Mr. Garcia wrote a letter in August again urging action on this issue by the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council. House floor action on Coastal Zone legisation has been postponed until February, 2000. Rep. Saxton is chairman of the House Resources Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans Subcommittee. In several views letters to the Resources Committee, the Department of Commerce has noted that it will not support legislation that does not include language to address non-point source pollution and that it would recommend a veto should the Pombo amendment language remain in the bill. NOAA would maintain a database of monitoring information to track the success of the projects.
All Members present at the mark up spoke in favor of the legislation.
Rep. Gilchrest noted that exclusion of the insular areas had been a drafting error and expressed interest in working with Rep. Vento during the next week to address his concerns about the Great Lakes. The measure was then reported to the full Resources Committee by unanimous consent. Ms. Yozell testified that NOAA although does not support the bill as currently drafted, the agency is willing to work with the Subcommittee to accomplish the important goals of this legislation. This hearing is in response to the new Pacific Salmon Treaty Agreement, forged by the United States and Canada in June, which is designed to ensure the sustainability of five Pacific salmon species. We have negotiated in good faith with Canada, and have reached consensus through a stakeholder process, and that must be upheld by an appropriate amount of funding.