Congress: What's Ahead

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• Morris Udall, a Democrat from Arizona, has submitted a bill (HR 3208) that would increase appropriations to $450 million—from the present allocation of $100 million—for structural improvements to 48 federal dams in the western U.S. Udall states that the modifications are needed because the dams were built before current natural disaster prediction techniques were developed . . . and none of the dams would, at present, be capable of withstanding a major flood or earthquake.

• Lobbyists are pressing for an extension on the 1984 deadline for the cleanup of polluted river systems . . . stating that the EPA has yet to issue guidelines. Also up for discussion is the question of whether the EPA or the individual states should decide how thoroughly industry must detoxify chemical wastes before dumping them into municipal sewage treatment systems.

• The House and the Senate both have written bills (HR 3432 and S 1095) that would establish a national water policy board to operate independently of the Interior Department. The measures appear to represent a strong bipartisan effort to prevent Interior Secretary James Watt from dominating water policy.

• In related action, both the House Interior and the Senate Energy Committees are working on revisions of a law enacted in 1902 which furnishes inexpensive, federally subsidized irrigation water to western states. Currently the law specifies that the subsidy does not extend to property of over 160 acres, but many legislators consider this figure unrealistic today, and efforts are being made to increase the maximum acreage covered by the law.

• The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is also up for reauthorization in 1982, and is expected to spark vigorous debate. As you know, the law was enacted to prevent the extinction of plant and wildlife species (and some scientists predict that one-fifth of all the species now on earth could disappear by the year 2000). The Reagan administration is expected to ask Congress to give higher vertebrate forms protection priority over invertebrates ... a proposal that angers environmentalists.

• Congress has until June 1 to decide whether to permanently ban oil and gas exploration (which will be allowed until January 1, 1984) in wilderness areas.

• Yet another bill has been written that would extend the 1984 deadline for mineral exploration in wilderness areas, as well. A related piece of legislation asks that controls be tightened for royalty collections on oil and gas produced from federal lands.

• Finally, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) is up for reauthorization in 1982. This law—originally enacted in 1947, with numerous amendments passed in subsequent years —details the standards, restrictions, and import/export considerations for such toxic chemicals.

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