From the Office of Senator Kerry

Thursday, October 26, 2000

The Senate passed by unanimous consent Monday the conference report to legislation, S. 835, aimed at restoring one million acres of estuaries over the next decade. The House is expected to approve the measure Wednesday.

The legislation dates to the fall of 1997, when the late Sen. John Chafee (R-R.I.) stood on the shore of Narragansett Bay and announced introduction of what became the Estuary Habitat Restoration Partnership Act. The bill was changed -- mainly through the addition of other pieces of legislation -- and renamed the Estuaries and Clean Waters Act by the time the Senate acted Monday.

The core of the bill remains the same -- establishment of a five-year program by which the federal government promotes and tracks estuary restoration. The conference report compromises between the House funding level of $200 million and the Senate's $315 million, agreeing to $275 million that will go as grants to local groups involved in coastal conservation.

"Nearly 75% of the nation's commercially important species of marine fish and shellfish and 80-90% of recreationally important species depend on estuaries and other shallow inshore waters for spawning, nursery, migration, feeding, and ultimately for survival. We are at a critical juncture today: the nation has lost more than half its original wetlands to development, endangering thousands of species of marine fish and invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Wetlands serve as a crucial bulwark against severe storms, reduce the severity of flooding, purify water by removing sediments and nurtients, prevent erosion, and supply a major source of food to fish populations on the continental shelf. I am pleased that the Senate passed this legislation we backed to restore over 1 million estuaries over the next 10 years, a critical victory in the battle to preserve our wetlands," said Senator John Kerry

Conferees also agreed that just one council, rather than two, will be set up by the legislation to guide the estuary restoration process. The council will consist of the heads of relevant federal agencies; the Army Corps of Engineers ultimately will decide which projects get funded, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will set up a database to monitor the projects. The bill mandates cost sharing by local groups, but the proportion is lower for projects focusing on technologically innovative restoration.

Beyond the new estuary program, the conference report includes reauthorization of the Chesapeake Bay Program under the Environmental Protection Agency at $40 million annually for FY '01 through FY '05. Reauthorization of EPA's National Estuary Program is also included in the report. The program is hiked from $12 million to $35 million annually for FY '01 through FY '05, and funding of estuary management, rather than just plans for it, is allowed for the first time. Lake Pontchartrain, in Louisiana and Mississippi, is added to the program as a nationally important estuary.

The conference report also came to include $40 million annually through FY '05 for Long Island Sound restoration, $75 million for FY '02 through FY '04 for pilot programs on alternative water sources, $50 million annually through FY '05 for the Clean Lakes Program, and $156 million through FY '05 for cleanup around the Tijuana River near San Diego. All those provisions began as free-standing legislation.

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