President Obama will meet with hundreds of tribal leaders in Washington, D.C. November 5th, 2009.  The President had committed to an annual meeting with tribal leaders during his 2008 campaign and is fulfilling his promise. This historic meeting will coincide with the National Congress of American Indians’ Grand Opening of the Embassy of Tribal Nations on November 3rd and a tribal leaders meeting on November 4th.

NWIFC Chairman Billy Frank encouraged tribal leaders to go to Washington as a united Indian Country to begin and carry on a meaningful government-to-government consultation process with the President and his Administration.” Representatives of 564 federally recognized American Indian tribes have been invited to the summit. According to the White House, the Nov. 5 session is part of the president’s sustained outreach efforts.  ”I look forward to hearing directly from the leaders in Indian Country about what my Administration can do to not only meet their needs, but help improve their lives and the lives of their peoples,” Obama said in a written statement.  ”This conference will serve as part of the ongoing and important consultation process that I value, and further strengthen the nation-to-nation relationship.”  Obama’s session will not be the first White House meeting with all of the tribes. In 1994, then-President Bill Clinton held what was billed as a “listening conference” for leaders of all of the tribes. Held at the suggestion of Wilma Mankiller, who was then principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the session was believed to be unprecedented.  “I hope and trust that natural resources and the environment will factor in as one of the top discussion items at this summit,” said Frank. “It would be very appropriate for the tribes to continue to present themselves as good stewards and natural resource managers with never-ending connections with the land.”

Download the entire Federal Update as a PDF, including Priority Bills: November 2009 Federal Update (138)

The President will deliver opening and closing remarks and participate in an interactive discussion with tribal leaders. Other interactive discussions in the areas of economic development and natural resources; public safety and housing; and education, health and labor will be led by representatives from the highest levels of the Administration.  Expected Administration officials include: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden, HUD Deputy Secretary Ronald Sims, DHS Deputy Secretary Jane Lute, Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli, and Indian Health Service Director Dr. Yvette Robideaux. The White House Tribal Nations Conference will also be streamed live at www.whitehouse.gov/live.  Please check back on the day of the event for the final schedule.

NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH, 2009
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

The indigenous peoples of North America — the First Americans — have woven rich and diverse threads into the tapestry of our Nation’s heritage. Throughout their long history on this great land, they have faced moments of profound triumph and tragedy alike. During National Native American Heritage Month, we recognize their many accomplishments, contributions, and sacrifices, and we pay tribute to their participation in all aspects of American society. This month, we celebrate the ancestry and time-honored traditions of American Indians and Alaska Natives in North America. They have guided our land stewardship policies, added immeasurably to our cultural heritage, and demonstrated courage in the face of adversity. From the American Revolution to combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, they have fought valiantly in defense of our Nation as dedicated servicemen and women. Their native languages have also played a pivotal role on the battlefield. During World Wars I and II, Native American code talkers developed unbreakable codes to communicate military messages that saved countless lives. Native Americans have distinguished themselves as inventors, entrepreneurs, spiritual leaders, and scholars. Our debt to our First Americans is immense, as is our responsibility to ensure their fair, equal treatment and honor the commitments we made to their forbears. The Native American community today faces huge challenges that have been ignored by our Government for too long. To help address this disparity, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allocates more than $3 billion to help these communities deal with their most pressing needs. In the Fiscal Year 2010 budget, my Administration has proposed over $17 billion for programs carried out by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service, and other Federal agencies that have a critical role to play in improving the lives of Native Americans. These programs will increase educational opportunities, address the scourge of alcohol abuse and domestic violence, promote economic development, and provide access to comprehensive, accessible, and affordable health care. While funding increases do not make up for past deficiencies, they do reflect our determination to honor tribal sovereignty and ensure continued progress on reservations across America. As we seek to build on and strengthen our nation-to-nation relationship, my Administration is committed to ensuring tribal communities have a meaningful voice in our national policy debates as we confront the challenges facing all Americans. We will continue this constructive dialogue at the White House Tribal Nations Conference held in Washington, D.C., this month. Native American voices have echoed through the mountains, valleys, and plains of our country for thousands of years, and it is now our time to listen.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2009 as National Native American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to commemorate this month with appropriate programs and activities, and to celebrate November 27, 2009, as Native American Heritage Day.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

-BARACK OBAMA

APPROPRIATIONS

Congress has cleared for the President’s signature the fiscal 2010 Interior-Environment spending bill and its extension of current stopgap funding. In an unusual display of coordinated bicameral action, both chambers have just approved the conference agreement — the House by a 247-178 vote and the Senate in the same day by a 72-28 vote. The measure carries an extension of current stopgap funding for those government agencies whose spending bills haven’t yet been enacted into law. With the current CR expiring midnight on October 31, the agreement extends that stopgap funding until December 18. The Interior-Environment bill is the fifth of 12 fiscal 2010 spending bills to be enacted into law. Two bills, Defense and Transportation-HUD, are pending formal conference action, and five others have yet to be passed by the Senate. This is good news to Northwest tribes as the bill contains the full $12 million increase in the BIA Rights Protection Account that Congressman Norm Dicks originally inserted in the House Bill.  It also contains the significant increase to BIA’s Hatchery Maintenance Account.  In addition it contains the $50 million mark for the restoration of Puget Sound.

House debate on the Interior-Environment agreement largely focused on the bill’s $32.2 billion discretionary cost. Republicans called the bill’s 17 percent increase excessive, with top GOP appropriator Jerry Lewis of California deeming it “irresponsible, especially in light of the fact that Congress must soon consider legislation to increase our national debt limit — this time to over $13 trillion.” Ranking subcommittee Republican Mike Simpson of Idaho said that “while this conference agreement tackles many challenging issues, it also assumes that more money is the answer to every problem we face.” Noting that the bill received a 13 percent increase last year as well as $11 billion from February’s economic stimulus package, he said, “I just don’t believe that a $4.7 billion, or 17 percent increase, over last year makes sense.” Rep. Norm Dicks, who chairs the Interior-Environment Appropriations Committee, countered that the increase was needed as “a catch-up” after years of being underfunded during the Bush Administration. Dicks said that from 2001 to 2008, when inflation is factored in, funding had decreased by 16 percent for the Interior Department, by 29 percent for the EPA and by 35 percent for non-firefighting activities of the Forest Service. “So this bill had been hammered,” Dicks said. “So I felt this was a restoration budget by the Obama Administration, and this is their first budget on Interior, and I think it was justified in every sense of the word.”

To clear the measure in the Senate, Democrats had to once again garner 60 votes to waive a Senate point of order against the CR extension being added in conference. Republicans in both chambers objected to the Democrats’ inclusion of the CR in the measure, saying it should be considered as a stand-alone measure. Such a point of order was raised and narrowly waived by a 61-39 vote during floor consideration of the Legislative Branch spending bill conference report, which included the original CR. On that vote, Republican appropriators Thad Cochran, R-MS, and George V. Voinovich, R-OH, joined with the Democrats (who lost the vote of Wisconsin’s Russ Feingold) to keep the CR in the legislation. However, after Arizona Republican John McCain raised the Rule 28 point of order against the Interior-Environment conference report for containing the CR, no Republicans came to the aid of Democrats — forcing Democrats to generate all 60 votes on their own. The vote to waive the point of order, and thereby keep the CR in the agreement, was successful via a straight party line 60-40 vote.

The overall FY 2010 Appropriations Process is slowly winding down (although we’ve heard the Senate has scheduled to resume consideration of the CJS bill this week). White not exactly on schedule, it still has the potential to be finished much sooner than in the recent past. Time will tell. The Senate has reordered its work and brought the Energy and Water Appropriation bill to the floor, due in part to a failure to invoke cloture on Senate debate over the Commerce, Justice and Science bill. Congress has now cleared just five of the 12 regular appropriations bills — Interior-Environment, Agriculture, Energy-Water, Homeland Security, and Legislative Branch. Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel K. Inouye, D-HA, earlier this week said he believed that this year’s appropriations process, which is likely to include a year-end omnibus of those bills that couldn’t be enacted individually, would be wrapped up by early December. As mentioned, the CJS bill was pulled back. Once it is resolved on the floor it will go through the conference process. The Senate version will be about $600 million higher than the House version. The Commerce, Justice and Science bill will contain new funding for the PST Annex and funding to restore the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund Account, but the current House and Senate numbers vary. The Administration has requested, and the House has included $16.5 million for the PST Annex work, including $7.5 million for the Puget Sound critical stocks work as identified through the Annex negotiations. The House has also included about $10 million for Mitchell Act hatcheries, which benefit tribes through Columbia River fish production. The Senate, however, has only included about $10 million for the PST Annex, far short of the President’s request, and none for the Mitchell Act needs. They will have to sort this out in conference. The Senate has included $80 million for the PCSRF account and retained the past language that guides the fund distribution. The House, however, included only $50 million for salmon (and $10 million for stocks at risk) and clarifying language. Tribes have made their preference for the Senate amount and language well known so now it’s a matter of waiting to see the conference outcome.

JEFFERSON KEEL ELECTED NCAI PRESIDENT

During the NCAI’s 66^th Annual Session in Palm Springs in October, Jefferson Keel, Lt. Governor of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, was elected President. Keel has served as NCAI’s First Vice-President since 2005.”Unity is the only way we will make progress, and I pledge to work together to seize the opportunities that are before all of the Tribal Nations,” Keel said upon being elected. Keel is a retired U.S. Army officer with over 20 years of active service. He earned a bachelor’s degree from East Central University and completed his Master of Science degree at Troy University. He has background experience in social services and tribal health programs. Keel is in his third elected term as Lt. Governor of the Chickasaw Nation. In addition, Juana Majel-Dixon, Councilwoman for the Pauma Band of Mission Indians was elected First Vice-President; Theresa Two Bulls, President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, was elected Recording Secretary; and W. Ron Allen, Chairman of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe was elected Treasurer. NCAI will also conduct the opening blessing of the new Tribal Embassy on Saturday, Nov. 3, 6:30-10 a.m. at 1516 P Street NW in Washington DC (open to tribal member only).  A host of other events is available at www.ncai.org.

ENERGY-WATER AGREEMENT

With the Energy-Water agreement, the hydrogen industry stands to benefit. The conference report would restore $106 million to a hydrogen fuel cell research program that the President Obama tried to slash. And industry backers know just who to thank — Byron L. Dorgan, D-ND, Chairman of Senate Energy-Water Appropriations. He has championed hydrogen fuel cell technology for years, especially since he began earmarking millions of dollars over the past five years for construction of a National Center of Hydrogen Technology at the University of North Dakota. Federal spending on hydrogen fuel cell research soared under Bush. Many scientists — including President Obama’s Energy secretary, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu — question the value of investing in hydrogen fuel cells. They say the expensive, unproven technology would require such a transformation of U.S. energy infrastructure that it is unlikely ever to have an impact on the U.S. auto market.

GET OUT THE RED PEN

The U.S. government has made it official—the cost of change and recovery from the recession is adding more zeroes to the federal deficit. CBO is expected to set the 2009 deficit at about $1.4 trillion and at $9.1 trillion over the next decade, in line with estimates that were made in early October. This is not only the first time the annual deficit has spilled into 13-digit territory, but the number also marks a threefold increase over last year’s then-record deficit of $459 billion. Administration officials pin much of the increase on a recession-driven drop in tax collections, the Wall Street bailout, the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the economic stimulus plan.

INOUYE JOINS BYRD AS ONE OF THREE LONGEST-SERVING SENATORS

Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel K. Inouye, D-HA, has joined Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., and the late Strom Thurmond, R-SC, in the trio of longest-serving U.S. senators. A senator since 1963, Inouye won praise for his work in the chamber and for what Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, called a “remarkable American story.” “Daniel Inouye may be the only American who saw with his own eyes the smoke from Pearl Harbor and the black smoke that rose from the Pentagon on” the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill. Several senators touched on Inouye’s early life — teenage volunteer helping out after the Pearl Harbor attack, war service in Europe that cost him an arm. Inouye “fought for our country while fellow Japanese-Americans were being interned in our country,” said Daniel K. Akaka, D-HA. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-NJ, said he, Akaka and Inouye are the Senate’s three remaining veterans of World War II. Senators also noted Inouye’s work over the years as a lawmaker on behalf of the military. He is a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor as well as many other distinguished citations. McConnell said that Inouye earlier this month traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan. “It was an arduous journey for anyone, let alone a senator who has served so long,” he said of Inouye, who is 85. Inouye’s term of Senate service on Thursday passed that of the late Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who had served 46 years, nine months and 19 days. Senator Inouye has, of course, also had a highly distinguished career from the perspective of the tribes, have spoken on behalf of the tribes on hundreds of occasions in committees and the Senate floor. He has visited tribes throughout the country and stood with them through thick and thin, earning tribal honors far exceeding those of any other American politician in history.

WARMING UP

The Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee is holding its first hearing today on a global warming bill, with a witness list that includes Energy Secretary Chu, Interior Secretary Salazar and Transportation Secretary LaHood. Sen. John Kerry, D-MA, said the legislation he sponsored would lead to higher energy costs in the short run but will create jobs and help protect national security. Among the critics Kerry will have to try to appease is Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, who said this morning that while climate change was a serious issue, “we also can’t afford the unmitigated effects of climate-change legislation.”

