George Bush photo

Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2567 - Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1990

October 22, 1990

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

(Senate)
(Thomas (R) Wyoming)

The Administration supports many of the projects contained in H.R. 2567. If 1) the Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Economic Development Fund, 2) the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1990, and 3) the Lake Andes-Wagner/Marty II Irrigation Projects are removed from H.R. 2567, the Administration would have no objection to Senate passage of the bill.

Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Settlement Act (Title VII). The Administration supports a settlement to fairly allocate water rights of the Truckee and Carson Rivers and does not object to the establishment of a $25 million fisheries development fund as part of the settlement. The $50 million economic development fund, to be paid to a small number of Paiute Indians, has been included in the bill with no justification. If the $50 million economic development fund is included in the version of the bill that is presented to the President, the Secretary of the Interior and the Attorney General would recommend that it be vetoed.

Irrigation Drainage Demonstration Program and Lake Andes-Wagner/Marty? II Projects (Title XI). Title XI must be amended. The full-scale South Dakota irrigation project, which would cost approximately $200 million, should be deleted. The project has the potential of doing substantial environmental harm and may well be without adequate benefits to justify any expenditures. In addition, the demonstration program must be modified to require significant non-Federal cost-sharing under terms acceptable to the Secretary of the Interior. If these provisions are included in the version of the bill that is presented to the President, the Secretary of the Interior and the President's senior advisers would recommend that it be vetoed.

Grand Canyon Protection (Title X). Title X would require the that Secretary of the Interior operate the Glen Canyon Dam in a manner that would minimize its effects on downstream environmental and economic resources. The dam is located upstream of the Grand Canyon National Park. This title is unnecessary because the Secretary of the Interior has sufficient authority and discretion to establish appropriate power operating criteria for the dam. The Administration strongly objects to Section 1007 of this title, which specifies that the Federal Government bear the full cost of preparing a Glen Canyon Environmental Impact Statement, including the cost of supporting studies and long-term monitoring. Such a requirement violates long-standing congressional and Executive branch policy, which appropriately allocates such costs to project purposes and beneficiaries. This precedent could result in potentially significant costs to the Federal taxpayer.

If these provisions are included in the version of the bill that is presented to the President, the Secretary of Energy would recommend that it be vetoed.

George Bush, Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2567 - Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1990 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/328862

Simple Search of Our Archives