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Appropriations "Ensuring that my community in El Paso has the resources it needs to thrive and grow, is one of my top priorities." My office accepts funding requests for projects that provide benefits to constituents of the 16th Congressional District of Texas, the Border Region, the State of Texas, and our nation. The types of projects for which I requested funding for in Fiscal Year 2011 support development and will make our community a better and safer place to live and work. In an effort to promote unprecedented transparency, Congress now requires all earmark project requests to be placed online and accessible to the public. Below is the list of projects I requested funding for in Fiscal year 2011. Border Institute of Excellence (BIE) Funding will allow the Border Institute of Excellence to expand efforts to address the violence and consumption of illegal drugs through their drug demand reduction initiative that trains substance abuse counselors in the most contemporary intervention and outreach approaches. Amount requested: $1,000,000 Border Security Initiative for El Paso County The significant growth in El Paso County in recent years has put significant stress on the limited resources of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department. The department is requesting funds to upgrade the county’s law enforcement communications capabilities to better respond to the increased volume of requests. Amount requested: $1,006,168 Bridge Structure Replacement - Franklin Canal in Socorro, Texas The Franklin Canal is part of the irrigation system in the region. Bridge structures that cross it need to have a minimum clearance from the water flow level to the bottom of the structure. The approaches to the bridges are very steep, which creates unsafe and congested conditions for vehicular traffic. The funding would be used to cover the predevelopment costs of associated with the construction of the new canal structures including the preliminary planning, engineering, and design. Amount requested: $3,647,366 Bus Acquisition By purchasing new environmentally friendly buses, the City of El Paso will make transit a more accessible, attractive, and viable option. The purchase of new buses will represent the first fleet expansion in over a decade. Buses will be equipped with security cameras, radios, automatic vehicle locators, as well as up-to-date fare boxes and will reduce congestion, improve air quality, and support the influx of troops expected in the next year. This project is part of the El Paso MPO’s Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). Amount requested: $4,000,000 The City of El Paso’s current Bus Operations and Maintenance facility has reached its capacity with no space available to expand. Funding would be used to construct a new bus operations and maintenance facility that will allow the City to expand its bus services, lower the cost of maintaining and operating its fleet of current buses, and decrease fuel consumption, emissions, and traffic congestion. Amount requested: $3,000,000 Bus Rapid Transit Corridors Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) combines the quality of rail transit and the flexibility of buses. El Paso’s BRT will operate on exclusive transitways in the Downtown core, high-occupancy-vehicle lanes, expressways, or ordinary streets. The BRT lines will combine intelligent transportation systems technology with rapid and convenient fare collection to substantially upgrade bus system performance. This specific request will support the environmental review and planning for the Mesa Street corridor of the City's BRT System. Amount requested: $2,500,000 Castner Range Conservation Conveyance Maintaining Castner Range - even at the minimal level of preventing access to a restricted area - diverts Army funds for a purpose that does not support the national security mission. This project will facilitate a conservation conveyance which is a first step for transferring responsibility of Castner Range to the State of Texas. This project will help preserve open space in the El Paso area and supports efforts to expand the Franklin Mountains State Park. Amount requested: $500,000 Center for Defense Systems Research (CDSR) The Center for Defense Systems Research acts as a one-stop shop for Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and university collaborations at the UTEP, leveraging federal, state and private research dollars with academic resources to improve national security. Amount requested: $2,000,000 Digester Scrubbing and Co-Generation at Waste Water Plant Funds would be used to design and build a digester gas scrubber and co-generation plant to remove harmful contaminants from biogas and convert methane in the biogas into useful electricity and heat. The plant would then use the electricity and heat to reduce the plant’s energy bills and carbon footprint, significantly improving the plant’s air emissions by sequestering harmful contaminants in the biogas and safely disposing of them. Amount requested: $6,000,000 Distributed Antenna System (DAS) University Medical Center (UMC) of El Paso is the area’s only not-for-profit, community-owned hospital providing health care for El Paso’s most vulnerable populations. Funding would be used to purchase equipment to support the broad spectrum of wide-area and local-area wireless services. Amount requested: $1,000,000 El Paso County Drug Treatment Program The funding would be used hire a new magistrate judge and clerk to help with the overwhelming workload and to assist the County in providing necessary treatment, medication, housing, education and evaluations to participants in a novel drug rehabilitation program organized and monitored by the 243rd Adult Drug Court. Amount requested: $805,000 El Paso County Environmental Infrastructure Program Funding for this project will be used to carryout much needed water and sewer line improvement projects across El Paso County, such as replacing dilapidated drinking water