CRUISE SHIP ACT INTRODUCED

Congressman Sam Farr, D-CA has introduced the “Clean Cruise Ship Act,” a bill aimed at limiting damage caused by cruise ship pollution. The legislation will strengthen the Clean Water Act to create coastal zones where cruise ships are prohibited from dumping waste, strengthen current waste treatment standards and increase surveillance to ensure compliance by the industry. The bill was also introduced in the Senate by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL. “Big cruise ships make for big pollution, it’s an unavoidable truth,” Rep. Farr said following the bill’s introduction. “Unfortunately, responsible disposal of that waste hasn’t always been a given. The cruise ship industry is way overdue to take responsibility for its actions. It’s ironic that the cruise industry relies on a clean ocean and pristine coastlines for its livelihood, but doesn’t put in the effort to sustain them. This carelessness must not be allowed to continue.” Laws currently allow cruise ships to dump untreated sewage three miles from shore, a danger to health, environment and economy. Rep. Farr’s legislation would increase the anti-dumping zone to 12 miles from shore and would require waste treatment beyond 12 miles. The bill also creates an observation and monitoring program.

“A recent report on the cruise industry’s environmental performance clearly shows that not all companies are making an equal effort to safeguard the ocean waters on which they depend,” Rep. Farr said. That report card, issued by Friends of the Earth, ranks the major cruise companies according to their efforts to reduce their environmental footprint. It is available online at http://www.foe.org/cruisereportcard. “If the whole industry followed the positive lead of some of the higher-scoring cruise companies, this law wouldn’t be necessary. Since they haven’t, Congress must take action to protect our waters.”  NWIFC Chairman Billy Frank, Jr. said, “Hopefully this act will help protect our ocean and coastal waters and the communities that use them by the cruise industry’s irresponsible dumping. Of course, we’d prefer that any waste being dumped into the ocean be fully treated. But, by introducing this bill, Congressman Farr may continue his long and substantial legacy as a champion for our oceans.”

MAGNUSON-STEVENS FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT ACT HEARD

The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, chaired by Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo, D-GU, has conducted an oversight hearing on the implementation of the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 2006 (PL 109-479). The Subcommittee explored the progress made by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Regional Fishery Management Councils in setting annual catch limits and accountability measures to end overfishing and rebuild overfished fish stocks, as required by the MSFCMA.  The hearing focused on how annual catch limits are set, efforts to improve the type and quality of information that informs management decisions, and successes and challenges of implementing annual catch limits and accountability measures. Visit the Committee’s Web site at http://resourcescommittee.house.gov to access witness testimony.

SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER AND POWER

The Subcommittee on Water and Power held an oversight hearing on “Water Management and Climate Variability: Information Support at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Bureau of Reclamation.”  The USGS and the Bureau of Reclamation are responsible for the collection and management of water resource data.  The National Research Council recently completed their review of the USGS water management program and has identified specific recommendations for ensuring data integrity and accessibility.  The oversight hearing focused on whether the agencies are collecting the right information and whether it is adequate for use by water managers and the general public.  Visit the Committee’s Web site to access witness testimony.

SENATE STILL APOLOGIZING

The Senate has voted, again, to apologize to Native Americans for historical injustices. The Native American Apology Resolution has been attached to a defense appropriations bill, extending a formal apology from the US to tribal people nationwide. It aims to make amends for years of “ill-conceived policies” and acts of violence against Native Americans by U.S. citizens. It also asks President Obama to “acknowledge the wrongs of the US against Indian tribes” to encourage healing. The President was asked earlier this year by grassroots groups to apologize specifically for atrocities carried out on Indians who attended boarding schools, often forcibly. Obama has not yet said if he will take such action. The Senate resolution does not authorize or serve as a settlement of any claim against the U.S., and it does not resolve many challenges still facing Native Americans. Comparable legislation has been introduced in previous sessions of Congress, even passing the Senate in 2008, but no bills have been signed into law.

HOPI’s/NAVAJO’s vs. ENVIRONMENTALISTS

The battle waged against a major coal company by Hopi and Navajo activists and against large environmental groups by tribal officials has intensified the conflict playing out in northern Arizona over the control and use of cultural and natural resources.  The Hopi tribal council, challenged in political infighting, said the Sierra Club, National Resources Defense Council, National Parks Conservation Association, Grand Canyon Trust, and “on-reservation organizations sponsored by or affiliated with the groups, are no longer welcome on the reservation.” The announcement triggered sharp prepared responses from opponents of wider strip mining atop Black Mesa, an area sacred to traditionalists. The ousted organizations were singled out for reportedly asking EPA to study Navajo Generating Station’s possible contribution to smog over the Grand Canyon, raising red flags about economic loss if the plant were to close. A controversial expanded mining permit approved last year ensures a coal supply for the plant’s continued operation. The Hopis are trying to clear the hurdles blocking a life-of-mine permit to continue the destructive surface mining activities which have already destroyed an untold number of archaeological sites, burial grounds, rock art, and cultural resources.”

Tribal efforts were successful in the restoration of the Pacific Salmon Treaty funding for FY09 in its entirety ($1.772m)–a significant accomplishment with a coordinated effort from the NWIFC delegation, Columbia River Inter-tribal Fish Commission and Chairman Ron Allen.  A lot of credit for this success goes to Mary Jane Miller of the BIA Central Office who was able to secure these funds and OMB support, a challenging task. With the restoration of these funds, the FY ’09 BIA Fish and Wildlife Fund is at the FY ’08 level, with the exception of a $500,000 increase for hatchery maintenance.

NOAA’s approved spending plan included an increase to $80 million for the PCSRF in FY09, (the previous amount was $67 million), which will likely result in an increased tribal allocation. The State of Nevada is now being added to the mix to get salmon into the Owyhee watershed.  Bringing Nevada into the picture, which should have little impact on funding in other states, was essentially a result of a deal between Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA and Sen. Harry Reid, D-NV. The original authorizing language has also changed. Previously the language provided funds to support salmon habitat restoration, salmon stock enhancement, salmon research and supplementation activities.  New language is more directed toward providing funds to support ESA, tribal treaty fishing rights and habitat restoration.  This will probably affect Alaska more than other states.

FISH AND WILDLIFE AND THE STIMULUS BILLS The following additions, among others, are currently included: Department of Agriculture: $50 million for watershed rehabilitation programs; NOAA: $400 million for habitat restoration and mitigation activities; Fish and Wildlife Service: Additional $300 million for projects on National Wildlife Refuges, National Fish Hatcheries, etc.; BIA: $500 million for critical deferred maintenance projects: EPA: An additional $8.4 billion for State and Tribal Assistance Grants for Clean Water State Revolving Funds under title VI of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, etc.; Forest Service: Additional $650 million  for reconstruction, capital improvement, decommissioning, and maintenance of forest roads, bridges and trails; alternative energy technologies, removal of fish passage barriers, watershed projects, etc.

OBAMA’S FY ’10 PRIORITIES One of President Obama’s priorities in his FY ’10 budget is, as he says, to “lay the foundation for a secure and lasting prosperity.” To help achieve that, he is proposing major investments in clean energy (as well as education and health care). “We invest in the renewable sources of energy that will lead to new jobs, new businesses, and less dependence on foreign oil,” he said recently. “And that’s what clean energy jobs and businesses will do all across America.” For more information, click on this link to his March 24 news conference:         http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51253&id=15806-5461912-f7ucBJx&t=4

With Congress pushing back against his proposals for energy and other matters, President Obama is taking a bend-but-don’t-break posture. He will compromise on certain details if he must, but not on the heart of his key initiatives. His strategic retreats are a nod to political reality. He is angling to avoid confrontations he probably can’t win, but to sacrifice no more than is absolutely necessary. On energy, for instance, influential Democratic lawmakers have joined Republicans in opposing Obama’s bid to reduce greenhouse gases through a program that would let companies buy and sell a limited number of permits to pollute. “When it comes to cap and trade,” the president said, using the proposal’s nickname, “the broader principle is that we’ve got to move to a new energy era. And that means moving away from polluting energy sources towards cleaner energy sources. I think cap and trade is the best way,” Obama said, but he stopped well short of insisting on it.

OCEANS 21, (H.R.21) Five years after the Pew Environmental Group and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy issued reports saying the oceans are sick-enough time for significant hypoxia and toxic problems, massive fish kills and runaway acidification to compound, it appears to some that Congress may finally be poised to take some definitive action.–a statement made by Chris Mann, Director of the Campaign for Healthy Oceans for Pew’s Ocean 21 program a year ago. It was then that the U.S. House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans marked up the Ocean Conservation, Education, and National Strategy for the 21st Century Act (OCEANS 21). “To date, this bill represents the most comprehensive package of ocean conservation reforms recommended by two blue-ribbon panels. OCEANS 21 establishes a national policy to protect, maintain and restore the health of our marine ecosystems. It creates a process by which federal, state and local government (did not mention tribal) agencies can better coordinate their activities to achieve goals and milestones for improving ocean health.” He said the bill also gives NOAA, for the first time, a clear, statutory mission to carry out ocean observation, research and conservation.

“For too long, decisions affecting our oceans have been made with little regard for the health and productivity of the broader marine ecosystem. OCEANS 21 will change that,” Mann said that in April, 2008. More recently he said, “Oceans provide us the beaches and waves that Americans flock to all year round. But they also feed the world, regulate our climate, provide jobs and transportation, produce oxygen and shelter half of the world’s species. Most of us never even see below their surface, but our oceans are in a silent state of collapse. We drill them for oil and pollute them with waste. We change their temperature and chemistry through global warming and ocean acidification. We’ve pushed 75 percent of the world’s fisheries to or beyond the limits of sustainability, and 90 percent of large ocean predators have simply disappeared. Marine scientists have called the changes we are seeing in our oceans “the rise of slime”-where jellyfish, algae and bacteria take over ocean areas that no longer contain and can no longer support other forms of life. But although our oceans are in trouble, right now we have no comprehensive, national law to protect and restore them. Instead, they are managed by 140 different laws and 20 different agencies, each with diverging goals and conflicting mandates.  To save our seas, we need a Healthy Oceans Act similar to the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act.” Not long ago, Pew commenced a national campaign to encourage people to get their congressional representatives to sign on as co-sponsors of the bill, and as a result, Oceans 21 currently has 40 co-sponsors. (Although 15 of them are from California and three are from Oregon, none are from Washington.)

Now a word of some caution–Oceans-21-the Oceans Conservation, Education and National Strategy for the 21st Century Act, may be legislation in many ways long past due, but it does have some particular focus on fishing and it does propose a national network of marine protected areas. Tribal participation in the legislation may be advisable and/or needed, to assure protection of tribal fisheries management interests as well as assure tribal participation in research, monitoring and other aspects of both contemporary and traditional science related to the protection and restoration of ocean health.

ENERGY DEVELOPMENT ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF The fight to protect marine habitat goes on. The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources and the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife has held a joint oversight hearing on “Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf and the Future of our Oceans.”  The purpose of the hearing was to examine how offshore energy development can co-exist with healthy, productive oceans.  Witnesses discussed efforts to plan and site future offshore oil and gas and renewable energy installations within the larger context of ocean planning (often referred to as Marine Spatial Planning).  Ironically, the hearing coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill of March 24, 1989.  Witnesses did discuss the lingering effects of that disaster, as well as other environmental concerns associated with offshore oil and gas production. Visit the Committee’s Web site to access witness testimony.

CHARGES AGAINST TED STEVENS DROPPED

The government has dropped corruption charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens, R-AK, because prosecutors withheld potentially exculpatory evidence from his lawyers. Stevens, who was convicted in late October on charges of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts and favors on Senate financial disclosure forms, had not yet been sentenced. “I always knew that there would be a day when the cloud that surrounded me would be removed,” Stevens said. “That day has finally come.” Defense lawyer Brendan Sullivan said the case provided “a warning to everyone. Any citizen can be convicted if prosecutors are hell bent on ignoring the Constitution and willing to present false evidence.”

PUBLIC LANDS SERVICE CORPS ACT

Chairman Rep. Nick Rahall, D-WV and National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-AZ, have introduced the “Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2009″ (H.R. 1612), legislation intended to help repair and restore public lands, while employing and training thousands of young Americans and promoting a culture of public service.  The legislation would expand and reinvigorate an existing program, the Public Lands Corps, by modernizing the scope of corps projects to reflect new challenges – such as climate change – adding incentives to attract new participants, and paving the way for increased funding.  Visit Congressman Grijalva’s Web site to view the press release with additional information.

REP. DICKS: JUST PAYING HIS DUES?

