WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senators Bob Casey and Arlen Specter today joined eight other Senators in sending a letter to President Obama urging him to include funding for the Mid-Atlantic River Basin Commissions in his FY2011 budget. The Mid-Atlantic Basin includes the Delaware, Susquehanna and the Potomac River Basins.
“I am grateful for the work the Mid-Atlantic River Basin Commissions do in regulating shared waters and preparing regions for unforeseen circumstances that affect the river basins,” said Senator Casey. “I am hopeful that President Obama will include funding for the Mid-Atlantic River Basin Commissions in his Fiscal Year 2011 budget and for the years to follow.”
“Adequate funding for the Mid-Atlantic River Basin Commissions is essential to support the services they provide, including protecting some of our most flood-prone regions in the nation,” said Senator Specter. “The Commissions perform important work to develop watershed flood management plans and flood warning systems, as well as provide assistance to local governments, and the federal government should continue to support these efforts.”
Funding for the river basins has historically been awarded through the appropriations process- including $2.365 million in the Energy and Water Appropriations Act of 2009. Unfortunately, Congressional requests for this amount were not included in the Fiscal Year 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill.
The Senators requested that the President include $2.365 million in his FY2011 budget and in subsequent years. Senators Casey and Specter were joined by Senators Ted Kaufman, Tom Carper, Frank Lautenberg, Robert Menendez, Ben Cardin, Barbara Mikulski, Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer.
Full text of the letter is below.
Dear Mr. President,
We write to express our support for the Mid-Atlantic River Basin Commissions. The three commissions—the Delaware River Basin Commission, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin—all play instrumental roles in regulating the shared waters of their respective river basins. The Mid-Atlantic River Basin Commissions have a strong record of facilitating successful negotiations between member states and helping their regions prepare for and mitigate unforeseen circumstances that affect the river basins.
Each of the respective compacts creating the three commissions was authorized by Congress. In addition, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and the Delaware River Basin Commission are constituted under federal-interstate compacts in which the federal government is a signatory member. These unique compacts are the only two that exist under federal law.
Funding for all three of the compacts has historically been awarded through the congressional annual appropriations process. In addition, the following language was added to Section 5019 of the Water Recourses Development Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-114):
(b) Authorization to Allocate – The Secretary [of the Army] shall allocate funds to the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, Delaware River Basin Commission, and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin to fulfill the equitable funding requirements of the respective interstate compacts. (Emphasis added).
The Mid-Atlantic River Basins were provided $2.365 million in the Energy and Water Appropriations Act of 2009, (P.L. 111-8). Unfortunately, Congressional requests for this amount were not included in the fiscal year 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. To ensure the success of the Commissions in the future, we respectfully urge you to include $2.365 million in your FY2011 budget and in subsequent years.
Thank you in advance for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Bob Casey
Arlen Specter
Ted Kaufman
Tom Carper
Frank Lautenberg
Robert Menendez
Ben Cardin
Barbara Mikulski
Kirsten Gillibrand
Charles Schumer
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