July 22, 2010

Interior Bill Adds Funding for Puget Sound Cleanup

Rep. Norm Dicks has included another significant boost for the Puget Sound pollution cleanup effort in next year’s Interior funding bill.   In legislation approved by the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee today, the congressman added another $50 million as part of his effort to expand the federal government’s research and remedial work on Puget Sound, the nation’s second largest estuary. 

For many years, Rep. Dicks, the most senior member of the Interior funding panel in the House, has been working with the Environmental Protection Agency and with congressional committees to elevate the agency’s priority for environmental restoration efforts in Puget Sound, with the goal of placing the Pacific Northwest’s largest inland water body on a funding par with the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program and the Great Lakes restoration. He launched the first specifically-designated Puget Sound Program within the EPA budget in 2005.

In July 2009 Rep. Dicks –then Chairman of the Interior & Environment Appropriations Subcommittee—increased the government’s commitment from $20 million the previous year to $50 million in the current year. Today’s subcommittee approval of the Fiscal Year 2011 bill “continues the agency’s enhanced effort to address pollution issues and improve conditions for salmon and other marine life throughout the Puget Sound ecosystem,” Rep. Dicks stated. 

Also included in the Interior funding bill for next year was another $20 million increment in the budget of the National Park Service for the Elwha River restoration program, now underway, that will remove the two dams on the river and restore the historically-abundant salmon producing capability throughout the Elwha watershed. Dam removal activity is expected to begin in 2012.

In considering the Interior bill Thursday, the panel also added language that continues a longstanding moratorium on oil and gas leasing off the Oregon and Washington coasts, first added by Rep. Dicks to the annual interior funding bill for Fiscal Year 1990. 

Another effort begun by Rep. Dicks in the Interior bill is the “Legacy Roads and Trails” program within the Forest Service budget.   He started the effort in order to address critical maintenance and restoration needs on roads and trails within public lands, especially forest roadways that pose risks to water quality and threatened or endangered wildlife species.   “This program has been essential for improving water quality in rivers and streams throughout the Northwest, including many in sensitive areas on the Olympic Peninsula,” Rep. Dicks said.   The FY 2011 appropriations bill approved today provides $90 million for the Legacy Roads program in the upcoming year. 

Rep. Dicks, a longtime supporter of the arts and humanities, said he was also pleased that the appropriations bill includes a total of $170 million for the National Endowment for the Arts and a similar amount for the National Endowment for the Humanities. The budget of each agency was increased from $167.5 million in the current year.


Home >> Newsroom

 

Follow Norm's RSS Feed Follow Norm on Facebook
Follow Norm on Twitter Follow Norm on LinkedIn

Privacy Policy

Site Map

 

Washington DC
2467 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5916

Tacoma
1019 Pacific Ave. Suite 806
Tacoma, WA 98402
Phone: 253-593-6536

Bremerton
345 6th Street, Suite 500
Bremerton, WA 98337
Phone: 360-479-4011

Port Angeles
332 East 5th Street
Port Angeles, WA 98362
Phone: 360-452-3370

 
Toll Free Number: 1-800-947-NORM (947-6676)