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<br />. <br /> <br /> <br />"" ~ - f'"l.'\ <br />0" " ' <br />(j i co:; . <br /> <br />January 29, 1993 <br />Issue No. 976 <br /> <br />.:1,.\ <br />,"~i:.ii-".j) <br />'-J ,.' "'7 <br /> <br />WESTERN <br />STATES WATER <br /> <br /> <br />TIlE WEEKLY NEWSLE'ITER OF TIlE WESTERN STATES WATER COUNCIL <br /> <br />Creekview Plaza, Suite A-20l f 942 East 7145 So. f Midvale, Utah 84047 f (801) 561-5300 f FAX (801) 255-9642 <br /> <br />editor - Tony Willardson <br />typist - carrie Curvin <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Shortly before leaving office, President Bush <br />appointed six members of the Western Water Policy <br />Review Advisory Commission. The Western Water <br />Policy Review Act authorized $10M for a <br />comprehensive review of federal activities in western <br />states that directly or indirectly affect the allocation <br />and use of water resources, both surface and ground <br />waters. It is to be submitted by the President to the <br />Congress by November 1995. The President will <br />perform the review with the assistance of the federal <br />agencies and in consultation with the Advisory <br />Commission. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The commission is to be comprised of twelve <br />members ofthe Congress (as ex-officio members) and <br />ten members appointed by the President. Those ten <br />members include the Secretaries of Interior and Army <br />(or their designates), one member from a list <br />submitted by the Western Governors' Association, and <br />another from a list submitted by tribal governments. <br />Neither of those lists have been submitted. The <br />remaining six members named by President Bush are: <br />Bob Broadbent, Nevada, former Commissioner of the <br />Bureau of Reclamation and Assistant Secretary of <br />Interior for Water and Science; former New Mexico <br />Governor Garry Carruthers (who was also Assistant <br />Interior Secretary for Land and Minerals Management <br />and Director of New Mexico's Water Resources <br />Research Institute); Gail Norton, Colorado Attorney <br />General; Jack Robertson, Oregon, Deputy <br />Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration; <br />Tom Sansonnetti, Wyoming, current Interior Solicitor; <br />and Ralph Tarr, California, former Interior Solicitor and <br />a partner in the Andrews and Curth law firm. Bush <br />appointed Sansonetti as Commission chair. <br /> <br />chairman - Dave Kennedy <br /> <br />executive director - Craig Bell <br /> <br />President Bush's choices have raised controversy, <br />questions, and speculation that commission members <br />would serve at President Clinton's pleasure. The <br />statute reads, 'The President shall appoint an advisory <br />commission.... and shall 'appoint one member...to <br />serve as Chairman.' It continues, 'Any vacancy which <br />may occur...shall be filled in the same manner in which <br />the original appointment was made.' There is no <br />provision for removing Commission members. No <br />funds have been appropriated for the commission. <br /> <br />CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE <br /> <br />Committee Changes-Senate <br /> <br />New Senate Committee assignments were made <br />on January 7. Senator Max Baucus (D-Ml) is now <br />chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, <br />replacing interim chair Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), <br />now chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Senator <br />Moynihan will remain on the Environment Committee <br />with Democrats George Mitchell (ME), Frank <br />Lautenburg (NJ), Harry Reid (ND), Bob Graham (FL), <br />Joseph Leiberman (Cl), Howard Metzenbaum (OH), <br />newcomers Harris Wofford (PAl and Barbara Boxer <br />(CA), ranking Minority Member John Chaffee (VT), and <br />Republicans Alan Simpson 0NY), David Durenburger <br />(MN), John Warner ryA), Robert Smith (NH) , and <br />freshmen Lauch Faircloth (NC) and Derk Kempthorne <br />(10). Subcommittee assignments and chairs will be <br />named soon. <br /> <br />Senator J. Bennett Johnston (D-LA) will continue to <br />chair the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. <br />Freshman Democrats Ben Nighthorse Campbell (CO), <br />Harlan Mathews (fN), and Robert Kruger (TX) will join <br />existing committee members Dale Bumpers (AI<), <br />Wendell Ford (KY), Bill Bradley (NJ), Jeff Bingaman <br />(NM), Daniel Akaka (HI), Richard Shelby (AL), and Paul <br />