Congressman Norm Dicks, D-WA, was in the news recently for getting questionable campaign checks from two supporters in Florida, a golf-club marketer and a wine steward. Details weren’t clear but the Floridians may have posed as lobbyists. Or they may have been conduits for too much campaign cash. The FBI’s on the case. Although it’s doubtful he did anything illegal, accepting funds from contributors so far away might raise a few eyebrows. But, as many know, that’s the way Congress works. It’s a fundraising machine. The heads of influential committees are expected, almost required, to raise as much money as possible from people they scarcely know. He’s literally got to pay his dues. As the chairman of a congressional subcommittee, Dicks is supposed to pay at least $250,000 in biennial dues to the group charged with electing Democrats to the U.S. House, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Last election Dicks paid $300,000-as much as on his own re-election. Higher-ranking leaders, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, owe dues up to $800,000. The fee for backbenchers starts at $125,000. (It ain’t cheap being a Congressman, especially when you start climbing the leadership ladder.)

LUBECHENCO CONFIRMED TO HEAD NOAA Oregon State University professor Jane Lubchenco, one of the nation’s most prominent marine biologists, has been confirmed as the head of NOAA. Lubchenco, a conservationist who has devoted much of her career to encouraging scientists to become more engaged in public policy debates, is also a vocal proponent of curbing greenhouse gases linked to global warming. The appointment marks a shift for NOAA, which oversees marine issues as well as much of government’s climate work. She has criticized the agency in the past for not doing enough to curb overfishing.

DORGAN SEES NO QUICK FIX FOR LAND-TO-TRUST RULING Don’t expect Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-ND to rush through a fix to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar.  Dorgan, the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, plans to hold a hearing on the decision, which restricts the land-into-trust process to tribes that were “under federal jurisdiction” in 1934. But a spokesperson said a solution won’t be coming soon. Tribes want Congress to amend the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 so that all tribes can benefit. But opponents could use a fix to try and limit tribal rights.

NATIVE WOMAN UP FOR TOP POST AT INTERIOR President Obama plans to name a Native woman to serve as the top legal official for the Interior Department, says Secretary Ken Salazar. Speaking to tribal leaders in Washington, D.C., Salazar said the expected nominee is a member of the Navajo Nation. He didn’t mention her name but sources identified her as Hilary Tompkins, a prominent attorney from New Mexico. “We are just now in the process of getting her vetted,” Salazar said at a summit held by the Council of Energy Resource Tribes. Salazar described Tompkins, who was adopted at birth, as someone Indian Country “can be very proud of.” If nominated and confirmed as Solicitor General of the Interior, Tompkins would be making history as the first woman and the first Native American to serve in the post. Tompkins currently serves as an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law, where she is sharing her experience in tribal-state relations. It’s an area she knows well, having served as chief counsel to Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico from 2005 to 2008 and as his deputy counsel from 2003 to 2005.

EPA: TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS WILL HELP SHAPE POLICIES The new EPA head is reassuring tribes that their voices will help shape environmental policies in the Obama Administration as she announced plans for a fall summit that will bring tribal leaders to Washington. Lisa Jackson, new EPA Administrator, has told NCAI that “the EPA is back on the job” and fully aware of the challenges that affect tribal communities. “Right now, hazardous waste sites and open dumps are rampant in tribal lands exposing their residents to dangerous toxins and possible contamination of land and water,” she said. “Many tribal lands, economies and cultures are being threatened by climate change, from the loss of fish habitats in our rivers and streams.” In the face of these needs, less than 5% of tribes actually implement federal environmental programs.” In urging tribal representatives to join federal efforts, Jackson said she is determined to reach out to the Native community as part of an “EPA-Tribal partnership” that will include a Tribal Leaders Summit in the fall to go with additional funding for drinking water and wastewater facilities and more “green jobs” in Indian Country. To start, she may  move the American Indian Environmental Office from the EPA’s Office of Water, where it has historically resided, to a more prominent place in the head office or as an independent program.

THE SUPREMES RULES AGAINST NATIVE HAWAIIANS The U.S. Supreme Court ruled March 31 in State of Hawaii v Office of Hawaiian Affairs that Congress’ apology for overthrowing the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 bears no moral, political or legal weight in stopping the state from selling 1.2 million acres of land seized during the illegal regime change before resolving land claims by Native Hawaiians. The state petitioned the case last year after the Hawaii Supreme Court issued an injunction prohibiting the state from selling “ceded lands” held in trust until Native Hawaiians’ claims to the land have been resolved. The Hawaiian court based its decision on the Apology Resolution, passed by Congress in 1993 on the 100th anniversary of the destruction of the Hawaiian Nation. The apology acknowledged the illegality of U.S. actions in overthrowing Hawaii’s sovereign government, creating a “provisional government” and 5 years later passing the Newlands Resolution, annexing Hawaii as a territory. The apology recognized that the Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people or over their national lands to the US.

OCEAN ACIDIFICATION-IT’S A HUGE PROBLEM Ask a scientist what Ocean Acidification is and he might tell you it’s the name given to the ongoing decrease in pH of the Earth’s oceans, caused by their uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Ask a fisherman and he’ll tell you it means dead shellfish and fish. Lots of them, everywhere. It’s a problem that’s been compounding for a long time, and now it’s compounding far more quickly and vastly than anyone ever thought possible-everywhere-from every ocean in the world all the way up to alpine lakes. There are bills in Congress intended to deal with this huge issue (namely HR 14 and S 173-please see the bills list), or at least to form a research and monitoring plan, to develop strategies to deal with it. However, neither of these bills, intended to plan a  plan to deal with a problem already so prevalent, have moved since January.

PRIORITY BILLS

111th CONGRESS, APRIL, 2009

(Bills are “linked”…however, if links fail, you can also find them and related information at http://thomas.loc.gov/.  High priority bills are in red. Bills marked with an * are old or Public Lawand will not be included in future editions of Federal Update unless there is further action. All input on recommended positions, etc. is welcome.  Bills in italics were in transition plan. For more information, contact Steve Robinson at 360 528-4347,  Srobinson@nwifc.org. )

Bill-Lnk/Brief             Sponsor/Status              Description

As Federal Update reported last month, the FY-2009 just passed Tuesday, but now that the main stimulus has been passed and signed, an outline of the Obama FY ’10 budget has been released with details yet to come.

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S FIRST BUDGET (FY ’10)

A spate of testimony from Administration officials has hit the hill regarding President Obama’s FY 2010 budget, with OMB Director Peter Orszag leading the charge on the House and Senate Budget Committees.  The $410 billion Omnibus consists of 9 bills, and Republicans are predictably grumbling that the spending’s too high, the taxes are too high, etc. Enactment will complete the regular appropriations process. Orszag appeared alone before four panels – including each chamber’s budget committee, House Ways and Means, and Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs, where he revealed how the Administration will monitor the money being dispersed through the economic recovery law. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, meanwhile, testified before House Ways and Means and Senate Finance, as well as House Budget. Sen. John McCain, R-AR, and even Obama himself said there were too many earmarks, but called it this year’s business and pledged to get more control of those in years to come. He will sign the Omnibus, despite the earmarks, calling it “last year’s business.”  He said “We want to make sure that earmarks are reduced and they’re also transparent,” he said. Meanwhile, back home, we appear to be getting a whopping $1.8 million cut in Pacific Salmon Treaty dollars and we find ourselves hustling about trying to make ourselves whole through other avenues.

THE OBAMA BUDGET AND THE TRIBES

President Obama’s first proposed budget promises FY ’10 increases for Indian education, law enforcement and health care. Although it may again seem to fall well short on natural resources and environmental management, with the exception of energy re-development it does propose $12 billion for the Interior Department as well as other agencies supposed to coordinate natural resource programs. Also, as indicated below, the Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee commended its contribution to natural resource management. In Obama’s own words, his budget seeks to reverse what he called the “misplaced priorities” of the prior administration. He cited “loosened oversight and weak enforcement” of the financial markets amid tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.  ”This is the legacy we inherit–of mismanagement and misplaced priorities, missed opportunities and deep, structural problems ignored for too long. It’s a legacy of irresponsibility, and it is our duty to change it,” said the new President. Rahall said this budget helps get us there.

BUDGET RENEWS PROMISE FOR NATURAL RESOURCES, SAYS RAHALL

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall, D-WV, commended President Obama’s FY 2010 budget proposal for natural resources programs, as the White House embarks on a “New Era of Responsibility” for all Americans. The President’s submitted budget for the Interior Department incorporates principles that have long been advocated by Chairman Rahall. Read more…

Following are some select links from the Presidents Budget message:

President’s Message, Inheriting a Legacy of Misplaced Priorities

Jumpstarting the Economy and Investing for the Future, Conclusion

Department of Commerce, Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency

For more information, please see: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/

THAT SINKING FEELING

Still, though, the hits just keep on coming. The Commerce Department reports the economy sank even deeper into recession at the end of 2008 as consumers sharply cut spending. The economy contracted at an annual rate of 6.2%–the biggest drop in a quarter-century. Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity, and it nose-dived in the last three months of 2008. Spending was down nearly across the board, with Americans cutting back on buying cars, clothes and appliances. Businesses pulled back, too, especially on construction, equipment and computer software. (There weren’t many fish in the rivers either!)

SENATE INDIAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE LEADERSHIP

Even as the Dow keeps dropping, the jobless lines get longer and the new President fills the new Administration and Cabinet as it hits the road running, the new Congress is shifting some name plates around, too. The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs elected its leadership for the 111th Congress February 5. Although Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-ND was chosen to return for another term as chairman,  Sen. John Barrasso, R-WY, was chosen to replace Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, as vice chair. Murkowski recently stepped down from her vice chair post, but she remains a member of the committee. New members of the committee include Sens. Tom Udall, D-NM, and Mike Johanns, R-NB, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-ID, returned to the committee after a brief hiatus.

After the election of chair and vice chair, Dorgan outlined the committee’s priorities for this session: Indian health care, law enforcement, tribal recognition reform, housing, education and prevention of Indian youth suicides. “Too often, the First Americans find themselves getting second class health care, housing, education and other services,” Dorgan said in a statement. “We intend to change that.” Following the business meeting, the committee conducted a hearing called “Advancing Indian Health Care.” Testimony was presented from tribal leaders, Indian health experts and advocates who presented ideas on how to develop a plan to improve access to, and the quality of, Indian health care. Many participants called for passage of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which expired in 2000. Reauthorization cleared the Senate in 2008, but the House failed to take action. The Committee’s calendar, information on members and other information can be found on the committee’s website at www.indian.senate.gov/public . Chief of staff is Allison Binney, 202-224-2251.

BIA ANNOUNCES NEW NATURAL RESOURCES LEADERSHIP TRAINING Apparently not wanting DC, or rather tribes, to be devoid of natural resource/environmental knowledge, the BIA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development George T. Skibine has announced a new effort to recruit and train American Indian and Alaska Native post-secondary students to become Indian Country’s next generation of tribal energy and natural resource management professionals. The Energy Resource Development Tribal Internship Program has been developed through a partnership between the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED), the Council of Energy Resource Tribes (CERT) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to help increase the number of American Indians and Alaska Natives who can effectively manage a tribe’s energy and natural resources. “This internship program will offer an exciting opportunity for American Indians and Alaska Natives interested in the science and engineering professions, two fields where they are traditionally under-represented,” Skibine said. “It will also help tribes by developing a cadre of professionals who have the training and expertise to aid them in managing the development of their energy and natural resources.”

“Tribes are being severely impacted by the inadequate number of available American Indian and Alaska Native energy resource professionals,” said CERT Executive Director A. David Lester. “We anticipate that the Native youth of today will play a critical role in Indian Country’s, and the nation’s energy future as they inherit the responsibility for prudently managing tribal resources. Unless deliberate measures such as this internship program are undertaken to prepare them for such a role, however, we fear that many will be lost to other fields of work unrelated to their major fields of study.”  The program, which will be held annually, is slated to begin this summer and run for 10 weeks. For more information about the internship program, contact  ANL at  630-252-4114 or visit ANL’s website at http://www.dep.anl.gov and click on “Tribal Internships.” Information also can be found on CERT’s website at http://www.certredearth.com.  Deadline for applications is April 3, 2009.

SUPREME COURT UPENDS TRIBAL UNDERSTANDING OF LAND INTO TRUST The Supreme Court has ruled in Carcieri v. Salazar that tribes not under federal jurisdiction as of 1934 cannot follow a longstanding land into trust process administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The ruling, which results from a suit involving the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island, is at odds with many tribal, federal and legal understandings of the Indian Reorganization Act. Tribal and federal lawyers said the decision will likely lead to legal questions over the validity of tribal lands taken into trust since the IRA was passed in 1934. Tribes not acknowledged until after 1934 with pending or future fee-to-trust applications will now have to prove they were under federal jurisdiction in 1934. The decision could result in several states filing lawsuits trying to gain lands that have been taken into trust for dozens of tribes recognized after 1934. Attempts would likely prove unsuccessful, as lawyers have noted that the federal Quiet Title Act does not allow challenges to federal land acquisitions after the fact, except in limited circumstances that do not appear applicable in this case.