transmission lines and sewer lines. Other improvements include updating valves, fittings, and appurtenances, and replacing antiquated collector sewer lines in order to reduce ground water infiltration and alleviate line breaks. Amount requested: $8,100,000 El Paso Police E-ticketing Project The City of El Paso is currently instituting an e-ticketing pilot program and is requesting funds to purchase 300 handheld e-ticketing data devices and software for every patrol car in El Paso as well as accompanying training for patrol officers. Amount requested: $4,879,537 El Paso Regional Alternative Fuels Refueling Network The funding would be used for the purchase and installation of biodiesel (B-20) and natural gas fuel storage and dispensing equipment to supply public access fueling as well as expanded fueling options for emergency responders. The public access B-20 facilities proposed in this request will be strategically located at existing El Paso County facilities and/or truck stops around the community. Amount requested: $3,335,220 Floodplain Management Study for Northwest El Paso, Texas The funding would be used to prepare a feasibility study that aims to create a floodplain management plan, as well as examine structural and non-structural solutions to existing flooding problems. Economic and environmental impacts are to be determined within the feasibility study. Amount requested: $300,000 Fort Bliss Chapel Complex A new 35,000 square-foot chapel complex on East Fort Bliss is required to support the expansion of the base. The chapel will include a worship center with flexible seating to accommodate up to 1,191 people, an activity center with kitchen, religious education areas, a baptistry, a resource center, a sacristy, and administrative spaces. Amount requested: $15,500,000 Fort Bliss Data Center Fort Bliss will receive the largest influx of personnel growth due to BRAC realignments. With a current Information Technology (IT) user base of less than 10,000 today, a Fort Bliss end state is predicted to be in the 50,000+ range. Under current plans the personnel will double by this coming summer and growth is expected to continue over the next five years. Current IT infrastructure and enterprise services simply will not support the immediate or long-term growth rates; funds are not planned or obligated in the amounts required for adequate information support expansion projects. Amount requested: $2,500,000 Fort Bliss Rail Yard Improvements Due to increased requirements for deployment capacity at Fort Bliss, railroad improvements are needed including the extension and connection of dead-end tracks, the addition of North Rail access to Union Pacific Track, and the addition of two loading spurs with aprons. This construction supports the Army’s long term plans for rail expansion at Fort Bliss. Amount requested: $23,000,000 Fort Bliss Renewable and Alternative Energy Initiative Fort Bliss is striving to optimize the use of its unique geography and weather opportunities to maximize base use of renewable energy. This initiative provides flexibility for Fort Bliss to coordinate the integration of various electrical generation engineering projects, electrical storage and transmission projects, and integration of renewable energy into the existing grid. Amount requested: $2,500,000 Haan Road Reconstruction and Widening, Planning and Design The reconstruction and widening of a section of Haan Road on Fort Bliss has been identified as a high priority - but currently unfunded - project. Planning and design funds will allow the post to move forward with efforts to widen a one mile portion of Haan Road from a two-lane road to four lanes. The road will connect East Fort Bliss where a majority of soldiers will work and live to the main cantonment area and a new Lifestyle Center which includes the base commissary, exchange, and uniform store. Amount requested: $1,000,000 Hospice Inpatient and Education Center Hospice El Paso provides supportive services to patients’ family members, including caregiver training, counseling and support, family grief counseling and support, and supportive social services and provides community education programs to enhance and strengthen community awareness of end-of-life issues, including end-of-life and palliative care, medical, legal and final planning issues. The funding would be used to renovate 11,798 sq. ft. of unused space to create a 10-bed inpatient hospice care unit and 114-seat education center. The inpatient hospice care unit will provide acute hospice care to terminally ill patients for the purpose of managing acute pain and symptoms, providing a transition from the acute hospital setting and respite care for terminally ill patients. Amount requested: $1,998,405 Housing Complex in Chamizal Area HERO is a broad-based nonprofit organization that is a local developer of affordable housing and rural community-economic development. The funding would be used to cover the predevelopment costs associated with converting 20,000 sq. ft. of unused property into new low-income housing units in the Chamizal neighborhood. The development of the property would create economic opportunities and development for low income residents. Amount requested: $100,000 La Fe Preparatory School Enrichment Program The La Fe Preparatory School (LFP) is beginning a campaign to enhance the school’s facility to allow for increased student and community engagement in literacy, music and arts, and civic engagement. The funding would be used to purchase technology equipment, support the school’s music and arts program, and acquire a school bus. Amount requested: $240,000 Lower Rio Grande Resources Conservation Program This program allows for the rehabilitation of irrigation conveyance systems along the Texas-Mexico border to provide flood protection; protect primary water and wastewater treatment plants from flood damage; conserve water through reduction of evaporation and seepage losses; and facilitate capture and reuse of excess and storm water. Projects may include lining of existing