For Immediate Release

July 26, 2005

NEW EPA INITIATIVE TO CENTRALIZE
PUGET SOUND RESEARCH, ACTIONS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After more than 25 years of studies and targeted pollution cleanup efforts at various locations around the Puget Sound ecosystem, a broader effort will be launched within the Environmental Protection Agency to address the health of the entire marine environment in western Washington, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said Tuesday.

            Modeled after EPA’s comprehensive environmental planning and pollution control programs in the Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes, the designation of a specific “Puget Sound Program” within the agency’s budget “will elevate our regional effort to a higher national significance, with specifically directed agency resources and a more urgent mandate for action,” said Rep. Dicks.

            The congressman, who serves as the ranking Democratic member of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, said he added $2 million to the EPA’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year as well as language directing the agency to establish a comprehensive and focused Puget Sound strategy and action plan. The final version of that appropriations bill was completed today, following a meeting of a House-Senate conference committee.

            Particularly because new Washington Governor Christine Gregoire has identified the effort among the state’s highest environmental priorities, Rep. Dicks said that the new program will assume close cooperation with the Washington State Department of Ecology, which has the primary authority for statewide pollution control efforts and which will administer the EPA funds.  “This will allow us to adopt a more thorough and coordinated approach to researching and protecting the water quality and the overall condition of the Puget Sound marine ecosystem,” the congressman said.

            An essential component of the new initiative will be the work that is taking place to address the specific pollution issues affecting Hood Canal, which has suffered in recent years from a diminished amount of dissolved oxygen necessary to sustain the estuary’s fish and shellfish populations. In the past two years, both Congress and the state government have directed substantial research funding to survey the causes of the Canal’s decline, and upon taking office earlier this year Governor Gregoire sought to increase state funding for the effort. The Hood Canal program will get another boost in funding from the appropriations bill, which includes a specific $5 million grant in the EPA wastewater budget to assist in the construction of a sewer system from Hoodsport to the Skokomish Reservation, said Rep. Dicks.

            The Interior spending bill for the next fiscal year also includes another incremental boost for the operations of the National Park System, a high priority for Rep. Dicks and for the Subcommittee Chairman, Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC). Rep. Dicks said the final agreement includes $42 million above the level appropriated for the current year to accommodate these costs and to provide for a steady level of full-time and seasonal workers at the parks. The amount represents a four percent increase above the base level of park funding for the next year, he said.

            After surveying the operations accounts of the major National Parks and historic sites, Dicks and Subcommittee Chairman Charles Taylor (R-NC) found that most parks had reduced staff or left vacant positions unfilled because of the cumulative impact of budgets that failed to include fixed cost increases. “At some parks, the decline was dramatic and it seriously affected the quality of the visitor experience that citizens should expect,” Rep. Dicks said.

            The Interior bill that was completed today also includes another increment of funding --$5 million -- for the Elwha River restoration project, which will involve the removal of two dams that have blocked fish passage along the Elwha River since the early 1900s. Since most of the habitat along the river has been protected within Olympic National Park, the project offers one of the most environmentally-significant fishery habitat restoration projects in the nation, Rep. Dicks said.

            The appropriations bill also funds the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which conducts important research and monitoring of earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic events, among other functions. Following the disastrous impact of the South Asian tsunami in December, and with increased seismic activity on Mount St. Helens in Washington State around the 25th anniversary of the volcano’s eruption, Rep. Dicks noted that the USGS budget contains a $6.28 million boost for the agency’s monitoring activities. The USGS budget also includes another $500,000 increment for its contribution to the research involved in the Puget Sound Initiative, addressing pollution-related problems.

            In addition, Rep. Dicks said that the appropriations bill adds $14.307 million for reconstruction of the Henry M. Jackson Visitors Center at Mount Rainier National Park, in addition to $7.9 million to rehabilitate Paradise Inn, both located at the 5,400 foot level of Mount Rainier.  Another $2.25 million was provided in the bill for acquisition within the Hanford Reach National Monument/Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, which was established in 2000 to manage the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River.

            Finally, two other land acquisitions in Washington State were approved as part of the Forest Legacy program within the budget of the U.S. Forest Service:  $1.63 million for purchase of lands in the Carbon River Forest and $2 million for acquisition in the Cedar-Green Forest.

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