BILL REQ. #:  S-0404.1 

Read first time 01/11/2007.   Referred to Committee on Water, Energy & Telecommunications.

     TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, Asian dust storms have been occurring for centuries; and
     WHEREAS, Population growth has lead to overfarming, overgrazing, and deforestation, which has contributed to desertification in Mongolia and China; and
     WHEREAS, Desertification has lead to increasing frequency and intensity of Asian dust storms in the last decade; and
     WHEREAS, Many Asian countries are rapidly industrializing with factories, power plants, and automobiles that emit air pollutants; and
     WHEREAS, These pollutants are swept up in Asian dust storms and carried across the Pacific Ocean into Washington State; and
     WHEREAS, Air pollutants can aggravate asthma, cause increased problems for individuals who have had a heart attack, angina, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, or cystic fibrosis respiratory disease, and may cause cancer and neurological and reproductive disorders; and
     WHEREAS, Washington State has one of the highest rates of asthma in the United States; and
     WHEREAS, Washington State is a leader in promoting clean air technology to protect public health; and
     WHEREAS, The University of Washington and Oregon State University monitor air quality at Cheeka Peak Observatory in Neah Bay and at Mt. Batchelor Observatory, Oregon; and
     WHEREAS, Airborne pollution from Asia is detected at Cheeka Peak and Mt. Batchelor Observatories and other monitoring stations in the United States; and
     WHEREAS, Airborne pollution from Asia contributes to air pollution in Washington State and may cause health problems for some people; and
     WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency National Center for Environmental Research's mission is supporting high quality research by the nation's leading scientist to improve the scientific basis for decisions on national environmental issues and to help the Environmental Protection Agency achieve its goals; and
     WHEREAS, The National Center for Environmental Research funds research grants and graduate fellowship opportunities for environmental science and engineering disciplines through its Science to Achieve Results or STAR; and
     WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency provided funding to the National Center for Environmental Research's STAR program for observations of global atmospheric transport of pollution that is no longer available;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the United States government restore funding to the National Center for Environmental Research's STAR program for the purposes of providing research grant opportunities to study and make observations of atmospheric transport of global pollution sources.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.