Lincoln Chafee: “page 44 of the committee report accompanying S. 2138, the fiscal 1999 Energy and Water Development Appropriation bill…”

“page 44 of the committee report accompanying S. 2138, the fiscal 1999 Energy and Water Development Appropriation bill, includes a section on funding provided in the bill for construction of a flood control outlet at Devils Lake, North Dakota. At the end of the short section, the committee report states that, ``[i]t is expected that such circumstances would also be such that granting of a waiver under the emergency provision of the National Environmental Policy Act would be appropriate and that the provision of the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty would be met.'' I am trying to understand how this report language corresponds with language in the bill for Devils Lake. As reported by the committee, pages 6 and 7 of the bill lay out a detailed set of rigorous criteria that must be met before any funds can be obligated by the Secretary for actual construction of the outlet. Two of those criteria, full compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty seem to be preempted by the committee in this report. I ask the distinguished chairman of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, Senator Domenici, if the committee report language in any way supercedes the bill language? Moreover, is the committee attempting to provide a waiver or some form of relief under NEPA or the Boundary Waters Treaty?”