PROPOSED GATHERING POLICY WOULD REQUIRE PERMITS IN U.S. FORESTS When tribal ancestors signed treaties with the US, gathering rights were clearly protected under the law. A policy that could affect that gathering in federal forests is now under consideration by the U.S. Forest Service-which has received 140 comments on its most recent version of the national policy on Special Forest Products. Comments requiring permits for all but tribal gatherers should be encouraged, even though the deadline for comments has passed. Comments from individuals, as well as tribes and tribal organizations, should remind agency officials of the importance of gathering rights to tribal traditions. The new Chief of the Forest Service will be the ultimate decision maker on whether to change the policy to address tribal members’ concerns. Comments should be sent to: Chief Abigail Kimbell,  USDA Forest Service, 1400 Independence Ave. SW,  Washington, D.C. 20250. Comments can also be submitted by e-mail to akimbell@fs.fed.us.  For more information on the proposed policy, visit www.ciba.org or contact Jennifer Kalt at jkalt@ciba.org.  For tips on writing effective comment letters, visit the National Network of Forest Practitioners website.

OBAMA NAMES LOCKE COMMERCE SECRETARY President Barack Obama has named former Washington Governor Gary Locke as Commerce Secretary, a third try to fill the critical Cabinet position as he battles to put the brakes on one of the country’s worst economic recessions. Obama tapped Locke, praising him as a public servant who shares the president’s economic vision and who had grown to political prominence from humble, immigrant beginnings. “I’m sure it’s not lost on anyone that we’ve tried this a couple of times. But I’m a big believer in keeping at something until you get it right,” Obama said. His two earlier choices for the post dropped out – New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson in the face of questions about a donor and Republican Sen. Judd Gregg after a change of heart about working for a president from the opposition party – well before the Senate had a chance to confirm them. Among other assets named in Locke’s appointment to head the 40,000 employee agency are his great trade familiarity with China as well as other countries of the Pacific Rim, as well as his familiarity with the fishing industry.

HOUSE NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE AND OFFSHORE DRILLING Rep. Nick J. Rahall, Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources, opened a series of oversight hearings on offshore drilling in February by saying, “Two weeks ago, Ted Danson, Philippe Cousteau and others provided testimony to the Committee predominantly in opposition to expanded drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. Yesterday, representatives of coastal States reminded us that there are more than simply pro and con sides to this issue.  Today, rounding out the debate, we will hear from some of the titans of America’s oil and gas industry. As I have stated repeatedly, I am not opposed to new drilling.  There were no invitations to Northwest tribes to provide testimony to the February hearings. Washington Delegation Member Rep. Jay Inslee is on the committee. For more information, click on:  www.resourcescommittee.house.gov .

CANTWELL CALLS FOR NEAH BAY RESCUE TUG A catastrophic oil spill in Puget Sound would deal a crippling blow to both the environment and the economy of Washington state, according to Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA. Joining State Rep. Keven Van De Wege in a recent press conference in Olympia, the senator took the time to participate in a press conference emphasizing the need for a rescue tug at Neah Bay year-round. Van De Wege (D- Sequim) is sponsoring HB 1409, counterpart to Senate Bill 5344 (sponsored by Senator Kevin Ranker, D-San Juan)-both have passed their houses. The bills would require certain vessels, such as oil tankers, cargo vessels, and cruise ships, to fund a rescue tug that would be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to respond to incidents. Senator Cantwell, who is pursuing rescue tug legislation in the U.S. Congress, praised legislators for taking action this session to protect Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Hood Canal and the Coast from a devastating oil spill. Others who attended the press conference agreed that Washington’s maritime economy makes a permanent rescue tug a necessity. Each year, more than 15 billion gallons of oil pass through the Strait of Juan de Fuca- on tankers, barges, freighters, Navy vessels and cruise ships.

BILLY FRANK TESTIFIES ON CLIMATE CHANGE NWIFC Chairman testified to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, chaired by Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-AR on climate change on March 3 regarding “How Climate Change is Affecting Tribes and What Can Be Done About It.” Frank told members of the committee tribes are hit first and hardest by the impacts of climate change because their cultural resources, foods, water, medicines-”everything that makes us who we are-is hit first and hardest. We live on the oceans and on the rivers. We work hard to protect our people and our resources: But tribes still too often find themselves ignored by their federal trustee, and the states and counties allow people to move in on our lands and overharvest our cultural resources.” Now we fear the impacts of the poisons that fill our  rivers and seas. He said effects of climate change vary from storms to low summer river flows, and called for Congress to uphold the Secretarial Order on the Endangered Species Act, implement salmon recovery plans and support treaty-protected rights, work with tribes on a national energy policy to address climate change, involve tribes in climate change solutions such as carbon offsets and habitat protection and reach out to tribes as governmental partners in addressing the climate change challenge.

PRIORITY BILLS

111^th CONGRESS, MARCH, 2009

(Bills are “linked”…however, you can also find them and related information at http://thomas.loc.gov/. Old bills in 8 pt Italics were identified in transition plan. High priority bills are in red.)

Bill-Lnk/Brief             Sponsor/Status              Description

Negotiators for Congress and the White House worked to narrow differences on an economic stimulus bill on Wednesday in hopes of clearing a bill for President Barack Obama’s signature by week’s end.

After unofficial talks stretching into the late evening on Tuesday, officials announced a formal meeting of negotiators for mid-afternoon in the Capitol.

Democratic aides said that Obama’s negotiating team had prevailed in restoring some lost funding for school construction projects during talks Tuesday, and had also increased aid to state governments above the $39 billion approved in a compromise with a handful of Senate GOP moderates.

Obama’s “Making Work Pay” tax credit would be reduced from $500 per worker to $400, with couples eligible for an $800 credit, instead of $1,000, a Democratic aide close to the talks said. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are private.

Earlier Tuesday, the Senate sailed to approval of its $838 billion economic stimulus bill, but with only three moderate Republicans signing on and then demanding the bill’s cost go down when the final version emerges from negotiations.

Negotiators were working with a target of about $800 billion for the final bill, lawmakers said.

“That’s in the ballpark,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said of the $800 billion figure late Tuesday.

APPROPRIATIONS

The FY-2009 bill is still outstanding and will likely/hopefully be taken up after the stimulus issue is resolved.  The bottom line is that government is still operating on the six month Continuing Resolution that is due to expire in early March. Northwest tribes have some things riding in the Omnibus Bill that hopefully will come through.  If not the Omnibus fails, then a year long CR will be needed to enable us to use FY-08 enacted funds for the budget scheme for the year. As it is, there are three issues in play: the FY ’09 appropriations, the Administration’s FY ’10 budget and our FY ’10 strategy. Natural resource issues have not been addressed in the stimulus package to date, though there might still be some hope in conference for some dramatic change-so far, the honest analysis for tribal natural resources is not positive, although it has been a bit of a zoo in the halls of Congress, which the following articles help describe. The Obama Administration has sent positive vibes to Indian Country, but whether the rubber will meet the road in the tribal natural resource arena definitely remains to be seen.

OBAMA OPPORTUNITIES

This year, unlike many in the past, some very significant opportunities exist due in large part to the election of President Obama and a new and more democratic leaning 111^th Congress, though the republicans have made it clear that they intend to be heard. The “up” changes have transformed government from being the “problem” into being a big part of the solution, although partisanship has reared its ugly head, along with an ugly economy and some unfortunate circumstances, e.g, back tax problems with some of the chosen cabinet members, to possibly create a short “honeymoon” for the Obama Administration. Nonetheless, hopes continue to run high that tribes may finally have an Administration smart enough to have the words tribe, natural resources and environment in its vocabulary. (One of the challenges that could materialize, in fact, is that the word “environment” and those who swing it around may do so without much focus on the fact that treaties are by Constitutional law, the supreme law of the land. President Obama has made it clear that reconstruction of the American economy will emphasize “green” technology-which is a good thing-as long as those advising him remember that he also promised to respect the sovereign rights of the indigenous people, and that these rights are based on the right to fish, hunt and gather.

In concert with the many changes in the nation’s capitol, Northwest tribes (in concert with Great Lakes tribes) have moved natural resource budget and policy issues forward in a coordinated way. As a result, Northwest tribal issues have moved front and center as the new year has begun. Northwest federal transition efforts have dovetailed neatly with the annual budget and appropriation process. Identifying problems is one thing, however; making them a reality is another. Thus, a strong, ongoing strategy is needed. Four foundation elements exist from which to build the Northwest tribal FY 2010 federal appropriation strategy: 1) A good list of funding needs developed for the FY ’09 funding cycle-likely to be similar in FY’10; 2) A coordinated NWIFC/CRITFC tribal budget paper has been constructed which supports new funding for the BIA tribal rights protection account; 3) Information has been provided to BIA and others regarding possible tribal natural resource spending under the economic stimulus program package being considered by the administration and congress and 4) A professionally published transition document that helps tell the tribal story.

Principle objectives include: Enhancing the Western Washington Fisheries Management base by $12 million; building earmarks for TFW of $1.74 million, PST of $1.8 million and Mass Marking of $2.4 million into the FY ’10 President’s budget; seek new tribal shellfish management funds of $4 million and new tribal groundfish management funds of $1.5 million; support the PST Chinook Annex funding request of $97 million; seek new wildlife management funds of $5 million; support the PCSRF fund to the highest achieved level of $110 million; seek$1.5 million for hatchery maintenance/rehabilitation and $3.34 for hatchery reform; seek $62.9 million for EPA gap funding; seek $500,000 in new tribal EPA funding in FY ’10 and $3 million in FY ’11; seek $3.2 million for water resource planning; seek $2 million for tribal participation in the Puget Sound Partnership and $2.57 million in the Coastal Ecosystem Initiative. All of this means a number of trips to Washington DC, coalition building, etc.

THE NEED FOR STIMULUS

“Let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the essential.”

-President Obama comment to Senate Republican critics of his stimulus legislation.

(Democratic leaders have pledged to have legislation ready for Obama’s signature by the end of next week.)

Each time economic numbers come out, the bull whose horns President Obama has eagerly snagged seems to get bigger and bigger and the idea of a presidential honeymoon seems more and more distant. A Commerce Department report just issued reports the economy shrank at a 3.8 percent pace in the final quarter of 2008, the worst showing since the early 1980s-but it wasn’t the worst of the news. Economists said they expect the current quarter, which ends March 31, will turn out to be the worst quarter for this recession. Some economists say they think the economy is shrinking by about 5 percent. Cutbacks in spending were evident across the land, as personal and commercial consumers kept their hands on their wallets. Spending on everything from cars to clothes dipped and overseas sales of U.S. goods seemed to dry into dust. House Minority Leader Boehner was quick to spot an opportunity, using the report to bash congressional Democrats for their handling of the economic stimulus package. “Democrats have taken a go-it-alone approach and produced a trillion-dollar package heavy on government spending but light on jobs,” he said. The question echoes in the minds and hearts of many. Is this a time for party politics?

In the Senate, there are plans for a make-or-break vote on its $820 billion stimulus plan. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the events provide “another chance for the president to talk directly to the American people” about why the stimulus plan is necessary. The two parties demonstrated some wide philosophical gaps on how to address an economic downturn that worsens by the week. Many say the focus needs to be on addressing what they say are the root causes of the recession: housing and financial services. Many have worried that the Senate’s economic stimulus bill fails to adequately address those and other “root causes of the economic slowdown.” Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, defended the Obama proposals in their entirety but added that if republicans have amendments to improve the bill democrats would support them. “The unemployment claims reached 4.8 million . . . the highest on record, and the claims were 588,000 last week,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA. “This underscores the need for us to pass, and pass quickly, boldly the recovery package that passed the House.” Whether heads and hearts can come together remains to be seen, as does the true value of the stimulus package itself.

Those chatting outside of Congress often say Obama’s economic stimulus plan is in trouble. Conservative talking points are dominating the media’s coverage and it’s clear that there’s lots of misinformation around. All this, despite the fact that, as The Nation writes, “If enacted, the economic recovery plan will be one of the biggest and boldest pieces of progressive legislation in the past forty years.” According to advocates, the bill: Creates or saves 3 million to 4 million jobs in the next two years; averts “literally hundreds of thousands of teacher layoffs (doubling funding for the Department of Education); creates 500,000 green jobs and doubles clean energy production and immediately helps the unemployed get affordable health insurance. Underscoring the all-too-often political nature of some critics is their tendency to single out tiny fractions of the bill, such anti-smoking programs (less than one-ten-thousandth of the spending) and make it appear to be the centerpiece of the bill. And so, partisanship does go on. Yet many experts, even John McCain’s economic adviser, estimates that without the stimulus, unemployment would top 11% by 2010, the highest level since the Great Depression-outside of Indian Country that is.

TRIBES GET SOME ATTENTION, GENERALLY SPEAKING

The U.S. House of Representatives approved an $819 billion economic stimulus package along party lines that included nearly $3 billion for Indian Country programs. H.R. 1 will now go to the Senate, where a similar amount has already been approved for inclusion in the stimulus package. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., has announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee had approved $2.8 billion in funding for improvements for Indian health services, education, roads and bridges, water, public safety, and housing. (Included in the appropriation is about $274 million in Bureau of Reclamation tribal water projects; $40 million in Bureau of Indian Affairs irrigation construction and repair; $25 million in BIA dams improvement; and $120 million in Safe Drinking and Clean Water Revolving Funds (the Secretary to fund the tribal set-aside under these revolving funds). Could this be a sign of things to come?

