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. Department of Energy's national laboratories to promote energy and water conservation by both finding w~ys to increase energy supplies, while lowering water used in oil and gas production, etc, The bill promotes the use of reclaimed waters, and new water development using new technologies. The bilI calls for an assessment of existing federal research and creates an advisory board to identifY research priorities and potential legal and regulatory issues, It also authorizes competitive grants to other laboratories, agencies and non-governmental organizations. The bill authorizes $5M for FY2006, and sums as needed for future years. Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) is a cosponsor, Legislation Ods USEP A Budget by $80 Million: USEP A's FY2006 budget will be reduced by I percent across the board under spending legislation passed by a contentious Congress before members recessed Dec. 22 for the holiday season, Included in the $453 billion military spending bill (HR 2863), which was stripped by a Senate filibuster of a provision to allow oil drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), is a I percent reduction of all FY2006 discretionary spending, which translates into a nearly $80 million cut to USEPA's Budget (HR 2361), The govemment-wide reduction was Congress's response to an earlier White House Request to rescind $2.3 billion, including $166 million in Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) resources, to help cover recovery costs associated with this past summer's devastating Gulf Coast hurricanes. Congress had previously approved $900 mi\1ion for the CWSRF in FY2006, which is $120 million more that the White House requested but $191 million less than in FY2005. . A I percent reduction to the CWSRF would leave it at $891 million, and the same cut to the approved $850 million Drinking Water SRF budget would leave it at $841.5 million. Weather Modifieation Bills in Congress: There are two WM bills in Congress this year, S,517 sponsored by Texas Senator Hutchison and the companion HR 2995 sponsored by Colorado Congressman Mark Udall. S, 517 has had a hearing in front of Congress and passed out of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. If passed this new bill would have a board of scientists would be able to dole out federal research money for weather modification, How much money will be appropriated for grants remains to be seen. The bill initially plalUled to set aside $10 million a year for 10 years to enable researchers to come up with ideas to control the hazards of weather or provide benefits like water resource management. The money is less than scientists wished for, but much higher than the current amount heing spent on weather modification: zero, But during the committee mark-up in mid-November, the language was changed to remove the specific dollar amount and provide "funding as necessary," The bill was also amended to move the proposed program out of the Commerce Department into the White House, Despite the apparent setback for proponents of the bill, a companion measure sponsored by Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo" is awaiting action in the House, Joe Golden of NOAA in Boulder said, he's still optimistic that money could be set aside, and even though he feels "it's been watered down from the original, it's better than nothing," The Wyoming Water Development Commission is undertaking an $8,8M, five-year cloud-seeding project, in collaboration with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a federally funded facility in Boulder, Colorado, Mountain snowpack is a critical reservoir of water in the West, and Wyoming hopes to raise the level of that supply, Several states have invested millions over the years, primarily using planes and ground based generators to "seed" clouds with silver iodide and other media as a catalyst to produce more precipitation (and also reduce risks of damaging hail storms), However, the results are . 13