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<DIV><FONT size=3><SPAN class=406245217-19042004>Feinstein did NOT include a
provision for the Trinity. The California delegation has been divided on
this legislation and similar legislation of hers for the past several
years. No bill has come out of the Congress, nor has the
program been funded by the federal government for the past few years.
>From the point of view of Trinity interests, there is nothing to commend the
bill - quite the reverse. If anyone wants a copy of the bill, let me
know. I can send it to you in pdf format.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
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style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT
face=Tahoma size=4><STRONG><SPAN
class=406245217-19042004></SPAN></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT
face=Tahoma size=4><STRONG>Shrunken Cal-Fed bill might have a
chance</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><SPAN class=395302116-19042004><FONT face=Tahoma>Sacramento Bee -
4/15/04</FONT></SPAN></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Tahoma>By Michael Doyle<SPAN class=395302116-19042004>,
staff writer</SPAN></FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV>
<P>WASHINGTON -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein has prepared a bite-sized version of a
once-sprawling California water bill in hopes it can be more easily digested on
Capitol Hill.</P>
<P>Today, in a San Francisco meeting, Feinstein and her allies will learn if
they've gone far enough by cutting the bill's cost by more than half.</P>
<P>"I actually think we have the only bill that can get through the Senate now,"
Feinstein, D-Calif., said Wednesday. "I think it's fair to say this is the last
chance for a bill (this year)."</P>
<P>After months of behind-the-scenes work, Feinstein has crafted a $389 million
version of legislation to authorize the so-called Cal-Fed water program. It
includes restoring San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta habitat
and studying new reservoirs along the upper San Joaquin River and in the
Sacramento Valley.</P>
<P>The proposal has shrunk from the $880 million California water package
Feinstein introduced last May, and the $2.4 billion bill Feinstein tried moving
two years ago.</P>
<P>Lawmakers had continued to choke on the past offerings, citing both cost and
seemingly unrelated labor provisions. Now, though some disputes remain,
Feinstein hopes she can move her bill in the next two weeks.</P>
<P>"The money should be sufficient to meet the program needs," Feinstein
said.</P>
<P>Feinstein described her meeting today, with representatives of farm and
environmental groups among others, as a chance to build a "united front." Her
chief of staff previously met with labor leaders to ensure that the proposal and
its treatment of prevailing-wage requirements set by the federal Davis-Bacon
Act, would not incite overt opposition.</P>
<P>"I give Sen. Feinstein a lot of credit for taking another whack at Cal-Fed,"
said Environmental Defense attorney Tom Graff, who has been critical of past
federal water projects. "There's little glory for a California senator in trying
to make something happen on (it), given the mess that the Clinton and Davis
administrations handed off to their successors."</P>
<P>The Interior Department also helped jump-start the latest negotiations, with
top federal water officials getting directly involved after a long period of
relative passivity. The bill's changes are both temporal and concrete.</P>
<P>The bill now covers six years, for instance, instead of the previous four.
Its cost is markedly lower because it's dealing with many projects that have
already gotten a congressional go-ahead. It also sidesteps the recurring
Davis-Bacon wage conflict. Feinstein now contends that spelling out the
prevailing-wage guarantees - anathema to congressional conservatives but
heretofore essential to organized labor - is not necessary given existing
authorizations for the California water projects.</P>
<P>Graff cautioned, though, that "threading the needle with a Cal-Fed bill, in
the absence of consensus among the California water interests or strong
leadership from Sacramento, is likely to be near impossible."</P>
<P>Northern California Indian tribes, for example, worry about the future of
Trinity River water.</P>
<P>Another political variable is the relationship between the California water
bill and the priorities of other Western senators.</P>
<P>Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., is championing an Indian water-rights settlement in
his state costing hundreds of millions of dollars, while Sen. Pete Domenici,
R-N.M., is pushing his own bundle of Western water projects.</P>
<P>Feinstein said she would be "surprised" if the California bill doesn't
eventually get wedded to other Western water legislation.</P>
<P>With Congress squeezed by an election-year calendar, the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee could take up the legislation as early as April 28.
A House bill written by Riverside Republican Ken Calvert, with a price tag that
still exceeds $880 million, could then be on track for House Resources Committee
approval on May 5.</P>
<P>"They're making very positive changes," House Resources Committee spokesman
Brian Kennedy said of the Senate bill.</P>
<P>House and Senate negotiators would still have to work out their differences
in a conference. Some differences are pretty big. The House bill, for instance,
includes a $100 million grant program that Feinstein's does not. The House bill
also includes controversial language that streamlines the process for actually
constructing new dams.</P></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT color=#808080></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT color=#808080>Byron Leydecker</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT color=#808080>Chairman, Friends of Trinity
River</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT color=#808080>Consultant, California Trout,
Inc,</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT color=#808080>PO Box 2327</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT color=#808080>Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT color=#808080>415 383 4810 ph</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT color=#808080>415 519 4810 cell</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT color=#808080>415 383 9562 fx</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><A href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><FONT
color=#0000ff>bwl3@comcast.net</FONT></A></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><A href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><FONT
color=#0000ff>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</FONT></A><FONT color=#0000ff>
(secondary)</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><A href="http://www.fotr.org/"><FONT
color=#0000ff>http://www.fotr.org</FONT></A></EM></DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.caltrout.org/"><EM>http://www.caltrout.org</EM></A></DIV>
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