THE OBAMA BUDGET

Unfortunately the new Obama budget will not be submitted as early as promised. Obama’s budget officials say their budget for 2010 won’t be submitted until late March or April.  Rather like President Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Obama intends to release a broad budget framework in mid-to late- February with his full blown detailed budget to come later.

TROUBLE IN RIVER CITY

Faced with questions over non-payment of back taxes, Thomas Daschle, President Obama’s pick for Health and Human Services, has withdrawn his name from consideration. Daschle’s nomination drew praise from Indian Country leaders who felt he would have a better understanding of the health issues facing tribal governments. As a senator from South Dakota and as someone who had served on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Daschle had advocated for more health spending in Indian Country. He was with Obama throughout the campaign, and was a strong advocate for acknowledgement of tribal sovereignty.

Daschle wasn’t the first sign of trouble in President Obama’s cabinet appointments. Unfortunately, another proven friend of the tribes, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson had withdrawn from his pending appointment as Commerce Secretary even before the Obama Inauguration, citing the distraction of a federal investigation into ties to a company that has done business with his state. Richardson stated unequivocally that he and his administration had acted properly in all matters, but that he had concluded the investigation would delay the confirmation process. President Obama’s Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner was approved, but not without a controversial hearing during which he apologized for what he called “careless mistakes” in failing to pay $34,000 in taxes earlier in the decade when he worked at the International Monetary Fund. More recently, the White House accepted the withdrawal of Nancy Killefer’s nomination to be deputy OMB director and the executive branch’s first chief performance officer. When she was nominated, the AP reported that the District of Columbia government had filed a $946.69 tax lien on her home for failure to pay unemployment tax on household help. She paid the lien five months after it was filed. The administration and Killefer had not answered questions about the tax error. There was even controversy over the selection of Larry Echohawk to head BIA, though Senator Daniel K. Inouye, D-HA, himself rose to Echohawk’s defense. “To those who have expressed these doubts, I would suggest that you might consider the personal qualities that a man or woman brings to public service, rather than placing too much emphasis on what he or she has had to do or say in their former official capacities.”

STOCKING THE CABINET

It’s official. President Obama has announced that Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, R-NH is his choice for Commerce secretary. (Food and Water Watch, a fringe environmental organization objected to the choice, calling Gregg a strong supporter of offshore aquaculture which it claims threatens marine ecosystems.) The announcement presumably means Democratic Gov. John Lynch has agreed to nominate a Republican to fill the Senate seat, since Gregg apparently said he wouldn’t take the job if it would give Democrats a filibuster-proof 60th vote in the Senate.

KING COUNTY EXEC TO HUD

King County Executive Ron Sims is going to D.C. to take a job as deputy secretary, No. 2, at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sims is going to Washington, D.C. intending to take a job as deputy secretary, No. 2, at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He needs Senate confirmation. Rumors of his departure have been swirling for months. Sims, a big picture guy, is a passionate booster of mass transit and environmental policies, and has not been shy about supporting many tribal policies. The son of a preacher from Spokane, many have considered him one of the most articulate public officials to serve in the Northwest in recent history.

HOH TRIBE: MOVING TO HIGHER GROUND?

The Hoh Tribe is making a bid to move – not just a few houses but their entire village – to higher ground. If passed as expected, a bill scheduled to be introduced in Congress will award 37 acres of nearby Olympic National Park to the Hoh tribe and allow members to consolidate and place into permanent trusteeship other new lands they have purchased. The move would double the size of the reservation and place its inhabited areas well out of the way of damaging tides, floods and tsunamis.

THE HOUSE NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE-IN REVIEW

So who’s taking charge of natural resource committees in Congress these days. On the House side, the House Committee on Natural Resources is being chaired by Rep. Nick Rahall, D-WV, chairing 49 member committee with quite a few familiar names on it, such as Rep. George Miller from California and Neil Abercrombie from Hawaii. The Washingtonians onboard include a democrat, Jay Inslee, and a republican, Cathy McMorris (Rodgers). Chairman Rahall has expressed delight at the makeup of the new committee, and he’s been keeping them busy. When it came to conducting hearings on offshore drilling, for example, the effort to make up for the shenanigans of yore resulted in a number of all-night commitments and the hearings are just getting started….groups invited to testify so far have been comprised largely of tourism, environmental and fishing groups-no tribes. However, they’re expected to go well into March. In January, Chairman Rahall introduced a joint resolution invoking the Congressional Review Act to overturn the highly controversial gutting of ESA, pushed through by the Bush Administration during its waning days in office.  H.J. Res. 18 seeks to overturn the last-minute action by the Bush Administration to do away with the ESA’s cornerstone Section 7 consultation process, a move that essentially gives federal agencies an unacceptable degree of discretion to decide on their own whether or not to comply with the law. He has also called for the replacement of the current U.S. Commissioner to the International Whaling, amid growing criticisms that holdover political appointees of the Bush Administration were  proposing to dismantle the current worldwide ban on commercial whaling.  To stay connected with committee  live and archived video and audio webcasts, consult:  http://resourcescommittee.house.gov.

On the Senate side, a primary committee of interest to tribes, including natural resource-related issues, is the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, chaired by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D, ND. He, and other such members as Sens. Daniel Inouye, Daniel Akaka, Tim Johnson, Tom Udall and John McCain have all championed various tribal issues through the years. The only Washingtonian on the committee is Sen. Maria Cantwell, a senator whose accolades in Indian Country may have been in somewhat short supply overall, but who does have some related credentials, such as her current fight to keep a year ’round rescue tugboat at Neah Bay.  The Committee, while still getting organized, should proved to be a good focal point for tribal natural resource business, although it will be necessary to assure that treaty harvest rights and protection are fully considered as important environmental issues are considered.  Tribes have history of opposing offshore drilling because they realize the destruction that can be caused by an uncontrolled drilling industry. Thus, it is no doubt good news that the committee will continue its full oversight hearings on the issue well into March. The next hearings will be Feb. 24 and 25, both at 10 a.m., in the committee’s hearing room  1324 Longworth Office Building (witnesses are still TBA). For more information, stay tuned to Federal Update, or check into http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php.

IT DOESN’T HURT TO REVIEW

To view Obama’s pledge on tribal sovereignty, the trust responsibility and other principles in his tribal platform, click here: Preserve Sovereignty and the Trust Responsibility.

PRIORITY BILLS

111^th CONGRESS, FEBRUARY, 200

Bill-Lnk/Brief             Sponsor/Status              Initial Recomm./Description

The election of a new president, the appointment of a new cabinet and the changing face of Congress are all good news to the tribes, and to everyone else who cares about a healthy environment and sustainable economies. But, for FY 2009, the tribes still face a funding crisis that threatens their ability to support their basic fisheries management responsibilities, and thus threatens their treaty and indigenous rights and sovereignty. They are experiencing a serious erosion of their base natural resource management funding, which since 1975 has been included in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Resources Management, Wildlife & Parks, Rights Protection Implementation account and in the Self-Governance Compacts account.

With the level of base funding now being provided, tribes can no longer effectively manage their treaty protected resources

The base fisheries management funding now being provided to the tribes, adjusted for inflation, is less than it was 30 years ago. Yet their management responsibilities have greatly increased. The initial base contract funding under P.L. 93-638 to implement relevant federal court cases and to protect trust resources was established at a level to cover the minimal responsibilities initially identified by the courts as necessary management functions. Since 1975, the management responsibilities required of the tribes have increased exponentially. Also, tribes have taken on collaborative conservation initiatives working with all governments and citizens in the region to address many difficult resource management problems.

Yet, base funding has stagnated and inflationary costs have eaten away at the buying power of existing funds, so tribes have had to cobble together funding from other sources to meet their basic management responsibilities. These sources are inadequate as they are usually program and project-specific and not sustainable from year to year. The funds have not been built into the base, so tribal programs have been forced to rely on annual funding commitments—an ever difficult task in tough budget times.

THE SOLUTION

The solution is to increase the annual funding amounts provided by BIA through the Resources Management, Wildlife & Parks, Rights Protection Implementation account and the Self-Governance Compacts account to restore buying power to a level commensurate with management responsibilities. This means an annual increase of $12 million for NWIFC and its member tribes and $4.5 million for CRITFC and its member tribes. It also means the amounts now being provided to tribes for reoccurring programs (but not included in the base) should now be included in base line items. Examples are the Washington Timber-Fish-Wildlife, Mass Marking and Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Inventory and Assessment Programs.

HEAL NATURAL RESOURCES, HEAL THE ECONOMY

Northwest fisheries resources are in trouble and it is clear that this hurts the economy. As more species are listed under ESA more businesses fail and more jobs are lost. It’s time to do business differently. The co-management relationship between the tribal, state and federal governments is critical to success in this region. The tribes have recognized the value of working collaboratively with everyone who lives and works here to craft solutions that will strengthen both natural resources and the economy. But without adequate funding support for the tribal management infrastructure this vision can not be realized. “The policies of the Bush Administration have driven the tribes’ ability to continue to be effective co-managers to the brink of collapse. Reinvesting in this infrastructure means more jobs will be created that will allow the tribes to reinvigorate their collaborative efforts, and that will once again help move this region’s natural resources and economy towards recovery. In preparing for his presidency, all the signs are that Barack Obama understands this, and is ready to do something about it. He is listening to tribal requests during his transition, and Northwest tribes have been working through their commissions to present their requests in a united fashion,” said NWIFC Chairman Billy Frank, Jr.

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT TEAM NAMED

President-Elect Barack Obama has named his Energy and Environment team, saying, “The future of our economy and national security is inextricably linked to one challenge: energy. The team that I have assembled here today is uniquely suited to meet the great challenges of this defining moment. They are leading experts and accomplished managers, and they are ready to reform government and help transform our economy so that our people are more prosperous, our nation is more secure, and our planet is protected.”

Obama’s choice for Interior Secretary will be Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar.
The appointment will round out Obama’s environment and energy team, which includes Dr. Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy; Lisa Jackson, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator; Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality; Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change; and Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change. Obama said he is not the first leader to promise dramatic efforts on climate change and American energy independence, but “this time must be different,” he said. “This is not a challenge for government alone – it is a challenge for all of us. The pursuit of a new energy economy requires a sustained, all-hands-on-deck effort because the foundation of our energy independence is right here, in America.”

The following link provides an ongoing update of Obama appointments, with background information, plans and programs, courtesy of The Seattle Times:

Obama builds a new administration

TRANSITION/TRIBAL REQUESTS

Like Obama, Northwest tribes have been getting the ball rolling for the next administration before it begins. Tribal leaders have conducted meetings with NWIFC & CRITFC staff to develop plans to share regarding natural resource priorities and issues. On November 26, a list of such issues was presented to the Obama transition team. Following is a brief glimpse of those issues.

Tribal Sovereignty/Trust Responsibility: Brief background statements were provided and it was pointed out that the Bush Administration has done nothing to help Northwest tribes recover from cuts in TPA funding, flattening of the base, etc. Actions called for include restoration of the BIA funding base, prompt appointment of good Assistant Secretaries of Indian Affairs and Policy Management and Budget, adoption of policies supporting tribal leadership in salmon management and support for a tribal fish and wildlife act.

Federal/Tribal Infrastructure: Funding cutbacks have been seriously problematic under the Bush Administration, even as tribal fisheries management responsibilities have grown, e.g., Northwest tribes have supported efforts to reform hatcheries for over 30 years, yet capital funding for reform has been limited or non-existent. Funding attrition is crippling salmon restoration efforts. Since 2002, funding for Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery has dropped 40% from $110 million annually to $66.5 million. Bush’s FY 2009 budget recommends a further reduction to $35 million. It also contains about a 25% cut ($3.8 million) in the Mitchell Act hatchery programs, and eliminates other critically needed programs to protect and enhance northwest fisheries. Many federal agencies depend on tribal collaboration to protect treaty resources and restore fish and wildlife. Tribal fishing boats have been docked or sold off because the resource can no longer provide a reliable living. Actions called for by tribes include development of a cross-department budget approach to salmon restoration in collaboration with tribes to increase effectiveness of federal investment and reduce delays; restoration of funding BIA Rights Protection, PCSRF, Mitchell Act and other key salmon programs; full funding of hatchery reform and capital infrastructure needs; funding of harvest management and emergency response programs; and incorporation of budget funding for the Timber, Fish and Wildlife program.

Water: Degraded water quality and quantity in Northwest rivers and streams are among the greatest threats to tribal natural resources. Climate change exacerbates these issues. Protection and restoration of tribes’ water rights continue to be a critical policy priority. The Obama administration is being asked to establish dedicated staff/funding for tribes to continue or begin negotiations for water right settlements; provide direction and leadership in the region to support necessary water quantity and quality needed to properly implement ESA salmon recovery; coordinate water and watershed conservation; fully implement TMDLs for the Columbia River, Puget Sound, and tributaries, and establish water quality standards to protect Indian health.

Climate Change: Natural resources management, climate change and energy independence are linked in the Northwest as we manage hydro power and energy demands to safeguard salmon and other species. A national fish-compatible energy policy should be developed to address climate change. Tribes must be involved in climate change solutions, as governmental partners.

Endangered Species: Under Bush, the ESA Secretarial Order of 1997, intended to harmonize federal treaty duties, trust responsibility and ESA has fallen by the wayside. Tribes are asking Obama to reinstate the terms of that Secretarial Order.

