Lake Tahoe Restoration Act Approved by Senate Committee
July 13, 2000

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A bill sponsored by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to save Lake Tahoe moved one step closer toward final approval today as the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources unanimously approved the bipartisan legislation to improve the lake’s water quality and protect its forests.

The legislation, which now goes to the Senate floor for approval, is cosponsored by Senators Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Barbara Boxer (D-Cal.) and Richard Bryan (D-Nev.). A companion bill is sponsored in the House by Representatives John Doolittle (R-Roseville), Jim Gibbons (R-Reno) and Robert Matsui (D-Sacramento).

“I am extremely pleased that this important measure to save Lake Tahoe has moved one step closer to being reality -- I urge the Senate leadership to schedule a vote on it quickly,” Senator Feinstein said. “Put simply, time is running out for Lake Tahoe. The combination of pollution and sedimentation has reduced the lake's clarity by 30 feet in the last 27 years. We have ten years to do something major or the water quality deterioration is irreversible.”

The legislation requires the U.S. Forest Service to develop an annual priority list of environmental restoration projects and authorizes $200 million over ten years to implement these projects on federal lands. The bill authorizes $100 million over ten years as payments to local governments for erosion control activities.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency estimates it will cost $900 million dollars over the next decade to restore the Lake. The states of California and Nevada have pledged to provide more than $300 million together the project.

Local governments and private industry have also agreed to provide matching funds. The Tahoe Transportation and Water Quality Coalition, a coalition of 18 business and environmental groups, including Placer and El Dorado Counties, City of South Lake Tahoe, Douglass County in Nevada and Washoe County in Nevada have all agreed, representing an extraordinary commitment for a region with only 50,000 year round residents.

In a related development this week, the Senate approved an amendment sponsored by Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to the Interior Appropriations bill to provide $240 million in emergency funds to address the dangerous build-up of forest fuels on federal lands, including the Lake Tahoe National Forest.

The overall Interior Appropriations bill also includes other funding for Lake Tahoe restoration. The bill includes the following funds for Lake Tahoe:

• $4 million for U.S. forest Service land acquisition;
• $3 million for erosion control grants;
• $2.75 million for watershed restoration efforts; and
• $750,000 for efforts to identify and decommission roads on Forest Service lands.