The program provides grants to state and local agencies and nonprofit organizations to support environmental education. The House was not in session last week. The Senate is scheduled to vote on Tuesday afternoon in an attempt to override the President s veto of S. 1287, a bill to provide for long-term storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Environmentalists object to this bill because it will interfere with the setting of radiation standards for the facility at Yucca Mountain and will entail the movement of dangerous nuclear fuel through communities across the U.S. beginning as soon as 2007. To override the President s veto of the bill, two-thirds of the Senate, or 67 senators, must vote in favor of an override.
Rural counties use funds from the county payments program to fund public education and roadbuilding.
Currently, the program is funded by timber sales, thereby giving an incentive to counties to support logging in order to fund their schools and roads. Environmental groups support legislation to fund rural schools near national forests from the federal treasury without regard to timber receipts. The Senate sponsors of the bill have been meeting with the administration to try and work out compromise language and this has delayed consideration of the bill. As it was passed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, S. 1608 will continue to fund schools from logging receipts, although shortfalls may be made up from general funds, and additionally will put 15 percent of the funds towards stewardship programs on national forest lands that are designed to generate more money for schools and roads. Counties are free to opt out of the 15 percent program, but if they do they will lose that portion of their county payments funding.