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Show Western Resources w, WRAP-UP i David Stockman black book cuts ByHeleneC.Monberg Washington-The famous Stockman k boolt recommends dismantling "Tor energy impact area aid !nmms now in operations to help ' Simunities impacted by major mergy developments. 1 if the recommendations in the black Ji are accepted by the new Ad- rjnistration, no new aid will be recommended for Western communities com-munities where there are new energy developments in their vicinity and the programs already on the statute books be phased out. The data in the Stockman black book ere put together at the end of ; ianuary. Spokesman for the Office of i Management and Budget (OMB) headed by David A. Stockman, 34, the Reagan Administration "whiz kid," point out that recommendations on program cutbacks are constantly changing. The revised Reagan Budget . will not go to Capital Hill until March 10, according to OMB. But as of the end of January, OMB's Stockman proposed ending two energy area aid impact programs, the coastal energy impact program, along with the I coastal zone management grant . '. program associated with the impact ! program in the Commerce Department, Depart-ment, and the energy impact assistance program in the Department of Energy (DOE). He proposes a phase-out phase-out of the Commerce impact program "starting with fiscal year 1982," and a termination of the DOE impact assistance program "since it is primarily a state and local respon-"t respon-"t ability." The Stockman black book cited two reasons for phasing out the coastal energy impact program in 1982. It said !j "The boom-bust program originally :f feared with coastal-related oil and gas development are no longer ap-parenL.The ap-parenL.The projected activities at-f at-f iributable to Outer Continental Shelf i leasing are probably somewhat op-'A op-'A timistic for the next few years. ' Even where there may be a ':) significant localized impact, the '". localities should be able to internalize j the costs of impacts thru the provision ,; of funds or facilities by private energy J.';'' developers, advance payment of taxes, ' or thru assistance from their state "'" government and-or other private and s'MeraP'pr6grams:n wnm n jf "The states have developed planning I capacity (thru various grants) for addressing coastal energy develop-Ii' develop-Ii' ment and the need for a continuing federal role comes into question. .f Furthermore, there is no evidence that 1 1 (such) assistance minimizes resistance to offshore oil and gas development," c the black book stated. It further ' j recommended that, as1 25 state plans 1 have already been approved covering .;( ?8 percent of the coast line, there is no i point in continuing the coastal zone ff management grants to states to : develop new programs to manage their coastal zones. i The DOE energy impact assistance i '1 went to other areas outside of coastal zones. No point in continuing it either, pi as "there are other federal programs e i which can be utilized if needed," the Stockman black book said. No mention as made, one way or the other, of the ; samll impact aid program run by the , Farmers Home Administration. For the coastal energy impact aid i Program the Carter Administration Programmed $19 million in budget authority from 1981-83, and it Programmed for the coastal zone management state grants from 1981-83 a total of $116 million in budget 5 authority. The black book recommends , t $i million be put up for each ; Program in 1982 to phase out each one. ! e Carter Administration zip all luing for this program beginning :i "mediately insofar as budget ' authority is concerned. Payment would made, or course, on already ; 'Raled funds totaling $36 million for f 1 -82 under the Stockman proposal to P the DOE impace assistance Ingram. " jHER RECOMMENDED CUTS he black book proposed major Stacks in 33 other energy programs, inuuding the big new synthetic fuels program authorized by Congress last ar. In addition to recommending '"mination of the DOE impact out' f prp8ram. t recommended j; ? Uerminaton of the DOE impact ii t?06 Pfam. it recommended a wight termination or phase-out of . "Varopower demonstrations and rommercialization projects; the coal fTI6"10" and utu'ty programs of the " ofrS11,0 Eatery Administration anHK ral alcoho1 fuels (gasahol) ' foMii !?mass financial assistance, the " aj ,aemonstration and development i:; 1: '''f5 ot DOE including coal loan !" mirl " 68 for sma11 underground coal assk?' 8rantS t0 oil shale states 3,1(1 in for communites interested t convey oping sources of un-L un-L W gas' and contractor ( es of alternative fuels. H Pr6,16811 and development , K S f0r coal- enhanced oil and wotdeZery; oil Shale research and d" mrtivT hons- and development f beds v?7 t0 recover 8as from coal western tight sands and Western Hi tight sands and Eastern gas shales were cut back by limited amounts in the black book's recommendations. The MHD R&D program would be terminated. A major scaling back of the Environmental En-vironmental Protection Agency's construction program of municipal waste water treatment plants was recommended by Stockman and staff in the OMB black book. "Major reforms in this program are imperative," the black book stated, noting that both the Ford and Carter Administrations had -unsuccessfully sought major reforms in this program. The most important reform, is "to limit project eligibility to treatment works returning the greatest environmental en-vironmental benefit often in the largest metropolitan areas. This action would reduce the total federal exposure from $106 billion to about$20 billion. It can be initiated during Congressional consideration of the Clean Water Act this spring. Projects eliminated would be primarily collector sewers and small plants that do not significantly contribute to environmental benefits. "Other reform measures" in the big waste water treatment plant program "would include changing the funding delivery mechanism so that fast moving states would receive additional monies from slower states; changing the federal share to something below the current 75 percent level (of funding) fun-ding) ; and the institution of mandatory -user charge systems at the state-local level to assure proper operations and maintenance of plants once built," the black book recommended. A study by EPA indicates that 50 percent of the plants are not meeting EPA performance specifications, so a reassessment and reform of the program are in order, it said. A virtual halt is recommended by the Stockman black book in the construction con-struction programs of the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), - and the Federal Highway - Ad-m Ad-m ministration. i It- recommends i major " changes in TVA and REA financing "REA has largely accomplished its purpose to provide the investment captial necessary to construct electric and telephone infrastructure nationwide." nation-wide." It recommends major cutbacks or elimination of federal subsides for urban mass transit, airports, AMTRAK and local assistance to communities and states where rail service has been abandoned. The black book recommends "A 25 percent across-the-board reduction in new direct lending" by the Farmers Home Administration. This would have "major effects" on three funds, the agriculture credit insurance fund to help new farmers or distressed operators, a rural housing insurance fund, and the rural development insurance in-surance fund. A cut in the agrigultural credit would probably limit disaster loans in line with a recommendation made by the Carter Administration. A cut in the subsidized housing loans would restrict them to low-income families, also recommended by the Carter Administration. Ad-ministration. And the cut in the rural development loan program would reduce assistance to highest income communities. In sum, the reductions would target the remaining funds "to lowest-income borrowers," in line with the purpose of these programs, the black book maintained. The DSG labelled in the proposed cuts in the black book "the Stockman hit list." And this is only a portion of the proposed cuts, it said. In sending out the reprinted black book, the liberal Democrats who make up DSG quoted the late Harvey Dueholm .of the Wisconsin legislature: "The rich and the poor get the same amount of ice, but the poor get theirs in the winter." In lieu of payments, Interior Secretary James G. Watt told Rep. Hank Brown, R-Colo., and other GOP freshmen on the House Interior Committee at a Wednesday morning breakfast that the Reagan Administration Ad-ministration will recommend $50 million for in-lieu tax payments for ; public land counties for fiscal 1982 beginning Oct. 1. The Carter Ad-ministartion Ad-ministartion recommended nothing. Congress appropriated $108 million for the program in the current fiscal year after the Carter Administration had recommended a sharp cutback. |