Pacific Salmon Treaty Implementation: The 2008 PST negotiations of trans-boundary, Chinook, coho, and southern chum agreements are completed and the US and Canada are conducting domestic consultation processes on the agreements. The proposed Chinook Agreement requires both countries to secure funding for implementation. State and tribal PSC Commissioners are working to secure additional funds. The Northwest Congressional Delegation is committed to the agreement and has recommended additional funding in the FY 2010 budget for the State and Commerce departments.

PRIORITY BILLS

DECEMBER, 2008

EXECUTIVE POLICY ON LEGISLATION AFFECTING FISHERIES:

Legislation affecting fisheries likely to resurface in the 111^th Congress. Among others, proposals may include these or similar bills:

FY2009 Appropriations (Continuing Resolution is through March 6, 2009)

S.1870 The Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007. This bill, sponsored by Sen. Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin, would amend the Clean Water Act to, among other things, replace the term “navigable waters” with the term “waters of the United States,” defined to mean all waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial seas and all interstate and intrastate waters and their tributaries, including lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, natural ponds, and all impoundments of the foregoing, to the fullest extent that these waters, or activities affecting them, are subject to the legislative power of Congress under the Constitution.

S.3036 The Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. This bill, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, would direct EPA to establish a program to decrease emissions of greenhouse gases by, among other things, establishing a federal greenhouse gas registry, for which certain facilities must report information regarding fossil fuels and GHGs produced and consumed; and specified quantities of GHG emission allowances, which must decline for each year 2012 to 2050. Latest Major Action: 7/8/2008 Senate floor actions. Status: Returned to the Calendar.

S.3552 The National Fish Habitat Conservation Act. This bill, sponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, is intended to treat the causes of fish habitat decline by restoring healthy waterways by leveraging the efforts and funds of Federal Government agencies, state and local governments, conservation groups,fishing industry groups, and businesses and building partnerships aimed at addressing the nation’s biggest fisheries problems and fostering fish habitat conservation efforts , using a bottom-up multi-state approach of habitat improvement. The Act authorizes $75 million annually to be directed toward fish habitat projects supported by regional Fish Habitat Partnerships, based on the North American Wetlands Conservation Act model, and establishing a multi-stakeholder National Fish Habitat Board charged with recommending projects to the Secretary of Interior for funding.

S.3608, The Salmon Stronghold bill. This bill, sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, would establish a volunteer Salmon Stronghold Partnership program intended to complement the PCSR Fund in protecting wild Pacific salmon by proactively maintaining rivers (or salmon strongholds) by enhancing federal, tribal, state and local governments, public and land managers, fisheries managers, power authorities and NGO organizations. (In introducing the legislation, Sen. Cantwell said, “It is time to increase funding to recovery efforts, but also focus on prevention. It is time to adopt the kind of comprehensive solution that can solidify wild Pacific salmon’s place in American culture for generations to come.”) Latest Major Action: 9/26/2008. Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

H.R. 1907 The Coastal and Estuarine Land Protection Act, sponsored by Jim Saxton of New Jersey. This bill would direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a program to protect the environmental integrity of undeveloped coastal and estuarine areas. It would authorize the Secretary to make grants to coastal states with approved coastal zone management plans or National Estuarine Research Reserve units for the purpose of acquiring property that will further the goals of an approved Coastal Zone Management Plan or Program, a National Estuarine Research Reserve management plan, or a regional or state watershed protection plan. It would prohibit any more than 75% of the funding for any project under this Act from being derived from federal sources. It would reserve 15% of program funds for acquisitions benefiting the National Estuarine Research Reserve and authorize the acquisition of land and interests in land from willing sellers to improve the conservation of, and to enhance the ecological values and functions of, coastal and estuarine areas to benefit both the environment and the economies of coastal communities, and for other purposes. Latest Major Action: 10/2/2008 Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar.

H.R. 2421 The Clean Water Restoration Act, sponsored by Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota, would clarify the original intent of Congress to protect all waters of the United States under the Clean Water Act. Current Status: The House Committee on Oversight and Government. Latest Major Action: 4/16/2008, House committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee Hearings Held.

H.R. 5263 The Encouraging Collaborative Restoration of Federal Forests Act, sponsored by Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, would encourage collaborative, science-based ecosystem restoration of priority forest landscapes on federal lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service through a joint Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. Forest Landscape Restoration Act – Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program to select and fund ecological restoration treatments for priority forest landscapes. It sets forth provisions concerning the eligibility criteria for, and nomination and selection of, collaborative forest landscape restoration proposals for carrying out such treatments. It requires the Secretary to establish a scientific advisory panel to evaluate, and provide recommendations on, any proposal with respect to the strength of the ecological case of the proposal for landscape restoration and the proposed restoration strategies; and whether the proposal is likely to achieve reductions in long-term wildfire management costs. It authorizes the Secretary to establish a technical advisory panel to evaluate, and provide recommendations on any proposal with respect to whether the proposal is likely to reduce the relative costs of carrying out treatments resulting from the use of woody biomass and small-diameter trees and to provide local economic benefit. It establishes the Collaborative Forest Landscape Fund, to be used for paying up to 50% of the cost of carrying out ecological restoration treatments on National Forest System land for each proposal selected. It requires: (1) creation of implementation work plans and budgets to implement proposals; (2) submission of annual reports on the accomplishments of selected proposals; (3) use of a multiparty monitoring, evaluation, and accountability process to assess the ecological, social, and economic effects of projects implementing proposals; and (4) submission of reports every five years on the Program. Latest Major Action: 7/10/2008 House Subcommittee on Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry Hearings Held.

H.R.5451 The Reauthorizing Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, sponsored by Rep. Madeleine Bordallo of Guam, would amend the CZMA to authorize appropriations for grants under provisions relating to administration of a state’s coastal zone management program, resource management improvement, coastal zone enhancement, and national estuarine reserves. It would authorize the use of amounts in the Coastal Zone Management Fund for expenses incidental to the administration of the Act and, beginning in FY2009, the portion of amounts appropriated to carry out provisions relating to administration of a state’s coastal zone management program and resource management improvement to be retained for use in implementing coastal zone enhancement grant provisions. Latest Major Action: 6/4/2008 House committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote.

H.R.5741/( S.3231), The High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act, sponsored by Rep. Madeleine Bordallo of Guam, would amend the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to improve the conservation of sharks. House Natural Resources; Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Latest Major Action: 7/9/2008 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

[H.R.6186.IH], The Investing in Climate Action and Protection Act, sponsored by Rep Edward Markey of Massachusetts, would among other things direct EPA to establish a program to decrease emissions of greenhouse gases by amending the Clean Air Act and establishing a federal greenhouse gas registry, for which affected entities must report information regarding fossil fuels and the gases produced, consumed, or sequestered (including specific quantities of emission allowances, which must decline for each year 2012 to 2050 and an emission allowance transfer system for specific covered facilities that emit more than 10,000 carbon dioxide equivalents in a year). Latest Major Action: 6/12/2008 Referred to House subcommittee on Energy and Environment.

H.R.6537, The Sanctuary Enhancement Act of 2008, sponsored by Rep. Madeleine Bordallo of Guam, would amend the National Marine Sanctuaries Act to require that the sanctuary system consist of national marine sanctuaries authorized or established by an Act of Congress (in addition to sanctuaries currently designated by the Secretary of Commerce) and marine national monuments. It sets forth the system’s mission and requires the Secretary to prepare, maintain, and update an ecological classification of the nation’s marine environment and an identification of maritime heritage resources as a national inventory of marine eco-regions and maritime heritage resources under U.S. jurisdiction. It also requires the Secretary to strive to include in the system by 2030 sites that will incorporate a full range of the nation’s marine eco-regions and rare and unique marine habitats, and a full range of maritime heritage resource areas. It modifies various requirements regarding the designation and implementation of marine sanctuaries and it expands the list of prohibited activities. Latest Action: 7/24/2008 Hearings Held by the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans.

H.R.6689, The Chinook Nation Restoration Act, sponsored by Rep. Brian Baird of Washington, would restore Federal recognition to the Chinook Nation and makes the Chinook Tribe and its members eligible for all services and benefits provided by the government to federally recognized tribes regardless of the existence of a reservation or the location of residence of any member on or near any Indian reservation. Provides that, for purposes of the delivery of federal services to enrolled members, the Tribe’s service area shall consist of specified counties in Washington and Oregon. Latest Major Action: 7/31/2008 Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources.

[S.2301.IS ] The Native American Fish and Wildlife Management Act, solely sponsored by Sen. Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii (introduced 4/7/2004) was intended to improve the management of Indian fish and wildlife and gathering resources. Among numerous other things, it would have required the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Tribal Fish and Wildlife Resource Management Program and the Alaska Native Fish and Wildlife Resource Management Program to conduct specified activities in support of the tribal administration of resources. It would have directed the Secretary, upon the request of an Indian tribal government, to conduct a survey of the reservation or traditional use area of that tribal government to assess actual needs regarding management of fish and wildlife resources and the development of Fish and Wildlife Resource Management Plans by Indian tribal governments and Alaska Native fish and wildlife organizations (or alternatively, by the Secretary) and for plans to cooperatively govern the management and administration of tribal or Indian fish and wildlife resources by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the tribal government. It would have required the Secretaries of the Interior, Commerce, and Agriculture to review the management of resources in regional resource management and traditional use areas and called for augmentation of resources to meet needs as appropriate. Latest Major Action: 7/21/2004 Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.

Notes: The bills described above are those which have been discussed to date in tribal leadership transition meetings, and are by no means the only bills of concern that may (or may not) be considered in the next Congress. The needed action is for both the Congress and the new Administration to consult with tribes in developing positions on legislative and policy proposals. Priority bills will continue to be highlighted in Federal Update. For more information online, please consult www.thomas.loc.gov or contact Steve Robinson at srobinson@nwifc.org or (360) 528-4347.

House subcommittees have approved appropriations bills that would provide $27.9 billion in discretionary funding. That would top the current level by 4.9 percent increase, or $1.3 billion and Bush’s request by 8.2 percent, or $2.1 billion. The full committee is set to take up the bill on June 18. Programs that benefit tribes would receive the “single largest increase” in the bill, according to Congressman Norm Dicks, chairman of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies subcommittee. Among other increases, the Dicks bill would allocate $2.4 billion to the BIA, an increase of 5.2 percent. It would also provide: $7.8 billion for EPA, a 5 percent increase over FY 2008; $850 million for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (pays for improvements at sewage treatment plants), a 23.4 percent increase; $2.6 billion for the Forest Service, not including firefighting programs, a 4.3 percent increase; $3 billion for fire accounts at the Forest Service and Interior. House Republicans expressed reservations about moving ahead on this year’s appropriations process before finishing the fiscal 2008 war supplemental. They also used the opportunity to debate the rising costs of gas and oil, saying their votes are all going to be energy-related this year. The panel rejected an amendment to allow exploration between 50 and 200 miles off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico. There likely will be more energy amendments at the full committee markup, scheduled for June 18. Outside of the drilling debate, Republicans agreed with Democrats on the need to spend more than Bush has requested. Ranking Member Todd Tiahrt, R-KS, said he was grateful to Dicks for the attention paid to the critical needs of Indian Country.

WAR FUNDING

This past month, the U.S. House voted to cut off Iraq war funding, calling on a strict timeline to end the war and covering a few other issues. Then the bill got to the Senate, where there was a strong vote for blank-check war funding. But, in the end, the Senate stripped out all the readiness restrictions and timelines and voted to continue funding a war without end. There are efforts to get these measures restored. If that doesn’t happen, war funding may again be a major hurdle standing in the way of more adequate funding for discretionary domestic spending. The House will have to take up this bill when representatives get back from Memorial Day recess.

BIA SEARCH GOES ON…..MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE AGENCY

With just eight months left in the Bush administration, the Interior Department continues to search for a new leader of the BIA. But in the meantime, Deputy Secretary P. Lynn Scarlett, the second-in-command at Interior, assigned the duties of the assistant secretary for Indian Affairs to a longtime employee. George Skibine, a member of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma, who took over the post when former BIA head Carl Artman left office. The move means Skibine holds yet another title at the BIA. In addition to his normal job as head of the Office of Indian Gaming Management, he has been acting as the agency’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development since 2004. For several months during the Bush administration, Skibine even served as acting principal deputy assistant secretary, the second-highest post at the BIA. The never-ending changes — which at one point left the BIA without a leader for more than two years – has continued to disappoint Sen. Byron Dorgan, S-ND, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. "Mr. Artman was the third assistant secretary under this administration and the third to resign. And for two years during this administration, there was no assistant secretary. Now I wonder how long it will take to get another assistant secretary. I think this is undermining the interests of Indian tribes across this country and I’m very upset about it."

