Volume 145, No. 131 covering the 1st 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.
“NO EPA OR IBWC EXTORTION” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H9238 on Oct. 1, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
NO EPA OR IBWC EXTORTION
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about a situation in San Diego, California on the border with Mexico, and I rise to object to a move by our very own Environmental Protection Agency to attempt to block a plan, a plan to treat 50 million gallons a day of raw sewage that flows from Mexico into the United States, a plan that was unanimously supported by this House of Representatives. The plan involves treating Mexican sewage that is flowing into the United States in Mexico. What can make more sense?
But the EPA supports a less comprehensive plan to build sewage treatment ponds in the United States. And to get its way, the EPA seems to be extorting support for the U.S. plant from Mexico. In fact, the EPA has told Mexico that if the sewage treatment ponds are built in the United States by their plan, rather than the House of Representatives plan, the EPA would have $9 million left over to help Mexico with Tijuana-area sewage projects. And if the treatment plant were to be built in Mexico, according to the plan approved by this House, with a private firm's money, EPA says Mexico gets no money from the U.S. Government for their infrastructure needs.
Mr. Speaker, that simply does not make sense. It is extortion, if I may speak bluntly. If a private firm builds a plant in Mexico, then the EPA would have its entire fund of $54 million available for infrastructure improvements in the Tijuana/San Diego area. It is hard to believe that the Environmental Protection Agency would not even consider working together with Mexico in this way to solve an international problem.
And to make matters worse, the International Boundary and Waters Commission, known as the IBWC, is a partner in this extortion. This is the bureaucratic sabotaging of a plan that the House voted unanimously to pursue. It thwarts the Mexican government's fair and open review of a proposal that promises environmental benefits to the United States and clean water for Mexico.
It is an outrage, Mr. Speaker, that this win-win international solution for the problem of sewage that has plagued us and our area for 50 years may never be fully explored. The EPA has a 2-year history of obstructing the consideration of any other proposal to conduct sewage treatment at our border. Mexico is where the sewage starts and Mexico, by right, owns the water from any treatment plant. Why is the EPA opposed to building treatment ponds, then, in Mexico? I cannot understand how an agency such as EPA, which I support in the main and which is charged with protecting the environment of the United States, can be preventing a long-term or comprehensive solution to this problem.
The gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) and I share the problem of Mexican sewage on the beaches and in the riverbeds of our districts. We have asked EPA, we have asked IBWC to work with us and to work with this House to solve the problem. We want those agencies to assure the Mexican government that they can undertake a fair review of this House's proposal without facing the possibility of loss of infrastructure help. We want the Mexican government, as supported by the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) and myself and hopefully with EPA and IBWC, to get Mexico to do a fair, objective review of this proposal and tell us how long it would take and what steps have to be done to implement it.
{time} 1330
Mr. Speaker, the bureaucrats in EPA and IBWC have employed spectacularly poor judgment on this issue. Let us hope that they come to their senses soon. We look forward to continuing to work with them to create a long-term solution that will protect the environment of our districts in San Diego, of the international border in the southwest corner of our Nation.
____________________
Alerts Sign-up