Mark Udall: “I have come to the reluctant conclusion that this bill does not deserve approval, and so I will not vote for it. This is…”

“I have come to the reluctant conclusion that this bill does not deserve approval, and so I will not vote for it. This is not a criticism of Chairman Taylor, Congressman Dicks, and the other members of the Appropriations Committee who had the unenviable task of developing the bill. The budget authority allocated to the Interior and Environment Subcommittee fell far short of the amount needed to adequately fund the agencies and activities within their jurisdiction. That in turn was the result of the unrealistic and inadequate budget resolution that the Republican leadership pushed through the Congress earlier this year. But while the shortcomings of the bill are understandable, they are nonetheless so serious that I cannot vote for it. Among the worst are its severe reductions in funding for the Environmental Protection Agency. It cuts EPA's Clean Water State Revolving Fund by $242 million below the 2005 funding level. This will mean that many communities in Colorado and elsewhere will be adversely affected as projects that have already been approved by State water authorities for future funding probably will be rejected, scaled back, or substantially delayed. The wrong-headedness of this is clear when we recall that just two years ago EPA Administrator Whitman issued a formal report, entitled the ``Water Gap Analysis,'' which estimated the twenty-year fiscal shortfall between what we are currently spending and what is required at $388 billion.…”