JUDGE GIVES INTERIOR APPROVAL TO GET BACK ONLINE

More than six years after being knocked offline as part of the contentious Indian trust fund lawsuit, the Interior Department has been given approval to reconnect all of its systems to the Internet. Judge Royce Lamberth, who has been removed from the case, ordered the disconnect in December 2001. A court investigator found that billions of dollars in Indian trust funds were at risk to computer hacking. Since then, most of Interior’s agencies, offices and bureaus were given permission to get back online after they demonstrated their systems were secure. But there were some key holdouts — namely the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of Special Trustee, the two agencies that deal most with Indian Country. Judge James Robertson, who inherited the case in December 2006, was initially reluctant to order the systems back online. As he considered the Bush administration’s request to reconnect, he was concerned that Interior hadn’t shown that the BIA, OST and the remaining entities were secure. He denied the motion most recently in May of last year. But he now says it was "clear" that a ruling from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals limited judicial oversight of information technology matters. Concluding that it wasn’t his role to "weigh IT security risks" at the department, he now says sworn declarations submitted by government officials indicate Interior has complied with federal law.

FARM BILL PERSPECTIVES

The 2008 Farm Bill conference report has been passed by significant majority. The conference report authorizes nearly $300 billion worth of USDA programs over the next 5 years. After nearly two years of work on the bill, it will likely become law despite an expected veto by Bush. He disagrees with the overall cost of the bill and the methods of crop payments, arguing that too much money is spent on farm subsidies for rich farmers. The conference negotiators lowered the income ceiling at which payments cease, but not to the $200k level Bush wanted. Nevertheless, both chambers strongly supported the bill, and voted accordingly. House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson, D-MN, hopes the bill will become law by the end of the month. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-AR, has blasted both parties in Congress for showing "incredible disregard for the public treasury and for the public interest" by voting for the farm bill. McCain says he would veto the bill if he were president, even though lawmakers have votes to overturn that action. As president, he said, "I will seek an end to all agricultural tariffs, and to all farm subsidies that are not based on clear need. I will veto any bill containing special-interest favors and corporate welfare in any form."

On the other hand, Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs touts Indian provisions in the farm bill. He says Indian Country will benefit from provisions in the farm bill recently passed by the Senate. Dorgan said his committee worked on several of these provisions in H.R.2419. Among others, he says it will help tribes improve and expand their conservation efforts. Tribes have been included as eligible entities or partners and tribal lands are given special status in the Wetlands Reserve Program, the Wetlands Reserve Enhancement and Reserved Rights Pilot Program, the new Conservation Stewardship Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program.

Dorgan also says the bill addresses dietary problems in Indian Country by promoting food assistance programs that purchase traditional and locally-grown foods, such as bison meat (“The Secretary is authorized to purchase bison meat for the distribution program and, where practicable, purchase at least 50 percent of the distributed food from traditional and locally-grown foods produced by Native producers”). The Senate version of the bill expands tribal access and use of national forest lands and products for cultural and burial purposes. It also reauthorizes tribally-controlled c
olleges and universities and expands extension services at these institutions. It helps tribes reduce fractionated farmland for individual tribal farmers, and authorizes the Secretary to make and insure loans to eligible purchasers to purchase unencumbered fractionated, non-trust land.

STATE DOE CHALLENGES FERC

The Washington Department of Ecology has filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to protect the state’s role in federal licensing procedures for energy projects. The petition asks the court to clarify federal law regarding a recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) decision. In December, FERC sidestepped the established licensing procedure by granting a conditioned license to Finavera Renewables, superseding decisions from other federal and state agencies with authority in the federal licensing process. Finavera proposes a wave energy project at Makah Bay off the Washington coast. FERC denied Ecology’s initial appeal of the Finavera conditioned license in March. Ecology argues that federal law does not allow FERC to offer a conditioned license in advance of obtaining input and consideration from the other agencies with a regulatory role in the licensing process. Today’s petition would permit the federal court to determine if FERC’s action is consistent with federal law. Ecology requests the court confirm the existing requirements of federal law by declaring that FERC does not have authority to issue conditioned licenses.

Ecology claims responsibility under the federal Clean Water Act and Coastal Zone Management Act to authorize that project proposals can be undertaken without harming water quality or sensitive shoreline areas. The agency reviews applications and can write conditions into the approvals to ensure any potential impacts are avoided or minimized. Historically, agencies with responsibility for protecting water quality, shorelines, fish and other environmental resources review and decide upon applications before FERC issues a final license. That did not happen in this instance.

S 2191, THE LIEBERMAN-WARNER BILL

Climate Change is now being referred to by many as perhaps the most pressing environmental issue of our time, affecting all regions, nations and tribes in current and future generations. To date, federal legislation related to climate change has failed to address tribal interests and concerns, even though the impact of climate change on tribes is and will likely be more severe than to other governments and people due to their location and their direct dependency on natural resources to sustain their health, culture and economies. The Lieberman-Warner bill, or the National Climate Security Act was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar on May 20. It appears that it’s too late to expect passage this year. However, there are substantial efforts already being applied by bill sponsors, tribes across the nation and environmental organizations to pass it next year. Essentially, the bill as written requires EPA to establish a greenhouse gas registry, and an emission allowance transfer system for facilities that import petroleum or coal-based transportation fuel or chemicals. It sets emission allowances for 2012-2050, with a declining cap on allowable greenhouse gases.

The U.S. Climate Action Partnership formed last year didn’t take a position on the bill, although nine of its members – including General Electric, Alcoa and four star utility companies – signed a letter to senators backing the legislation. The letter, also signed by big environmental groups, says: "Prompt action on climate change is essential to protect America’s economy, security, quality of life and natural environment." But other members of the coalition known as U.S. Cap, most visibly Duke Energy, a coal-burning utility, are strongly opposed. They point to the fact that it’s going to translate into significant electricity price increases. President Bush remains opposed to any meaningful climate change legislation, of course, and House Democrats have been slow to act. Add to that a backdrop of rising gasoline prices and a sluggish economy, and it’s easy to conclude that things will have to change before the legislation will stand much of a chance. As for corporate support, it is significant that a key purpose of the bill is to put a price on the emissions of greenhouse gases, as a way to speed the transition to a clean-energy economy and slow down global warming.

Tribal set aside provisions that were proposed do constitute a promising work in progress. The two tribal set-aside provisions that Senators Lieberman and Warner had written into S 2191 would provide direct tribal access to resources provided without requiring “treatment-as-a-state” status. The bill would have enhanced the direct relationship of tribes to the federal government on climate change-related issues. These issues played strongly in climate change sessions held at the recent NCAI Mid-year Session in Reno.

Federal Priority Bills List for June, 2008

Bills seeing recent action, along with brief descriptions, dates of action and status Please address thoughts and/or questions to Steve Robinson at srobinson@nwifc.org (360 528-4347).

S.1578.RS Title: A bill to amend the Non-indigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to establish vessel ballast water management requirements, etc. Sponsor: Sen Inouye, Daniel K., D-HA (introduced 6/7/2007) Cosponsors (1) Latest Major Action: 3/3/2008 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 589.

S.1620 Title: A bill to provide the Coast Guard and NOAA with additional authorities under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, to strengthen the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, etc. Sponsor: Sen Cantwell, Maria, D-WA (introduced 6/14/2007)  Cosponsors (1) Latest Major Action: 6/14/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

H.R.1769 Title: To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to reduce predation on endangered Columbia River salmon, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Baird, Brian, D-WA (introduced 3/29/2007) Cosponsors (5) Latest Major Action: 8/2/2007 House committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Subcommittee Hearings Held.

H.R. 1771 (Baldwin): To assist in the conservation of cranes by supporting and providing, through projects of persons and organizations with expertise in crane conservation, financial resources for the conservation programs of countries the activities of which directly or indirectly affect cranes and the ecosystems of cranes. “Crane Conservation Act of 2007” Latest Major Action: 5/22/2008 House committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Ordered to be reported (Amended) to the Environment and Public Works Committee.

S.1892.RS A bill to reauthorize the Coast Guard for fiscal year 2008. Sponsor: Sen Cantwell, Maria, D-WA (introduced 7/26/2007) Cosponsors (5) Committees: Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Senate Reports: 110-261 Latest Major Action: 2/5/2008 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 568.

S.2284 Title: An original bill to amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, to restore the financial solvency of the flood insurance fund, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen Dodd, Christopher J. [CT] (introduced 11/1/2007) Cosponsors (None) Related Bills: H.R.3121
Latest Major Action: 5/13/2008- Returned to Senate Calendar.

H.R.2400 : To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish an integrated Federal ocean and coastal mapping plan for the Great Lakes and coastal state waters, the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone, and the Continental Shelf of the United States, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Bordallo, Madeleine Z. [GU] (introduced 5/21/2007)      Cosponsors (5) Committees: House Natural Resources; House Science and Technology; Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Latest Major Action: 7/24/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

H.R. 2419

Title: To provide for the ntinuation of agricultural programs through fiscal year 2012 purposes. Sponsor: Rep Peterson, Collin C. [MN-7] Cosponsors: None. Related Bills: H.RES.574, H.RES.1189, H.R.5957, H.R.6124, S.163, S.2302
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-234 [GPO: Text, PDF]
House Reports: 110-256 Part 1; Latest Conference Report: 110-627 (in Congressional Record H3409-3700) Note: The House and Senate passed H.R. 2419 over veto, enacting 14 of 15 farm bill titles into law. On 5/22/2008 the House passed H.R. 6124, a new bill containing 15 farm bill titles.

S.2670 Title: A bill to amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to ensure adequate funding for conservation and restoration of wildlife, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen Johnson, Tim, D-SD (introduced /27/2008) Cosponsors (1) Latest Major Action: 2/27/2008 Referred to Senate Committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment

S.2739 (Sen. Bingaman) – Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008.

Title: Related Bills: S.2179, S.2180, S.2483, S.2616 Latest Major Action: 5/1/2008 Presented to President. Makes amendments to various public laws, including the National Trails System Act, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1998, the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996, the Oregon Resource Conservation Act of 1996, the Reclamation and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Steel and Aluminum Energy Conservation and Technology Competitiveness Act of 1988, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Compacts of Free Association Amendments Act of 2003. Status: This bill became Public Law No: 110-229.

H.R.2830, the Coast Guard Authorization bill. This legislation provides for a study of “regional response vessel and salvage capability for Olympic Peninsula Coast, Washington.”  It also contains a provision prohibiting the discharge of ballast water in national marine sanctuaries.

Title: To authorize appropriations for the Coast Guard for fiscal year 2008, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act and title 18, United States Code, to combat the crime of alien smuggling and related activities, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Oberstar, James L. [MN-8] (introduced 6/22/2007)      Cosponsors (2) Related Bills: H.RES.1126, H.R.2399, S.1892
Latest Major Action: 4/28/2008 Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar.

H.AMDT.969 to H.R.2857 Amendment to add an Energy Conservation Corps, which would seek to address the nation’s energy and transportation infrastructure needs while providing work and service opportunities. Sponsor: Rep Inslee, Jay . D-WA, (introduced 3/6/2008)
Latest Major Action: 3/6/2008 House amendment agreed to. Status

H.R.3891 Title: To amend the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act to increase the number of Directors on the Board of Directors of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Sponsor: Rep Brown, Henry E., Jr. [SC-1] (introduced 10/18/2007) Cosponsors (1) Latest Major Action: 5/21/08, Passed Committee on Environment and Public Works.

H.R. 3981 Title: To authorize the Preserve America Program and Save America’s Treasures Program, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Miller, Brad [NC-13] (introduced 10/29/2007) Cosponsors (56) Related Bills: S.2262 Latest Major Action: 4/24/2008 House committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Subcommittee Hearings Held. Among other things, this bill would establishes the Preserve America Program, under which the Secretary of the Interior, in partnership with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, shall provide competitive grants to specified entities to support preservation efforts through heritage tourism, education, and historic preservation planning activities. It sets forth provisions regarding the designation of communities, tribal areas, and neighborhoods as Preserve America Communities.

H.R.5171 (S.240 ) Title: To reauthorize and amend the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992. Sponsor: Rep Costa, Jim [CA-20] (introduced 1/29/2008) Cosponsors (6) Latest Major Action: 2/15/2008- Placed on Legislative Calendar.

H.R.5451 : To reauthorize the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Bordallo, Madeleine Z. [GU] (introduced 2/14/2008) Cosponsors (14) Committees: House Natural Resources Latest Major Action: 6/4/2008- Passed by Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife & Oceans to Committee on Natural Resources.

H.R.5469 Title: To provide grants for the revitalization of waterfront brownfields. Sponsor: Rep Slaughter, Louise McIntosh [NY-28] (introduced 2/14/2008)  Cosponsors (20) Latest Major Action: 2/15/2008 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

H.R.5608 Title: Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments Act. Sponsor: Rep Rahall, Nick J., II [WV-3] (introduced 3/13/2008)      Cosponsors (1) . Latest Major Action: 4/9/2008- Hearing held by the House Committee on Natural Resources. To establish regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration with tribal officials in the development of Federal policies that have tribal implications, to strengthen the United States government-to-government relationships with Indian tribes, and to reduce the imposition of unfunded mandates upon Indian tribes.

H.R.5618 : To reauthorize and amend the National Sea Grant College Program Act, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Bordallo, Madeleine Z. [GU] (introduced 3/13/2008)    Cosponsors (10) Committees: House Natural Resources Latest Major Action: 5/21/08- Heard by Subcommittee on Energy & Environment.

