For Immediate Release                                                                           Contact:  Peter Rafle
March 29, 2007                                                          (202) 228-3102 direct, (202) 302-7086 cell
U.S. Senate Committee on
Environment and Public Works
Environment and Public Works Committee
Passes Bipartisan Water Resources and
Public Building Efficiency Bills
Historic Markup Sends Key Legislation to Full Senate
           
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, hailed the spirit of bipartisan cooperation that characterized today’s full-committee markup, which approved three key pieces of infrastructure and energy-efficiency legislation by voice vote today, as well as two nominations and bills naming two federal buildings.                            
The following measures were approved at this morning’s business meeting:
  • The Water Resources Development Act of 2007. 

     

 

  • S. 992, The Public Buildings Cost Reduction Act of 2007

     

 

  • S. 496, The Appalachian Regional Development Act Amendments of 2007

     

Senator Boxer said, “For decades, this Committee has been a bipartisan leader in the fight to protect the health of our families and environment, while building our transportation and water infrastructure to keep our communities safe and our economy moving.  I am delighted that today the committee acted in that same spirit of bipartisan cooperation to act on these key pieces of legislation.”
“I am especially pleased that the committee has reported the Water Resources Development Act. We have not had a Water Resources Development Act since 2000 – much too long.  Today’s action moves us one step closer to providing critical water infrastructure to communities across the country.”
“I am also delighted that we have sent the Public Buildings Cost Reduction Act on to the full Senate with broad bipartisan support. By making public buildings models of energy efficiency, we can reduce global-warming and other pollution, cut energy use, and save taxpayers money, all at the same time. It’s just common sense.”
The committee also approved, by voice vote, the nominations of Bradley Udall to be a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation, and the nomination of Roger Romulus Martella, Jr. to be general counsel of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Bills to name a U.S. courthouse in Fresno, California, for Judge Robert E. Coyle, and to designate the Federal building and courthouse in Duluth, Minnesota, as the Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building and United States Courthouse and Customhouse, were also passed by voice vote.
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