Because of the riders and the low level of funding for some of the programs included in the Administration s FY 00 funding request, President Clinton has threatened to veto the bill. Among the objectionable riders were amendments to reverse the Interior Solicitor s opinion to restrict mill site limits to five acres per mining claim, extend the life of grazing permits while the Bureau of Land Management reviews them, deny funding of national forest management plan revisions until permanent planning regulations are completed, and impose a 120-day comment period for a report on the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project. More amendments may be offered in September when discussion of the bill resumes. Their concern centers on the fact that individual provisions, including anti-environmental riders, receive less attention in a huge omnibus measures. Following are funding levels for select programs in the Senate bill.
House numbers are in parentheses.
On August 4, the Senate approved by voice vote S. 1233, its FY 00 funding bill for Agriculture-Rural Development and Related Agencies. Funding levels for conservation accounts in the Senate and House versions of the bill were similar, with the only significant exception being a Natural Resources Conservation Service forestry incentives program. As a result, conference discussion over the bill in September will revolve largely around the emergency spending provision for farmers. Also, the Senate bill called for 180,000 acres to be enrolled in the Wetlands Reserve Program, but the House version called for 120,000. Following are funding levels for select programs in the Senate Agriculture funding bill for FY 00.