Columbia River Restoration Act Introduced in Congress
On February 24th, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced the Columbia River Restoration Act (H.R. 4652) that will fund the clean-up and restoration of the Columbia River, the largest river in the Pacific Northwest. The Columbia River is plagued by habitat loss and degraded with dangerous PCBs and chemical pollutants that are detrimental to fish and wildlife, including many species of salmon and steelhead that are listed as threatened or endangered species. The legislation authorizes $40 million a year for EPA to form a new Columbia River Program Team to assist and support the implementation of the Toxics Action and Comprehensive Plans to reduce toxics, coordinate the major functions of the Federal government related to the plans, track progress towards meeting the goals and objectives of the plans, and share this information with the public. For more information, refer to this detailed factsheet: Columbia River Restoration Act factsheet