canal sections with impervious liner like concrete; replacement of existing canal sections with pipe; replacement or rehabilitation of check structures; and the construction of regulating reservoirs and associated inlet and outlet structures and pumping facilities. Amount requested: $10,000,000 Medical Center of the Americas Foundation Biomedical Research and Technology Commercialization Park- Building I The MCA is requesting funding for the predevelopment costs for a new building. Requested funds would cover the design, engineering, environmental studies, and project management. The first building in the Biomedical Research Park will be approximately 80,000 square feet. Space will include office suites, principal investigator offices, laboratories, core bench research facilities, prototyping laboratories, vivarium facilities and flex space that can be built out for specific tenants’ needs. The facility will be the first of a series of at least three research and technology commercialization buildings developed at the MCA. Amount requested: $1,650,000 Medical Center of the Americas (MCA) Foundation Community Research Advancement Database The MCA Foundation was formed to improve access to quality health care in the Paso del Norte region by building a better health care infrastructure, providing superior health care educational opportunities and bringing researchers and providers to the region. The funding would be used to create a knowledge management system that will catalog all regional life science research assets and assist in collaboration among regional researchers. Amount requested: $500,000 Mercado Mayapan La Mujer Obrera is a community-based organization in El Paso, Texas dedicated to improving the economic, educational, health and living conditions of low-income Hispanic women and their families in El Paso through a variety of educational and social enterprise programs including the Mercado Mayapan. The funding would be used to support staff salaries and benefits, space costs related to operating the Meracado Mayapan facility, leasing of shared equipment, program supplies and program support costs. Amount requested: $300,000 National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) - Judicial Training, Research, and Technical Assistance Project NCJFCJ is a national non-profit, judicial membership organization which provides state-of-the-art training, technical assistance, publications, and research to judges and to court systems each year. The funding would be used to provide continuing education, training, technical assistance and research services to judges, probation officers, attorneys, mental health, detention, and child welfare representatives to improve juvenile justice outcomes. Amount requested: $3,000,000 North American Border Crossing Mobility Index Delays due to congestion at our land ports of entry can result in increased transportation costs and interruptions in manufacturing and delivery cycles and can have a negative impact on economic activity along the border. This initiative would develop standardized, automated methods to measure total border crossing times for commercial and passenger vehicles across major U.S. land border crossings as well as identify appropriate technologies to measure border crossing times to help provide drivers and shippers with accurate, real-time information to allow them to make planned, informed decisions about when to cross. Because the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez region has the largest volume of passenger vehicle crossings and the second largest volume of commercial crossings along the southern border, the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) has chosen the area to begin this initiative. Amount requested: $600,000 Open Source Lab for Law Enforcement Funding for this project will continue to support the Open Source Intelligence Lab within the Criminal Justice Program at UTEP. This project is developing a Latin American Database to support law enforcement agencies along the U.S.-Mexico Border. Amount requested: $3.21 million Photo Voltaic-Therm Solar System The funding would be used to replace 85 obsolete solar panels at the County detention center with a state of the art hybrid photovoltaic-thermal generation array which will produce electricity and hot water by utilizing solar energy. The electricity produced will be used by the facility, thereby reducing demand from the local electrical utility, especially during peak demand times. The hot water produced will be used throughout the facility in shower, laundry, and cooking areas, and will replace or supplement the existing hot water generating system. Amount requested: $600,000 Project ARRIBA (Advanced Retraining & Redevelopment Initiative in Border Areas) Project ARRIBA works with local employers to address the region’s workforce shortages and identifies high growth jobs that pay a living wage of at least $11 per hour and offer benefits such as health care. Project ARRIBA provides workforce training through two local partners, UTEP and El Paso Community College, and offers added benefits of increasing student retention, graduation, and job placement rates. The funding would be used to provide workforce training for qualified individuals living at or below the federal poverty level that will lead to employment in careers that are in high demand for this region. Amount requested: $1,000,000 Public Safety Radio Interoperability System Federal mandates require the El Paso Police Department to convert from an analog to digital voice system. This new digital system will allow local responders to communicate with regional and state partners. Funds will be used to make this transition, allowing this project to move forward at a time when interoperable border communications are a necessity for our homeland security efforts on the southern border. Amount requested: $15,180,000 Re-Evaluation Report for the City of El Paso, Texas Rio Grande Basin, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas (Section 729) Study The