HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 46


(By Delegates Fleischauer, Amores, Anderson, Azinger, Beach, Beane, Border, Browning, Butcher, Calvert, Campbell, Cann, Canterbury, Caputo, Carmichael, Caruth, Craig, Crosier, DeLong, Duke, Ellem, Evans, Foster, Fragale, Frederick, Frich, Hall, Hamilton, Hatfield, Houston, Hrutkay, Kominar, Kuhn, Leach, Long, Louisos, Manchin, Manuel, Martin, Morgan, Overington, Palumbo, Paxton, Perdue, Perry, Pethtel, Poling, Renner, Schadler, Schoen, Shaver, Shelton, Spencer, Sumner, Susman, Tabb, Tucker, Warner, Webb, Webster, G. White, Williams and Wright)


Memorializing the United States Congress to authorize and fund a demonstration project on the upper Monongahela River in West Virginia for removal and disposal of river trash and debris.

Whereas, Flowing river trash and debris, consisting of man-made rubbish and naturally-occurring wood wastes, deposits on river banks and at riverside facilities, and accumulates behind locks and dams on our nation?s navigable rivers, creates many problems, including: (1) Visual and odor pollution; (2) water pollution, hazardous to humans and aquatic life, from chemicals and hazardous materials in man-made rubbish; (3) health and safety hazards, for community and industrial water intakes, swimmers, water skiers, marinas, public and private docks and launching ramps and recreational boaters and river commerce; (4) navigation hazards, for commercial tows and recreational and long-range tourist boaters; and (5) interference with and damage to locks and dams; and
Whereas, No workable and cost-effective methodology exists today to deal with the problem of river trash and debris; and
Whereas, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is charged with the responsibility for our nation?s navigable rivers; and
Whereas, State and local governments with navigable rivers within their purview cannot solve the river trash and debris problem on their own, but, are willing to partner with the federal government in addressing the river trash and debris problem; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Legislature hereby requests the United States Congress to authorize and fund a demonstration project on the upper Monongahela River in West Virginia for removal and disposal of river trash and debris; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Legislature also requests that the Congress of the United States authorize and fund a demonstration program to be conducted on the upper Monongahela River in West Virginia, by the Pittsburgh District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to develop the methods and technology needed to solve the problem of river trash and debris removal and disposal and to develop a national technology base for addressing the river trash and debris problem on all our nation?s navigable rivers; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Legislature stands ready to partner with the federal government in this endeavor and suggests: (a) That the federal role focus on the technology for removing flowing river-borne debris and debris accumulating at the locks and dams and that state and local government entities focus on the means for removing trash from riverbanks, providing transportation and disposal sites for collected river trash and debris, educating the public not to dump trash, illegally, that subsequently gets into streams leading to the river, and, programs that clean up illegal dump sites before they contribute to river-borne debris; (b) a three-phase approach to solve the river trash and debris problem be as follows: (1) Phase 1 would be for the Corps to prepare a report on historical approaches for dealing with river trash and debris removal and disposal, in the United States and worldwide. The report would also address the economic costs to our nation?s economy resulting from the river trash and debris problem, and a cast-benefit analysis rationale for evaluating solutions to the river trash and debris problem. A first draft of the report would be due six months after congressional authorization for the river trash and debris project. The final report would be due six months later. This phase would also include the development of partnering agreements with state and local government entities, and business, recreational and environmental entities, within the West Virginia demonstration region. Further, the Corps would establish a steering committee with representation from appropriate entities within the West Virginia demonstration region, to advise on project implementation. The steering committee might also include other organizations within the United States that have an interest in the river trash and debris problem or who have expertise that bears upon the problem; (2) Phase 2, lasting perhaps one year following the completion of Phase 1, would develop one or more method and technology approaches for dealing with the river trash and debris problem, with recommendations as to the feasibility of each approach, and a recommendation for the best and first approach to be tried; (3) Phase 3, lasting perhaps five years, would implement and test the favored approach for dealing with river trash and debris removal and disposal; (4) Phase 4, a one-year effort, would evaluate results to date, and propose any further efforts needed to continue to improve on methods and technology for solving the river trash and debris problem; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the Clerk of the United States Senate and to West Virginia's representatives in the Congress of the United States.