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Senate Hearings Before the Committee on Appropriations

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Senate Hearings Before the Committee on Appropriations S. HRG. 110–648 Senate Hearings Before the Committee on Appropriations Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Fiscal Year 2009 110th CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations, 2009 S. HRG. 110–648 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009 HEARINGS BEFORE A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION Department of Agriculture Department of the Interior Environmental Protection Agency Nondepartmental Witnesses Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations ( Available via the World Wide Web:http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/index.html U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 41–257 PDF WASHINGTON : 2008 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia, Chairman DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont TED STEVENS, Alaska TOM HARKIN, Iowa ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico HERB KOHL, Wisconsin CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri PATTY MURRAY, Washington MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota LARRY CRAIG, Idaho MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas JACK REED, Rhode Island SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado BEN NELSON, Nebraska LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee CHARLES KIEFFER, Staff Director BRUCE EVANS, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENICS DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California, Chairman ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia LARRY CRAIG, Idaho PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont TED STEVENS, Alaska BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico HERB KOHL, Wisconsin ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire JACK REED, Rhode Island WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado BEN NELSON, Nebraska LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee Professional Staff PETER KIEFHABER GINNY JAMES RACHEL TAYLOR SCOTT DALZELL CHRIS WATKINS LEIF FONNESBECK (Minority) REBECCA BENN (Minority) CALLI DALY (Minority) Administrative Support KATIE BATTE (Minority) (II) CONTENTS TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2008 Page Environmental Protection Agency .......................................................................... 1 TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2008 Department of Agriculture: Forest Service ............................................................ 49 TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2008 Department of the Interior: Office of the Secretary ............................................. 159 Nondepartmental witnesses .................................................................................... 221 (III) DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRON- MENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPRO- PRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009 TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2008 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., in room SD–124, Dirksen Sen- ate Office Building, Hon. Dianne Feinstein (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Feinstein, Leahy, Stevens, Craig, and Allard. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY STATEMENT OF HON. STEPHEN L. JOHNSON, ADMININSTRATOR ACCOMPANIED BY: MARCUS C. PEACOCK, DEPUTY DIRECTOR BENJAMIN H. GRUMBLES, ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, OFFICE OF WATER SUSAN PARKER BODINE, ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, OFFICE OF SOLID WASTE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN Senator FEINSTEIN. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Interior Subcommittee’s hearing on the EPA agen- cy’s fiscal year 2009 budget. This one is a series of budget hearings that the subcommittee will be holding. But, I’d like to take a moment and set the stage for the challenges that this administration’s request presents, be- fore we begin with the EPA budget. The President has requested $25.715 billion in discretionary spending for the agencies and programs in the Interior budget. That’s a cut of $842 million, or 3.2 percent, from the currently-en- acted level. The real cut, of course, is much higher, when you factor in some $300 million in fixed costs that must be covered, an extra $200 mil- lion for fire suppression to meet the 10-year average, and approxi- mately $150 million to cover increased health care costs for the services provided by the Indian Health Service. In short, this Interior budget is a very difficult one, and we are going to have our work cut out for us, as we proceed with this year’s appropriation process. With respect to this morning’s hearing the administration’s re- quest for the EPA’s budget is $7.142 billion, a $329 million—or a 4 percent cut—from the 2008 enacted level. This proposal calls for (1) 2 the smallest budget for EPA, since 1997. The smallest budget for EPA, since 1997. GRANTS TO STATES Grants to States for environmental protection, in general, are slashed $304 million, a 10 percent cut, for a total of $2.6 billion. As in previous years, the largest cut is to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The administration’s request for this program is $555 million. That’s a 20 percent cut from the 2008 enacted level. Now, this happens despite the fact that EPA just released a re- port, citing a need for $20 billion to keep pace with clean water in- frastructure funding in the United States over the next 20 years. The budget proposes $186 million in State grants for reduction of air pollution—that’s a 14 percent cut—and it eliminates $9.8 million in funds added to clean up air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley, and South Coast air districts of my State—the two most polluted air districts in the country. Finally, EPA budget cuts $14 million in funding for climate change programs—including the outright elimination of $3.4 mil- lion added last year for a greenhouse emissions reporting rule. This comes, despite the fact that Congress has required a final rule on this by June 2009, and we know additional funds are badly needed to complete this important work. Under this budget, though, that money is just gone. We’re here today to talk about more than the budget, too. As you know, I am strongly opposed to the administrator’s decision last December to deny the State of California its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles. I’m going to ask Administrator Johnson to justify how he could have reached this decision, that California’s need to regulate green- house gases was not compelling or extraordinary, when his decision looks to be plainly contradicted by both the Clean Air Act, and by 40 years of agency policy. What’s even more unprecedented, is that he has denied this waiver, without offering a shred of legal or technical evidence for this decision. Incredibly, EPA released its justification for the waiv- er decision just last Friday—more than 2 months after the decision was made. You would think it would be done before the decision was made. I want to know why. This issue is much bigger than California. Sixteen States around the country have asked to implement California’s emission stand- ards, and take action against climate change. The people in those States deserve answers to these important questions. I’d like to turn now to our distinguished ranking member, Sen- ator Allard, for any opening comments you might make. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR WAYNE ALLARD Senator ALLARD. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Just to make a brief comment here, I want to thank you for hold- ing this hearing, and I want to thank Mr. Johnson for joining us this morning to testify on the fiscal year 2009 budget for the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency. EPA has one of the most important and difficult missions of all Federal agencies. The agency’s jurisdiction ranges from responsi- 3 bility for clear-up of Superfund sites, to funding clean water and drinking water infrastructure programs, to the enforcement of a long list of environmental laws. The administration has requested $7.1 billion in total budget au- thority for fiscal year 2009—this is $330 million below the enacted level. While I’m a supporter of this agency’s—and the administra- tion’s—effort to curb spending, I am concerned that the bulk of the reduction in EPA’s budget is in the form of is in the form of a $134 million to the Clean Water SRF. As I have mentioned in past years, I am uneasy with continued increases in enforcement budget at EPA. The $9 million increase above the enacted level, $563 million total budget for enforcement. I hope that the agency will work in good faith with small and rural communities who do not always possess the expertise to comply with new regulations. LEADVILLE MINE DRAINAGE TUNNELL Mr. Administrator, I am sure that you are familiar with the issues surrounding the Leadville Mine drainage tunnel in Lake County, Colorado. I am extremely concerned that Lake County offi- cials were forced to declare a state of emergency on February 13, to prepare for a possible toxic flood as a result of water trapped in a collapsed drainage tunnel. Now, EPA is not the only entity that bears responsibility for the Leadville Tunnel, but I would like your word, Mr. Johnson, that your agency will continue to work toward a long-term solution for this situation, so that the residents of Lake County can rest easy. I was pleased that your representative in our Colorado meeting took the bull by the horn, so to speak, and came up with a short- term solution. So, we’re talking about a long-term solution for this problem, and I am appreciative of him stepping forward at a time when we had a couple of agencies, sort of, knowing at each other, and you brought—you took some leadership out of your agency and brought about a consensus, and I appreciate that.
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