Rio Grande Basin is located in the states of Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, and encompasses an area over 160,000 square miles, from Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. Water conveyance and delivery, ecosystem degradation, and flooding are major issues in the basin. Water supply and flood control in the basin are under the jurisdiction of an international treaty, an interstate compact, and several Federal, State and local agencies. The study will identify ways to integrate the programs, policies, and resources of all concerned agencies into a multi-objective water resources plan. Amount requested: $750,000 Rio Grande Environmental Management Program, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas (Sec. 5056) This program was authorized in Sec. 5056 of the Water Resource Development Act of 2007 to carry out a program in the Rio Grande Basin for ecosystem restoration, planning, construction, and evaluation of measures for fish and wildlife habitat rehabilitation and enhancement. The authority also provides for long-term monitoring, a computerized data inventory, and performing analysis, applied research, and adaptive management. Amount requested: $8,000,000 Rio Grande Environmental Management Program, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas (Sec. 5056)- Language Request This program was authorized in Sec. 5056 of the Water Resource Development Act of 2007 to be carried out in the Rio Grande Basin starting in fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2011. It provides for ecosystem restoration, planning, construction, and evaluation of measures for and fish and wildlife habitat rehabilitation and enhancement. The program calls for a plan for long-term monitoring, a computerized data inventory, and performing analysis, applied research, and adaptive management. This request is to extend the life of this authorization through fiscal year 2015. Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research and Policy (SCERP) SCERP is a consortium of five U.S. universities (UTEP, ASU, NMSU, SDSU, and Utah), and their five Mexican partner universities, that researches ways to address the environmental problems that threaten the health, safety, and well-being of more than 15 million people living along the U.S.-Mexico border, contributing to better public health and mitigation of environmental contamination. All SCERP activities involve university students, helping them to better serve their community. The consortium’s activities complement the U.S.-Mexico Border 2012 program and the activities of U.S. EPA Regions 6 and 9. Amount requested: $5,000,000 SEED The SEED program works in collaboration with El Paso Community College and other educational institutions to implement specialized training programs serving Latin America and the Caribbean to promote greater mutual understanding, strengthen democratic values, and support sustainable development. The funding would be used to expand the SEED program into other Latin American countries. Amount requested: $5,000,000 Solar Project at Kay Bailey Hutchinson Desalination Plant The funding would be used to build a 1,300 KW photovoltaic (PV) project that will reduce the cost of energy needed to power the desalination plant, resulting in decreased operating costs which will translate into lower costs to customers. The project will reduce the carbon footprint of the plant as it will produce zero emissions. The photovoltaic facilities will be located on Fort Bliss property and will enhance Fort Bliss’ designation as the Army’s Center for Renewable Energy. Amount requested: $8,000,000 Sparks Colonia Feasibility Study The Sparks Arroyo is a major drainage area on the east side of El Paso County, Texas which is highly erodible and carries significant levels of silt and debris that often plug the drainage culverts under Interstate 10. A major rainstorm in 1998 caused severe flooding and temporarily closed Interstate 10, the only major commercial east-west link in El Paso County. The area also experienced severe flooding in August 2006 when El Paso County was declared a federal disaster area. The feasibility study will develop proposed solutions to the current flooding problem that is negatively impacting the quality of life, transportation and commercial activity in the effected area. Amount requested: $200,000 Sustainable Agricultural Freshwater Conservation (TX) Funds would be used to continue to investigate basin-wide watershed management planning, support research to better characterize aquifer and in-stream interactions, research agricultural, municipal, recreational, and industrial use considerations and explore novel response measures involving high-priority in-stream flows and invasive species. Project would maintain link between ongoing research and outreach emphasizing sustainable use of Rio Grande Basin resources through national and international outreach efforts of the Rio Grande Research Center at SRSU. Amount requested: $2,021,000 Teaching Educators and Counselors How to Embrace Wraparound (TEACHER) The funding would be used to provide developmental training to administrative staff, counselors, teachers and leaders from various school districts to help address the mental health needs of students in the classrooms. The plan is focused on improving specific areas of a child’s life that need improvement such as family, living situation, financial, educational/vocational, social, emotional, psychological, health, legal, cultural, and safety. Amount requested: $585,000 Texas AgriLife’s Efficient Irrigation for Water Conservation in the Rio Grande Basin Research Project This is the research component of a collaborative work and education initiative involving the Texas A&M University System and New Mexico State University. The research component of this project deals with studying salinity, sourcing, and other hydrology issues. Started in FY 2001, this project focuses on reducing the amount of irrigation water needed to produce crops economically, conserve water and