Biden, S. Res. 116, designating May 2007 as ``National Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month''; Biden, S. Res. 146, designating June 20, 2007, as ``American Eagle Day''; Alexander, Byrd, Kennedy, Feinstein, S. Res. 162, commemorating and acknowledging the dedication and sacrifice made by the men and women who have lost their lives while serving as law enforcement officers; Leahy, Specter, Biden, Grassley, Cornyn, Durbin.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 to hold a hearing on mental health issues. The hearing will take place in room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building beginning at 2 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Airland be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, April 25, 2007, at 10 a.m., in open session to receive testimony on whether the army is properly sized, organized, and equipped to respond to the most likely missions over the next two decades while retaining adequate capability to respond to all contingencies along the spectrum of combat in review of the Defense Authorization request for fiscal year 2008 and the Future Years Defense Program.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, April 25, 2007, at 10 a.m. in room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The agenda to be considered: Oversight Hearing on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, April 25, 2007, at 2 p.m., to receive testimony on efforts to improve the Department of Defense's language and cultural awareness capabilities.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces be authorized to meet in open session during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, April 25, 2007, at 3:30 p.m., to receive testimony on Department of Energy atomic energy defense programs in review of the defense authorization request for fiscal year 2008.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Water and Power be authorized to hold a hearing during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills: S. 175, to provide for a feasibility study of alternatives to augment the water supplies of the Central Oklahoma Master Conservancy District and cities served by the District; S. 324, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study of water resources in the State of New Mexico; S. 542, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct feasibility studies to address certain water shortages within the Snake, Boise, and Payette River systems in the State of Idaho, and for other purposes; S. 752, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the implementation of the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Species in the Central and Lower Platte River Basin and to modify the Pathfinder Dam and Reservoir; S. 1037, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to assist in the planning, design, and construction of the Tumalo Irrigation District Water Conservation Project in Deschutes County, OR; S. 1116 and H.R. 902, to facilitate the use for irrigation and other purposes of water produced in connection with development of energy resources; and S. 1112 and H.R. 235, to allow for the renegotiation of the payment schedule of contracts between the Secretary of the Interior and the Redwood Valley County Water District, and for other purposes.