IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 477 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the crisis of 
Hurricane Katrina should not be used to weaken, waive, or roll back 
Federal public health, environmental, and environmental justice laws 
and regulations, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 
Ms. SOLIS (for herself, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. HIN-
CHEY, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. NADLER, 
Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. HONDA, Mr. ALLEN, 
Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. 
PAYNE, Mr. OWENS, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. SCHWARTZ of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. LEE, 
Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. 
CONYERS, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. 
BISHOP of New York, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. UDALL of 
Colorado, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, and Ms. KILPATRICK 
of Michigan) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee 
on Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the crisis of Hurricane Katrina should not be used to 
weaken, waive, or roll back Federal public health, envi-
ronmental, and environmental justice laws and regula-
tions, and for other purposes.
•HRES 477 IH 
Whereas Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the Gulf Region 
on August 29, 2005, destroying property, causing mas-
sive floods, and resulting in more than $35 billion in in-
sured property losses and over 1,000 deaths; 
Whereas expeditiously rebuilding those areas affected by 
Hurricane Katrina and providing the victims of the storm 
with normalcy and relief must be the top priorities for 
the Congress; 
Whereas Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff 
recently commented, ‘‘We are going to have to clean 
probably the greatest environmental mess we have ever 
seen in the country as a result of Hurricane Katrina’’; 
Whereas Hurricane Katrina demonstrates the connection be-
tween the health and safety of communities and the 
health of natural resources; 
Whereas many of the hardest hit areas in New Orleans and 
the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Katrina were low-income 
and minority communities already facing decades of envi-
ronmental injustices; 
Whereas at least 9 major oil spills, and scores of smaller oil 
and hazardous substance spills, leaks, and other releases 
have occurred; 
Whereas 60 underground storage tanks, hazardous waste 
storage facilities, and industrial facilities, and 5 Super-
fund sites in New Orleans were hit by Hurricane 
Katrina, yet monitoring reported to date has only been 
conducted at a handful of sites for a limited number of 
contaminants; 
Whereas nearly 1,000 drinking-water systems were disabled 
or impaired because of power outages or structural dam-
age, many people have been told to boil their water, and
•HRES 477 IH 
safe drinking water may not be available for the entire 
population for years to come; 
Whereas the Environmental Protection Agency’s initial water 
quality tests found that flood water in New Orleans con-
tains 10 times more E. Coli bacteria than the Agency 
considers safe for human contact and lead concentrations 
that exceed drinking water standards, and the mix of 
contaminants poses a serious disease risk to those wading 
through the filthy water; 
Whereas proper implementation and enforcement of Federal 
public health and environmental regulations are necessary 
to protect human health, especially among vulnerable 
populations, and are necessary in times of emergency to 
ensure that the response to a disaster does not exacer-
bate the initial impact; 
Whereas major industrial facilities and toxic waste sites dis-
proportionately impact low-income individuals, minorities, 
children, the elderly, and all underserved communities; 
Whereas more than one in four Americans, including 10 mil-
lion children, live within four miles of a Superfund site, 
which poses serious public health issues when sites are 
not cleaned up adequately and in a timely manner; 
Whereas the health of low-income and minority communities 
continues to suffer, largely because of the cumulative im-
pact of all sources of pollution on public health in the 
acute impact area and the failure to consider cumulative 
impacts upon siting of new industrial facilities and clean-
up of existing toxic communities; 
Whereas the addition of poor environmental protection and 
enforcement to existing health vulnerabilities has only ex-
acerbated the conditions in these communities, which
•HRES 477 IH 
often suffer from higher rates of illness and death in 
comparison with middle-class, suburban, and more afflu-
ent communities; 
Whereas Federal public health and environmental statutes 
provide many opportunities to address environmental 
risks and hazards in minority- and low-income commu-
nities if applied and implemented; 
Whereas Executive Order 12898 states that each Federal 
agency shall make achieving environmental justice part of 
its mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, 
disproportionately high and adverse human health or en-
vironmental effects of its programs, policies, and activi-
ties on minority populations and low-income populations; 
Whereas in 2005, the Congress passed and President Bush 
signed into law (Pub. L. 109–54) language prohibiting 
the Environmental Protection Agency from using appro-
priated funds to work in contravention of Executive 
Order 12898 and further delay the implementation of 
this Order, which is critical to achieving environmental 
and health equity across all community lines; 
Whereas environmental cleanup of affected areas must be 
done in an effective and timely manner to ensure the vic-
tims of Hurricane Katrina can return to their homes 
without enduring preventable environmental or health 
risks; and 
Whereas weakening, waiving, and rolling back Federal public 
health and environmental protections would further 
threaten the heavily damaged area of the Gulf Coast, 
negatively impact the public health of the already most- 
affected communities, and put public health and the envi-
•HRES 477 IH 
ronment at greater future risk at the expense of all com-
munities: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) the crisis of Hurricane Katrina and other 
such disasters should not be used to weaken, waive, 
or roll back Federal public health, environmental, 
and environmental justice laws and regulations; 
(2) State, local, and regional authorities must 
retain their authority for compliance and permitting 
of industrial and other facilities, and their role in 
enforcing and implementing monitoring and cleanup 
regulations; 
(3) testing, monitoring, cleanup, and recovery 
in the region hit by Hurricane Katrina and other 
areas of national emergency— 
(A) should be completed in a manner de-
signed to protect public health and the environ-
ment, ensure habitability of the region, and 
mitigate against the effects of future storms; 
and 
(B) should be carried out in compliance 
with Executive Order 12,898; and 
(4) the Federal rebuilding of communities and 
the economy of the Gulf Region should be a model