ALASKA - Report No.10 - 1st Session - Hearing and Committee Markup

Sep 21, 2026

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April 13, 1979, ALASKA legislative report No. 10 (1st Session) summarizes House and committee actions, focusing on merchant marine committee markup and subsequent hearings. It details votes on the Studds Amendment and the Breaux substitute, listing representatives by position, and notes changes to provisions on mineral leasing, subsistence language, and other items. Separate sections cover reauthorization hearings for the Endangered Species Act, hazardous waste disposal criticism in Hooker Chemical Company hearings referencing Love Canal, and April 10 natural resources reorganization hearings.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

HAZARDOUS WASTES

NATURAL RESOURCES REORGANIZATION

April 13,1979 96th Congress Report No.10 1st Session ALASKA On April_9,the House Merchant Marine Committee completed mark-up of the Breauxsubstitute.In a last attempt to win support for a strong committee Bii1,Rep.GerryStudds(Mass.),offered an amendment in the form of a substitute,H.R.2219,whichcontained language nearly identical to the House-passed bill from last year.In a 25-14roll call vote,the Committee defeated the environmentally favored Studds Amendment. Those Representatives in favor of the Studds Amendment(H.R.2219)included:Studds(Mass.),AuCoin(Oreg.),D'Amours (N.H.),Hughes(N.J.),Bonior(Mich.),Lowry(Wash.),Emery(Maine),Evans(De1.),Trible(Va.),Carney(N.Y.),Bonker(Wash.),Stack(Fla.),Donnelly(Mass.),and Mikulski(Md.).Those in favor of the Breaux Substitute included:Murphy(N.Y.),Dingell(Mich.),Anderson(Calif.),de la Garza (Tex.),Breaux (La.),Bowen(Miss.),Oberstar(Minn.),Akaka(Hawaii),Wyatt(Tex.),Hutto(Fla.),Forsythe(N.J.),Pritchard (Wash.),Young(Alaska),Lent(N.Y.),Jones(N.C.),Biaggi(N.Y.),Hubbard(Ky.),Treen(La.),Myers(Pa.),Mccloskey(Calif.),Evans(V.I.),Davis(Mich.),Dorman(Calif.),Snyder(Ky.),and Bauman (Md.). Before reporting the bill,Committee members amended certain sections dealing withmineral leasing,subsistence language,and miscellaneous provisions. Both the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Merchant MarineCommittee are scheduled to meet the April 23rd deadline to report the bil1. ## ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT On April 6 the House Merchant Marine Subcommittee on Fisheries,WildlifeConservation and the Environment held a reauthorization hearing on the Endangered SpeciesAct. Administration witness Lynn Greenwalt(Director,U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service)briefly summarized his testimony but did comment specifically on the draft GAO EndangeredSpecies report which he said contained many items which the Fish and Wildlife Servicedisagreed with.He requested that the Act be authorized $19,332,000 for FY 1980 and suchsums as may be necessary for FY's 1981 and 1982. Greenwalt also responded toSubcommittee Chairman John Breaux's questions on a variety of issues including proposalsfor captive propagation of the California Condor,recovery plans for species,and therole of non-government organizations (NGO's)at the recently held Convention onInternational Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna(CITES)meeting.Breaux expressed concern that the U.S.NGO's 1obbied against the official U.S.positionsin some instances. Markup is expected in late April. ## HAZARDOUS WASTES House members sharply criticized Hooker Chemical Company officials for their wastedisposal practices in April 10 hearings before the Oversight and Investigations Subcom-mittee of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee.The subcommittee recently beganinvestigating the hazardous waste disposal problem in the United States. Bruce Davis,Executive Vice President of Hooker,outlined programs undertaken by hiscompany to safely bury chemical residues at five landfill sites within the vicinity ofNiagara,New York.He emphasized that Hooker has undertaken efforts to monitor themigration of chemical leachate from the sites in 1ight of serious health problems whichdeveloped among residents near Love Canal,and has investigated and implementedalternative methods for waste disposal--such as incineration. However,he stated,"…evenif this technology is developed to its optimum,there is almost no possibilitythat landfill disposal can be entirely avoided." CONTRIBUTIONS TO NWE. Rep.Albert Gore(Tenn.)questioned whether Hooker had acted forthrightly to informthe pubiic about problems arising from the Love Canal site.According to a June 18,1958memorandum written by Jerome Wilkenfeld,Industrial waste supervisor at Hooker at thetime,the company had been aware that children who were using the dump site as aplayground had been burned by toxic chemicals leaking from metal drums at the site.Thecompany notified the local school board,but took

FAQs

What committee actions occurred on April 9 regarding the Breaux substitute and the Studds Amendment?

The House Merchant Marine Committee completed markup of the Breaux substitute and defeated the Studds Amendment in a 25-14 roll call vote.

What issues were discussed during the Endangered Species Act reauthorization hearing?

Witness Lynn Greenwalt summarized his testimony and addressed disagreements with a draft GAO report. Questions included captive propagation for the California Condor, recovery plans, and the role of NGOs at CITES.

How were Hooker Chemical Company’s waste disposal practices evaluated in the hazardous wastes section?

Members sharply criticized disposal practices. Testimony covered burial of residues, monitoring leachate migration, alternative methods like incineration, and debate over informing the public about Love Canal risks.

Sep 21, 2026

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