HOUSE BILL REPORT

SJM 8011

BYSenators Metcalf and Owen

Requesting that Congress continue to support federal and international greenhouse and sea level rise funding.

House Committe on Environmental Affairs

Majority Report:  Do Pass.  (11)

      Signed by Representatives Rust, Chair; Valle, Vice Chair; D. Sommers, Ranking Republican Member; Brekke, G. Fisher, Fraser, Phillips, Pruitt, Schoon, Sprenkle and Van Luven.

House Staff:Karl Herzog (786-7271)

AS PASSED HOUSE APRIL 11, 1989

BACKGROUND:

Two potentially severe environmental problems of global importance include the greenhouse effect and sea level rise.  The greenhouse effect is a theory describing an increase in the earth's average temperature caused by increasing quantities of certain gases in the earth's atmosphere.  Possible impacts of the greenhouse effect include climate change and acceleration of sea level rise.

Historically, sea level rise has averaged approximately six inches per century.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that, due to the greenhouse effect, sea level will rise two to eleven feet by the year 2100. Possible impacts of sea level rise include coastal floods, shoreline erosion, property damage, water quality degradation, and changes in tidal currents affecting fisheries.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and EPA currently sponsor basic research on the greenhouse effect and sea level rise, and provide funding for state and local programs through the Coastal Zone Management Program. In September, 1988, the Department of Ecology formed a task force to study potential impacts of sea level rise on Washington State.  The task force relies on federal information on the greenhouse effect and sea level rise, and receives funding from the federal Coastal Zone Management Program.

SUMMARY:

The President and Congress are requested to continue to support federal greenhouse effect and sea level rise research programs, and to provide continuing technical and funding support for related state and local activities.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Senator Jack Metcalf; E. Rodney Mack, Department of Ecology.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    This memorial sends a strong message to the federal government that Washington State is concerned about the potential impacts of sea level rise and the greenhouse effect.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.