Volume 146, No. 33 covering the 2nd Session of the 106th Congress (1999 - 2000) 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 S1595-S1596 on March 22, 2000.
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-440. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of the State of Washington relative to pipeline safety; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Senate Joint Memorial 8017
Whereas, Ensuring the safety of citizens residing near pipelines carrying hazardous substances and protecting the surrounding environment from the deleterious effects of pipeline spills are vital state and local responsibilities, yet the oversight of interstate pipelines has been largely preempted by federal law; and
Whereas, Several significant pipeline spills have occurred in Washington State in recent years, including a major petroleum spill in the City of Bellingham, resulting in a fire which killed three people and destroyed much of a city park; and
Whereas, Washington Governor Gary Locke thereafter formed a study team of local and state fuel accident response agencies, which in course of numerous meetings, briefings, and public hearings learned that current federal oversight of pipeline safety is inadequate in many respects; and
Whereas, Washington State through its Legislature and Governor are developing a strong, coordinated program of state and local oversight of pipeline safety that will be well integrated with concurrent federal oversight; and
Whereas, such a program cannot be fully implemented without action by the Congress and the President to modify existing statutes and provide necessary administrative and budgetary support: Now therefore,
Your Memorialists respectfully pray that:
(1) The Congress enact legislation amending the federal Pipeline Safety Act (49 U.S.C. Section 60101, et seq.) to allow states to adopt and enforce standards stricter than federal standards where to do so would not interfere with interstate commerce;
(2) Such Act be further amended to allow states at their option to seek authority to administer and enforce federal pipeline safety standards;
(3) As an interim measure pending congressional consideration of such legislative enactments the President direct the federal Office of Pipeline Safety to grant authority to states that qualify to enforce federal standards; and
(4) The Congress increase funding to assist states in responding to pipeline accident emergencies, to implement pipeline safety measures, to support states with delegated authority to enforce federal standards, and to the Office of Pipeline Safety for additional research and development of technologies for testing, leak detection, and oversight operations, be it
Resolved, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable William J. Clinton, President of the United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.
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POM-441. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of the State of Washington relative to the environmental clean-up project at the Hanford site; to the Committee on Appropriations.
House Joint Memorial 4022
Whereas, the United States government in the throes and peril of World War II and the following cold war did confiscate and use five hundred sixty square miles of desert on the banks of the Columbia River in Washington State, which came to be known as the Hanford site, to produce plutonium for use in nuclear weapons, which did not contribute to bringing both wars to conclusion; and
Whereas, The peace and well-being of the citizens of the United States was furthered for over forty-five years by the work done at the Hanford site; and
Whereas, The Hanford site is now the nation's biggest environmental clean-up project; and
Whereas, Sixty percent of the nation's defense nuclear waste is stored at Hanford in one hundred seventy-seven underground storage tanks, most of which are beyond their design life, and one-third of which have leaked one million gallons to the ground; and
Whereas, The tanks are seven miles south and ten miles west of the Columbia River, the largest river in the Pacific Northwest and a national treasure; and
Whereas, The site is currently in the process of cleaning up the legacy left by the above stated work, which was in the best interests of the American people; and
Whereas, The Hanford site is the only one of the United States Department of Energy sites without a waste treatment facility; and
Whereas, The Department of Energy Office of River Protection was created by Congress in 1998 to manage all aspects of the tank waste remediation project; and
Whereas, Full funding of this environmentally necessary clean-up effort is imperative and overdue: Now, therefore
Your Memorialists respectfully pray that, with due respect for other clean-up projects' needs, full funding as necessary to build a vitrification treatment plant, retrieve waste from the tanks, feed waste into said vitrification treatment plant, and dispose of resulting glass logs be forthcoming on schedule to meet the negotiated dates contained in the Tri-Party Agreement between the Washington State Department of Ecology, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the United States Department of Energy, be it
Resolved, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable William J. Clinton, President of the United States, the Secretary of the Department of Energy, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.
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