Ted Stevens on Environment Republican Sr Senator (AK)

Voted YES on prohibiting eminent domain for use as parks or grazing land.

• public utility
• road or other right of way
• an aqueduct or pipeline
• a prison or hospital
• national disaster

Proponents support voting YES because:

Sen. CRAIG: "Eminent domain was elevated greatly as an issue following a highly controversial 2005 Supreme Court decision known as Kelo vs. The City of New London. Since that decision, we as a nation have allowed state & local governments to utilize eminent domain to force landowners to yield their property to private development. Farmers and ranchers in particular have become vulnerable to state and local governments taking their property for economic development or open space designations. My amendment is a very targeted amendment. It addresses only cases in which private working agricultural land is taken and turned into public open space."

Opponents recommend voting NO because:

Sen. HARKIN: This amendment doesn't reach the Kelo decision [because Kelo was about taking open space for private development]. Under this amendment they can still do that.

CRAIG. Oh, I disagree totally. We reach a portion of Kelo that is now most frequently impacting farms and ranches, and that is open space for open space.

HARKIN. The amendment has the Federal Government telling a local government what it can and cannot do within its own jurisdiction.

Letter from the National Conference of State Legislatures & US Conference of Mayors:

"This amendment is not only ill-advised, but it is also unconstitutional [because it] preempts state & local land use laws. The 5th Amendment expressly permits the taking of private property for public use provided just compensation is provided to the owner. The power of eminent domain has always been, and should remain, a state and local power."

Voted NO on including oil & gas smokestacks in mercury regulations.

• Limits smokestack emissions in a two-phase program founded on a market based capping system
• Calls for the first cap to limit mercury emissions to 38 tons in 2010
• Requires the second and final cap to begin in 2018 and stay fix at 15 tons

Voted YES on confirming Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior.

Voted YES on more funding for forest roads and fish habitat.

Voted YES on transportation demo projects.

Voted NO on reducing funds for road-building in National Forests.

Voted YES on requiring EPA risk assessments.

Supports grants for brownfields remediation.

H.R. 2941 Brownfields Redevelopment Enhancement Act.
Republican Main Street Partnership Congresswomen Marge Roukema (NJ), Sue Kelly (NY), and Melissa Hart (PA) as well as Congressman Paul Gillmor (PA) have introduced legislation providing a new source of funding for improving former industrial sites. H.R. 2941 reauthorizes the Brownfields Remediation Grant Program as well as creating a new loan program for brownfields redevelopment. The pilot program encourages cities to tap private loans for civic improvements by using the federal grants as collateral. The bill allows for Community Development Block Grants to be used in industrial site clean up as well.

Make EPA into a Cabinet department.

H.R. 2438/H.R. 2694 Department of Environmental Protection Act.
Republican Main Street Partnership members Sherwood Boehlert (NY) and Steve Horn (CA) each have introduced legislation that would elevate the position of Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to that of cabinet level. Initially, the EPA served as a regulatory agency, but as a result of numerous statutes enacted by Congress, the agency's jurisdiction has swelled. Each bill would redesignate the EPA as the Department of Environmental Protection. RMSP supports the efforts of Congressman Vern Ehlers to include a deputy administrator for science within the department.

Rated 5% by the LCV, indicating anti-environment votes.

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is the political voice of the national environmental movement and the only organization devoted full-time to shaping a pro-environment Congress and White House. We run tough and effective campaigns to defeat anti-environment candidates, and support those leaders who stand up for a clean, healthy future for America. Through our National Environmental Scorecard and Presidential Report Card we hold Congress and the Administration accountable for their actions on the environment. Through regional offices, we build coalitions, promote grassroots power, and train the next generation of environmental leaders. The 2003 National Environmental Scorecard provides objective, factual information about the environmental voting records of all Members of the first session of the 108th Congress. This Scorecard represents the consensus of experts from 20 respected environmental and conservation organizations who selected the key votes on which Members of Congress should be graded. LCV scores votes on the most important issues of the year, including environmental health and safety protections, resource conservation, and spending for environmental programs. Scores are calculated by dividing the number of pro-environment votes by the total number of votes scored. The votes included in this Scorecard presented Members of Congress with a real choice on protecting the environment and help distinguish which legislators are working for environmental protection. Except in rare circumstances, the Scorecard excludes consensus action on the environment and issues on which no recorded votes occurred.

Congress should decide land use, not DOI.

OnTheIssues.org EXPLANATION: Public lands are open for grazing, recreational, and other public uses. Prior to this bill, the Secretary of the Interior or the President would decide when to declare parcels of public land as a "national monument," which has much more restrictive land use. This bill proposes to let Congress decide when the parcel is over 5,000 acres, instead of the Secretary of the Interior deciding without Congress.

OFFICIAL CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY: A bill to amend the Act entitled "An Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities", approved June 8, 1906, to provide congressional review of Presidential monument proclamations, and to amend the Act entitled "Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976", approved October 21, 1976, to alter the congressional review procedures of land withdrawals.

EXCERPTS FROM BILL:

Antiquities Act Amendments of 1979
• Amends the Antiquities Act to define "objects of historic or scientific interest" to include specified items. Stipulates that such objects must be directly associated with human activities.
• Requires congressional approval of any Presidential proclamation of a national monument before it can effect a reservation of public lands in excess of 5,000 acres.
• Permits the continuance of uses of public lands within a national monument which were valid uses prior to the designation of such lands as a monument, including hunting, guiding, hiking, boating, and use of motorized vehicles.
• Stipulates that such uses must not adversely affect the objects sought to be protected by the reservation.
• Grants such provisions governing the proclamation of national monuments retroactive effect as of October 14, 1978.
• Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to require congressional approval of withdrawals of public lands in excess of 5,000 acres by the Secretary of the Interior.

Fund studies of sustainable fisheries.

Amends the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act to:
• Prohibit individual fishing quota programs unless approved before January 4,
• Mandates guidelines regarding fish habitat conservation and enhancement.
• Modifies requirements regarding emergency actions (including concerning oil spills) and adds to the emergency action provisions references to interim measures needed to reduce overfishing.
• Provides for an information collection program specific to the needs of a fishery.
• Requires a comprehensive program of fishery research to carry out this Act;
• Requires developing technological changes to minimize bycatch and evaluate related ecological impacts, benefits, and costs, and assess the use of unavoidable bycatch; and
• Establishes of a fishery conservation and management ecosystem advisory panel.

Fund studies of invasive species and algal blooms.

Amends the National Sea Grant College Program Act to authorize competitive grants for university research on invasive species, specifically: (1) the zebra mussel; (2) oyster diseases and oyster-related human health risks; and (3) Pfiesteria piscicida and other harmful algal blooms. Became Public Law No: 105-160.

Focus on results, not regulation.

First Steps:
• Legislatively provide the EPA with a clear mission statement
• Simplify environmental reporting requirements to focus on results, not regulations
• Establish environmental improvement pilot programs at the state level
• Devote increased resources to researching the causes and effects of global warming
• Better understand -- and begin addressing -- the causes of and remedies to global warming