NATURAL RESOURI ES AND THE ENVIRONMEN1 977 



to require the Science Advisory Board to report on health effects 

 research, to require EPA to implement recommendations the com- 

 mittee had made in 1976 on the Community Health and Environ- 

 mental Surveillance System (CHESS), and to improve coordination. 

 In presenting the EPA R. & D. bill to the House on April 19, 1977, 

 floor manager Fuqua commented : 



The bill we are considering today is especially timely, since we now have a new 



administration which has expressed strong commitment in the environment area. 



In supporting the bill, Walker praised the attention given to water 

 quality and solid waste landfill projects. While endorsing the bill, 

 Winn told the House: 



I believe it is essential that EPA personnel actually roll up their sleeves and get 

 their hands dirty with environmental technology before they seek to compel the 

 private sector to implement technical systems of doubtful merit. To put it in the 

 Carteresque dialect, the EPA should not force others to do something which it 

 cannot do itself. 



I certainly endorse President Carter's statement that agency heads should per- 

 sonally read all regulations promulgated by their organizations. If that practice 

 were followed, it would be a major step forward in reducing the doubletalk in 

 bureaucratic Washington. 



During the amending process, Representative James P. Johnson (Re- 

 publican of Colorado) successfully attached an amendment adding 

 $25 million to authorize EPA to do R. & D. through grants to study 

 the reuse of waste water for drinking water. The bill passed by a 

 margin of 358 to 31, and the conference report cleared on October 25 

 by 343 to 19- 



ENVIRONMENT AND SAFETY IN 1977 



In 1977, the Brown subcommittee assumed two entirely new 

 responsibilities in the environment and safety area. Up to that time, 

 in 1975 and 1976, the Hechler and McCormack energy subcommittees 

 had insisted on their prerogative to review in the first instance the 

 environment and safety authorizations for ERDA. It was only after 

 the two energy subcommittees had pawed over these figures that 

 Brown's subcommittee got a chance to take a crack at the environ- 

 mental and safety aspects of energy. As a result, the Brown subcom- 

 mittee had generally deferred to the decisions of the Hechler and 

 McCormack subcommittees. But in 1977, for the first time, the Brown 

 subcommittee was given exclusive jurisdiction over environment and 

 safety in ERDA — and ERDA's successor, the Department of Energy. 

 Additionally, since the jurisdiction over nuclear matters came to the 

 Science Committee in 1977, this further broadened the Brown sub- 

 committee jurisdiction in the critically important area of nuclear 

 safety and environmental protection. 



