Volume 164, No. 75 covering the 2nd Session of the 115th Congress (2017 - 2018) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Senate section on pages S2593-S2594 on May 9, 2018.
More than half of the Agency's employees are engineers, scientists and protection specialists. The Climate Reality Project, a global climate activist organization, accused Agency leadership in the last five years of undermining its main mission.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS
The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:
POM-219. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature of the State of Louisiana urging the United States Congress to allow for variances on certain projects regulated by the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 41
Whereas, the federal Clean Water Act establishes a program to regulate the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands; and
Whereas, the federal Rivers and Harbors Act requires authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the construction of any structure in or over any navigable waters of the United States, the excavation and dredging or deposition of material, or any obstruction or alteration to a navigable water; and
Whereas, protection of the coast and mitigation of wetland loss is vital to the future of this state and the many projects designed to protect and preserve the state's coast invariably require dredging, obstructing, or altering of waters of the United States; and
Whereas, the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act mandate that local, municipal, and state projects aimed at mitigating coastal wetland losses require permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and
Whereas, like federal law, Louisiana law requires compensatory mitigation at a level sufficient to replace the ecological value of the wetlands lost as a result of permitted projects, but allows for variances to this requirement when the permittee has demonstrated that the required mitigation would render the proposed project impracticable if the project has a clearly overriding public interest; and
Whereas, the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act do not allow for such variances when a project to mitigate coastal wetland loss is being considered, even when that project has a clearly overriding public interest; and
Whereas, in an effort to help the state protect its valuable coast and wetlands, federal law should allow for a variance for a project that has a clearly overriding public interest. Therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Legislature of Louisiana memorializes the Congress of the United States to allow for variances on certain projects regulated by the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act. Be it further
Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution shall be transmitted to the secretary of the United States Senate and the clerk of the United States House of Representatives and to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United States Congress.
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POM-220. A resolution adopted by the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urging the Secretary of Health and Human Services to select former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove and the former Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster and Horsham, Warrington and Warminster Townships for an exposure assessment and study on human health implications of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances contamination; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
House Resolution No. 682
Whereas, The United States military used foam containing perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid
(PFOA), unregulated contaminants, in firefighting training at two former bases, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove in Horsham Township, Montgomery County, and Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster in Warminster Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; and
Whereas, The former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove is the location of Horsham Air Guard Station, an active base of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard; and
Whereas, The chemicals have appeared in elevated levels in public and private water wells; and
Whereas, PFOS and PFOA are ``extremely persistent in the environment and resistant to typical environmental degradation processes,'' according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has also stated: ``The toxicity, mobility and bioaccumulation potential of PFOS and PFOA pose potential adverse effects for the environment and human health''; and
Whereas, A growing body of science has established associations between PFOS and PFOA and a range of health effects, including a variety of cancers; and
Whereas, The chemicals were first discovered in local public water supplies near the former military bases by an EPA testing program, resulting in several public water wells being taken offline; and
Whereas, On May 19, 2016, the EPA issued an update to its health advisory for PFOS and PFOA that significantly reduces the amount considered safe in drinking water: in the worst possible case, water containing the chemicals at an amount previously deemed safe would now be more than eight times over the recommended limits; and
Whereas, The new recommended levels have resulted in officials from the Horsham Water and Sewer Authority, Warminster Municipal Authority and Warrington Township Water and Sewer Department shutting down contaminated public drinking water wells, including 16 municipal wells in Horsham, Warrington and Warminster Townships and nearly 150 private wells; and
Whereas, Section 316 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115-91, 131 Stat. 1283 requires the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct an exposure assessment of at least eight current or former domestic military installations known to have perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) contamination, which includes PFOS and PFOA, in addition to commencing a study on the human health implications of PFASs contamination in sources of water and relevant exposure pathways; therefore be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to select these two installations and Horsham, Warrington and Warminster Townships for the exposure assessment and the study on human health implications; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, to the presiding officers of each house of Congress, to each member of Congress from Pennsylvania, to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services and to the United States Secretary of Defense.
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POM-221. A resolution adopted by the City Council of South Portland, Maine memorializing its opposition to any plan or legislation that would open the coast of Maine to offshore drilling for gas and oil; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
POM-222. A petition from a citizen of the State of Texas relative to an amendment to the United States Constitution; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
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