H.R.5741 : To amend the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to improve the conservation of sharks. Sponsor: Rep Bordallo, Madeleine Z. [GU] (introduced 4/9/2008)      Cosponsors (9) Committees: House Natural Resources. Latest Major Action: 6/4/2008- Passed Subcommittee by Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife & Oceans to Committee on Natural Resources.

The $27.2 billion Interior-Environment measure would cut the EPA’s clean water state revolving fund by 18 percent while boosting funding for most other activities. It would provide $887 million for the clean water fund, $197 million below current levels but $199 million more than Bush requested. House appropriators provided $1.1 billion in their committee-reported bill. That $238 million difference accounts for more than half the additional $448 million the House bill would provide. The draft would meet Bush’s request of $2 billion for National Park System operations. Smaller increases would be provided for other priorities, including the Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management. Subcommittee chairwoman Feinstein said $1.1 billion would be provided for wildfire suppression, the 10-year average of actual expenditures. Highlights from the draft Senate bill and report will follow subsequent to the full committee markup.

The total discretionary funding for the Department of Interior is $26.41 billion, compared with Bush’s Request of $25.65 billion. For the National Park Service, it’s $2.46 billion, $98 million over Bush’s request. For USFWS, it’s $1.38 billion, $94 million over Bush’s request. A $9 million increase has been penciled for endangered species over FY 2007 and a $6.5 million increase for habitat conservation. The National Wildlife Refuge System is increased $19 million in the bill. Law enforcement: Increase of $3.5 million over FY 2007 to restore funding for international and domestic illegal wildlife trade investigations. The National Fish Hatchery System and Aquatic Habitats are pegged for an increase of $5.25 million over FY 2007 for Hatchery operations & maintenance and for marine mammals. The BIA proposed budget is $2.27 billion, $42.6 million below FY 2007 enacted level, but $36.8 million above Bush’s budget request. The U.S. Geological Survey would receive $1.01 billion, $27.2 million above the FY2007 enacted level and $35 million above Bush’s request to restore proposed major reductions to base scientific research programs, including the Minerals Resources program, the Water Resources Research Institutes program and Geographic Research.

NORTHWEST APPROPRIATIONS
NWIFC FY08 requests have been submitted to Congress and testimony provided to the appropriations committees. Chairman Norm Dicks’ first major spending bill passed on June 27 after two intensive days of debate. It tops Bush’s request for the BIA budget but because without earmark language it’s unclear how much is included for Northwest accounts. It includes $7 million for the shellfish settlement and $20.6 million for rights protection implementation. But it’s unclear if the amount in rights protection includes all previous earmarks such as TFW and mass marking, or whether it means an increase or decrease from FY07. Clarification has been requested. The bill doesn’t add funding for hatchery maintenance/rehabilitation. It reduces the forestry account that supports SSHIAP, but includes $15 million for the Puget Sound Partnership in EPA’s budget. It’s important to watch these issues as the bills move into conference. The Senate Appropriations Committee has marked both the Interior and Commerce bills. Sen. Murray was able to include earmarks of $1.74 million for TFW and $90 million for the PCSRF. This $90 million mark contrasts with a $67 million mark in the House bill and Bush’s request. The House-Senate Conference for the Interior bill will likely occur in September. If there is no veto a budget could be in place on October 1, at least for Interior. If there is a veto and it’s not overcome, it would jeopardize the budget and possibly result in another CR situation like FY07.

BILLS SEEING ACTION
The following bills, listed on the Federal Bills List, have seen action in the past month: S 1, Transparency In The Legislative Process, by Sen. Harry Reid, D-NV; HR 407, the Columbia-Pacific National Heritage Area Study Act sponsored by Rep. Brian Baird, D-WA ; HR 1285, the Snoqualmie Pass Land Conveyance Act, by Rep. Doc Hastings, R- WA; S 278, the Heritage Areas Partnership Act, by Sen. Craig Thomas, R-WY; S 280, Reducing Greenhouse Emissions, by Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-CT; S 817, the National Heritage Areas, HR and National Heritage Corridors Act, by Sen. George Voinovich, R-OH; S 1258, the Dam Security Act, by Sen. Maria Cantwell and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s energy bills, HR 3220 and 3221. Brief articles on a few of these bills follow. For additional information, please call Steve Robinson at (360) 528-4347 or email srobinson@nwifc.org or visit the Library of Congress website, http://thomas.loc.gov/.

S 280, GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS
The Reducing Greenhouse Emissions bill would establish a program to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by establishing a market-driven system of greenhouse gas tradeable allowances. It would support the deployment of new climate change-related technologies, and ensure benefits to consumers from the trading in such allowances. The latest action on the bill was July 24, when a hearing was conducted by the Committee on Environment and Public Works’ Subcommittee on Private Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection.

S 1, TRANSPARENCY
The Transparency bill, which has been sent to the White House for signature, would make it far more difficult for any given senator to push consideration of any bill without submittal to either House or Senate conferees. In more technical terms, a three-fifths vote (60 Senators) would be needed to waive the action and the same number of votes to sustain an appeal of a chairman’s decision regarding on a point of order raised under the bill. It also requires, if appropriate, a statement for the Internet, or if the legislation was not reported by a committee, publication in the Congressional Record, that the legislation contains no congressional earmarks or limited tax or tariff benefits. It is a strike against “midnight riders” or other such actions intended to sneak or bully through legislation.

PELOSI ENERGY BILL PASSES HOUSE
The House has passed one of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s energy bill which includes a renewable electricity standard of 15 percent by 2020, strong lighting efficiency standards, increased incentives for investment in renewable energy, and safeguards to protect sensitive public lands from oil and gas drilling. The House failed to vote on fuel economy improvements. The RES requires utilities to obtain at least 15 percent of their power from a combination of energy efficiency and renewable sources such as wind, solar and biomass energy by 2020.  

“By passing the renewable electricity standard the House of Representatives has taken a real step forward in enacting the clean energy policies we need to reduce global warming pollution. This shows the House is ready to take strong action on global warming in the fall,” said Karen Wayland, legislative director at the Natural Resources Defense Council.  “We need this same leadership in the conference committee. By combining a strong renewable energy standard with the Senate’s fuel economy improvements, this Congress can make a serious down payment on preventing the worst impacts of global warming.”

Measures that were not included in the House bill but must be addressed in the conference committee with the Senate to make meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and protect the environment are: Matching the Senate’s fuel economy improvement provision of 35 miles per gallon by 2020; adequate safeguards to ensure that intensive biofuels production does not result in water pollution, habitat destruction, or loss of forests and a greenhouse gas standard that would require advance biofuels to emit 50% less global warming pollution than gasoline. Unfortunately, Bush has already threatened a veto. He criticized the bill, saying it’s "not a serious attempt to increase our energy security or address high energy costs," but that it would reduce domestic oil and gas production, make the nation more dependent on foreign energy sources and “unfairly” target the oil and gas industries with higher taxes.
Speaker Pelosi, D-CA, has strongly promoted strong action toward curing the nation’s energy glut and says she’ll continue to do so. The House must reconcile the legislation with the Senate, upon returning to D.C. after the August recess, although many of the provisions are similar. Pelosi has made it one of her top priorities to help move the U.S. toward greater energy independence and security as well as develop new technologies, reduced carbon emissions, the creation of “green” jobs, consumer protection, increased clean energy production and modernization of the energy infrastructure. Here legislation also provides a framework to address impacts of global warming on wildlife, lands and coastal areas, and begin to "decarbonize" the tax code by cutting subsidies to oil and gas companies and redirecting the revenue to better use. In total, the bills cut more than $15 billion from oil and gas companies and closes down a tax break for the purchase of SUVs, and then reinvests the funding in renewable energy and energy conservation. At this juncture H.R.3221 is a primary vehicle for these efforts.
OIL SPILL SAFETY
S 2440, a bill introduced by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, would take strong steps to reduce the risk of catastrophic oil spills in Northwest waters, and would help limit the number of small spills that leak oil into those waters every year. The Oil Pollution Prevention and Response Act would build on the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, passed by Congress in response to the devastating 1989 Exxon Valdez spill (a spill that is still a mess, nearly two decades later). A single incident from a large vessel could devastate increasingly fragile marine ecosystems, and smaller spills continue to degrade the coastal environment. Specifically, the proposal would encourage the use of safer vessels, direct the Coast Guard to route vessels around environmentally sensitive areas, and reduce the risk of spills resulting from human error. Locally, it would reduce traffic in the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and require a year-round response tug at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. To improve spill response, the legislation would make sure adequate response vessels and equipment are stationed at strategic locations across the country, including along the entire Strait of Juan de Fuca. Since 1964, vessels have spilled approximately 4.8 million gallons of oil in Northwest waters. Of this total, 184,000 gallons were spilled after the Oil Pollution Act. Fifteen billion gallons of oil pass through Northwest waters every year.

YOUNG, STEVENS FACE INQUIRY
Rep. Don Young, R-AK, and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-AK, are under investigation in a continuing criminal probe of alleged political favors for an Alaskan company. Federal investigators are examining whether they accepted bribes or unreported gifts from Alaska’s largest oil-field engineering firm, VECO Corp. They are among the highest-ranking members of either party to come under scrutiny in the wave of public-corruption probes that has swept Washington. In the past year, two congressmen have been sent to prison, a third has been indicted for bribery, and 6 others are under investigation in separate cases. It isn’t known what VECO allegedly may have received in return. The company has been awarded a series of federal contracts since 2000, including contracts to provide logistics support for arctic research. For a decade, former VECO Chief Executive Bill Allen has held fund-raisers for Young in Anchorage every August, known as "The Pig Roast" and records show contributions of at least $157,000 from VECO employees and its political-action committee between 1996 and 2006, the last year the event was held. Young has also faced questions about campaign donations received from convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The burly, bearded congressman has been Alaska’s sole House member for 36 years, and is perhaps best known as the architect of the "bridge to nowhere"—a project in a $286 billion 2005 transportation bill he named after his wife, Lu. The proposed bridge to a sparsely populated island off Ketchikan, Alaska, came to symbolize out-of-control congressional spending to fund pet projects by lawmakers in both parties. VECO was acquired in June by CH2M Hill, a closely held Colorado engineering firm, after Mr. Allen, VECO’s former CEO, agreed in May to plead guilty to charges of bribery, conspiracy and extortion. Stevens has publicly said he was asked to retain documents related to the federal investigation of his son, Ben Stevens, and other members of the state legislature, and related to VECO’s role in the remodeling of a family home in Alaska in 2000. Sen. Stevens recently hired a criminal-defense lawyer. He has said he isn’t a target of the Alaska probe and hasn’t violated any law. VECO executives, including Mr. Allen, have been big Stevens supporters as well. Stevens was directly involved in funding contracts with the National Science Foundation, for example, which went to support arctic research. But there is no evidence he sought to influence the award of contracts to VECO, officials at the NSF said. Congressional records show that Stevens on several occasions added extra funding to the budget for arctic research above what the agency sought.

ESA: USFWS MAY RE-EXAMINE DECISIONS
The Fish and Wildlife Service may re-examine the status of animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act affected by decisions by former Interior Department official Julie MacDonald. Director H. Dale Hall is reviewing decisions affecting the status of numerous species. The re-review list includes bulltrout, though it remains to be seen if the effort will affect other Northwest species. There are signs the list will expand, and that the problem runs far deeper than has been indicated to date. MacDonald resigned in May as Deputy Assistant Secretary for fish, wildlife and parks after Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney issued a scathing report saying she had violated ethics rules, edited scientific decisions on endangered species issues, and passed internal agency information to outside parties. Stay tuned.

SENATE WILL STAY UNTIL NOVEMBER, BUT TAKE OCTOBER RECESS
The Senate will not wrap up work this session until mid-November at the earliest, but as a concession, members will get a week-long recess starting Oct. 8, Columbus Day, according to Majority Leader Harry Reid. He has told senators he hopes the body can finish its work for the year by Nov. 16, but if that is not possible, he would reconvene the Senate Dec. 3. Reid also said the Senate would not be in session Sept. 13-14 for Rosh Hashana.

SENATOR LISA MURKOWSKI MAKES HISTORY
Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, has been confirmed as the new Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, making her the first woman and first Alaskan to be appointed to the post. Alaska Natives make up 20% of her state’s population. Murkowski recently spoke at the NCAI Mid-Year Session in Anchorage, reaffirming her support in protecting the rights of Indians and Alaska Natives. "On behalf of NCAI, I congratulate Sen. Murkowski on her appointment and look forward to our continued working relationship on behalf of Native people," said NCAI President Joe A.Garcia. "She has proven to be a good friend to Native people and will be an essential component to bi-partisan work on the Committee." Senator John Barrasso, R-WY, who was appointed to replace the late Senator Craig Thomas, R-WY, has also been appointed to the committee.

WORLD CLOCK
Ever wondered how fast population is growing, how fast the Earth’s temperature is rising, how fast oil is being produced, or how many species are disappearing? Click here and check it out: http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf. Click on “now” to start some categories from 0 (if only it were that easy) and click the “?” to check the information sources.)