|
President Clinton and Vice President Gore:
Protecting Our Environment and Public Health
Over the past seven years, President Clinton and Vice President
Gore have significantly strengthened protections for the environment
and public health, and won new resources to help states and communities
protect their water, land and coasts. Here are some of the ways the
state of North Dakota has benefited:
Accelerating Toxic Cleanups. The Clinton-Gore Administration has greatly
accelerated the cleanup of contaminated sites, protecting communities
and revitalizing local economies by returning land to productive use.
-
Superfund -- Nationwide, the Administration has completed
525 Superfund cleanups since 1993, more than three times the number
completed in the previous twelve years. In North Dakota, one Superfund
cleanup has been completed since 1993.
-
Brownfields Administration initiatives have steered
more than $110 million to more than 300 communities to assess, clean
up and redevelop brownfields abandoned, contaminated sites, usually
in distressed urban neighborhoods. North Dakota has received two grants
totaling $400,000.
Reducing Toxic Releases. The Administration has greatly expanded
communities' right to know about toxic releases to air, water and land
increasing by 30 percent the number of facilities that must report
their releases, and nearly doubling the number of chemicals subject
to reporting. Increased disclosure has helped lead to dramatic reductions
in toxic releases. Nationwide, reported releases dropped nearly 20 percent
from 1992 to 1997. In North Dakota, toxic releases declined from 1,117,003
pounds in 1992 to 794,419 pounds in 1997.
Strengthening Water Quality Protections. Through a variety
of programs, the Administration has provided significant new resources
to states and communities to safeguard public health by improving drinking
water and to protect rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. These include:
-
Clean Water State Revolving Fund This fund supports
low-interest loans to help communities build and upgrade sewage treatment
plants and other wastewater systems. Since 1993, the Environmental
Protection Agency has provided $10.7 billion to states for these loans.
North Dakota has received $54.6 million.
-
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund This fund, proposed
by President Clinton and enacted in 1996, supports low-interest loans
to help communities build and upgrade their water treatment systems.
Since 1997, the Environmental Protection Agency has provided nearly
$3.5 billion to states for these loans. North Dakota has received
$34.9 million.
-
Polluted Runoff Grants These grants help states and
communities develop programs to combat the largest remaining threat
to water quality polluted runoff from sources such as farms and
city streets. Since 1993, EPA has provided grants totaling nearly
$900 million. North Dakota has received $18.1 million.
-
Rural Water Grants -- These grants and loans provide special
assistance to small rural communities to upgrade their drinking water
systems. Since 1993, the Department of Agriculture has provided nearly
$9 billion in loans and grants. North Dakota has received $63.8 million.
Protecting Local Lands. The Administration has won significant
new resources to help states, communities, and landowners protect farms
and other local green spaces that support wildlife, recreation, and
water quality.
-
Land and Water Conservation Fund Since 1993, the Department
of the Interior has provided states and communities with $81.5 million
through the Land and Water Conservation Fund to acquire and protect
threatened lands. North Dakota has received $837,025.
-
Conservation Reserve Program This Department of Agriculture
program provides payments to farmers who remove environmentally sensitive
lands from production and improve them by restoring wildlife habitat,
planting windbreaks, or creating streamside buffers. Since 1993, farmers
in North Dakota have received funds to protect 3,127,721 acres.
April 2000
|