help meet rapidly expanding urban water demands. Activities funded would cover all 31 Texas counties and all nine New Mexico counties in the Rio Grande Basin watershed. Amount requested: $2,000,000 Texas AgriLife’s Efficient Irrigation for Water Conservation in the Rio Grande Basin Extension Project This is the extension component of a cooperative research and education initiative involving the Texas A&M University System and New Mexico State University. The project focuses on reducing the amount of irrigation water needed to produce crops economically, conserve water, and help meet rapidly expanding urban water demands. The extension component is the live-practice piece of this research-extension project, providing training, education and technical assistance to agricultural producers, urban residents and municipal water system operators, teaching them about irrigation system efficiency. Extension activities funded by the project cover all 31 Texas counties and all nine New Mexico counties in the Rio Grande Basin watershed. Amount requested: $3,500,000 Texas Tech Center for Border Health Research The funding would be used to develop a high-level genomics core facility that will expand diabetes and obesity research. It will allow the center to purchase major items of biomedical research equipment that will become part of the shared core equipment laboratories in the Texas Tech Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. The equipment is required to carry out basic, translational and clinical research projects by the faculty. Amount requested: $2,000,000 Texas Tech Infectious Disease Research The Alliance of Partners Initiative The Bi-National Sustainability Laboratory core mission is to effect sustainable change in economic development by fostering technology-based, sustainable economic development of the U.S.-Mexico border region. The funding would be used to initiate a new transformational economic development strategy focused on the Paso del Norte region. Amount requested: $1,000,000 The Paso del Norte Children’s Development Center for Northeast El Paso The Paso del Norte Children’s Development Center is a health service provider dedicated to helping children with disabilities in El Paso, Texas and the Fort Bliss military reservation. The funding would be used to establish a new facility that serves the needs of children with disabilities in northeast El Paso. Amount requested: $4,100,000 United States-Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment The funding would be used to initiate and conduct scientific research to systematically assess priority transboundary aquifers, providing a scientific foundation for state and local officials to address pressing water resource challenges in the U.S.-Mexico border region. Investigators will partner with the U.S. Geological Survey and border Water Resources Research Institutes and collaborate with appropriate state agencies and Mexican counterparts. Amount requested: $5,000,000 Universal Freight Shuttle: Cross-Border Goods Movement Implementation Analysis Funding for this project will be used to perform a detailed feasibility analysis of the implementation of the Universal Freight Shuttle (UFS) in the El Paso region to expedite and better control the cross-border shipment of freight between the United States and Mexico. The system will be aimed at solving the congestion, air quality, safety and security issues now associated with international goods movement. VIVA Texas: A Latina Outreach Initiative VIVA Texas is an initiative to adapt Girl Scouts’ services and operations to better recruit and serve Latina members and volunteers. Total Latina membership is currently at 10 percent and with more resources VIVA Texas will see even greater and long-lasting success. The funding would be used to recruit, train, and sustain a strong Girl Scout base of membership within the Latina community. Amount requested: $500,000 NATIONAL PROJECTS Education for Democracy Act Education for Democracy Act programs promote an understanding of and commitment to the fundamental values and principles of American constitutional democracy as expressed in such seminal documents as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution , the Bill of Rights, and the Gettysburg Address. They also promote students' capacities to participate competently and responsibility in the political life of their communities and the nation. The funding would help ensure the programs continue educating American students about the fundamental ideals of our nation and assisting emerging democracies in establishing a political culture supportive of democratic values, principles, and institutions. This program is available for use at schools across El Paso, Texas. Amount requested: $35,000,000 Reach Out and Read promotes early language and literacy development and school readiness. Pediatricians and other healthcare providers guide and encourage parents to read aloud to their children from their earliest years of life, and send them home from each regular checkup with a new book and a prescription to read together. The funding would be used to support the ongoing literacy efforts of Reach Out and Read, including distributing books to low-income children at clinics. Reach Out and Read serves 4,600 children in El Paso, Texas at six different locations. Amount requested: $10,000,000 Reading is Fundamental (RIF) Reading is Fundamental is the nation’s oldest and largest children’s literacy organization, reaching children of all ages in every state, in a variety of settings including schools, community centers, migrant labor camps, and hospitals. The funding would be used to help the program continue its literacy outreach efforts which include providing free books to low-income children. Reading is Fundamental serves 36,505 children in El Paso in 96 different sites. Amount requested: $25,000,000 Related Documents:
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House OK's $700 million for border region
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