Capps Applauds House Approval of Agriculture Funding Bill that Invests in Public Health, Food Safety, Rural Communities, Conservation & Other Priorities
Includes Capps' Requests to Assist with the Construction of the Los Osos Wastewater Treatment Plant; Support Research at Cal Poly; Combat Pierce's Disease
Today Congresswoman Lois Capps applauded the approval of the Fiscal Year 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill (H.R. 2997). The bill includes legislative language to help with the planning, design and construction of a Wastewater Treatment Plant in Los Osos, funding to support applied agriculture and environmental research at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and to combat Pierce's Disease. The House approved the legislation by a vote of 266 to 160. The Senate is currently considering its version of the Agriculture Appropriations bill and the differences between the two bills must be reconciled before being sent to the President for his approval.
"The approval of this waiver by the House is more good news for the Los Osos community," said Capps. "This measure will provide San Luis Obispo County with access to additional federal support and resources to help the community secure a safe source of water. I will continue to monitor the bill's progress as it makes it way through the Senate and will work to ensure that the waiver is included in the final bill signed by the President."
Specifically, the legislative language would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to approve a waiver of the 10,000 population requirement under its Rural Development program to assist San Luis Obispo County with meeting eligibility requirements for securing certain loan and grant programs to construct the project. The construction of a wastewater project in Los Osos will respond to the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board's order to replace the community's current septic system, cleanse Los Osos' groundwater basin to ensure clean and safe water for the residents of Los Osos, and protect the adjacent Morro Bay National Estuary from pollution. The wastewater project will also resolve Los Osos' longstanding problem with groundwater contamination, prevent seawater intrusion into deeper groundwater levels, and recharge groundwater supplies. Earlier this year Congresswoman Capps and Congressman Kevin McCarthy requested that the legislative language needed to grant the waiver from the USDA's Rural Development program population requirement be included in the Fiscal Year 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill.
The Agriculture Appropriations bill also includes $693,000 in funds for the California State University's (CSU) Agricultural Research Initiative (ARI). This initiative supports agricultural and environmental sciences research between the California Agricultural Technology Institute and the four CSU campuses with colleges of agriculture, including Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The consortium leverages public funding with university and industry capital to find solutions for priority issues challenging California agriculture, the environment, and consumer health and safety. ARI also helps train California's agricultural and agribusiness workforce for the high-skilled jobs of tomorrow. Last year, Congress approved $693,000 for this initiative.
"This federal funding will help Cal Poly and other California State Universities continue their cutting edge research and efforts to strengthen California agriculture," said Capps. "It will also create opportunities to train students for good jobs in agriculture and agribusiness."
Also included in the Agriculture Appropriations bill is $1.5 million to combat Pierce's Disease. Pierce's Disease is a deadly virus that affects California's wine and grape, nursery, citrus, tree fruit, and almond industries. The glassy-winged sharpshooter is an insect that feeds off the sickened plant, and then spreads the bacterium for the rest of its lifetime. Congresswoman Capps joined many of her California colleagues in the House of Representatives in requesting this funding to both control the spread of the insect, and to aggressively pursue research into the threat.
"Pierce's Disease poses a serious threat California's already weakened economy," said Capps. "We cannot allow this virus to endanger our wine industry or other crops. This federal funding will allow us to aggressively pursue research and containment efforts."