[Senate Report 111-328]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 614
111th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 111-328
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INLAND EMPIRE PERCHLORATE GROUND WATER PLUME ASSESSMENT ACT
_______
September 27, 2010.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 4252]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the Act (H.R. 4252) to direct the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct a study of water resources in the Rialto-
Colton Basin in the State of California, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
without amendment and recommends that the Act do pass.
PURPOSE
The purpose of H.R. 4252 is to direct the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct a study of water resources in the Rialto-
Colton Basin in the State of California, and for other
purposes.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
Perchlorate is both a naturally occurring and man-made
chemical. Most of the perchlorate manufactured in the United
States is used as the primary ingredient of solid rocket
propellant and is also used in the manufacture of pyrotechnics
and roadside flares. Perchlorate-containing chemicals are
increasingly being discovered in soil and groundwater. Over the
last several years the Environmental Protection Agency has been
studying the impact of perchlorate in water and its impacts on
both adults and children. Perchlorate is a regulated drinking
water contaminant in California, with a maximum contaminant
level of 6 micrograms per liter.
Perchlorate has been detected in 20 water supply wells at
concentrations above the California action level of 4 parts per
billion in the Rialto-Colton Basin. The basin is the source of
water for thousands of San Bernardino County residents. The
introduction of perchlorate into the Rialto-Colton Basin can he
traced to the B.F. Goodrich Site, a 160-acre area in Rialto,
once used for construction of rockets and fireworks. The other
source of contamination is the San Bernardino Landfill. In
September 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed
adding the B.F. Goodrich Site to the Superfund National
Priorities List.
H.R. 4252 proposes a study of the complicated geological
formation surrounding the contamination in order to understand
how to best clean up the existing contamination. Before a
comprehensive cleanup plan can be developed, additional data
must he collected at source sites and regionally. Although
information through EPA and other monitoring wells exists,
information gaps still remain that must be resolved prior to
finalizing and implementing an effective cleanup plan to
restore the aquifer.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
H.R. 4252, sponsored by Representative Baca, passed the
House of Representatives by voice vote on March 18, 2010. The
Subcommittee on Water and Power held a hearing on H.R. 4252 on
June 9, 2010. At its business meeting on July 21, 2010, the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered H.R. 4252
favorably reported without amendment.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on July 21, 2010, by voice vote of a quorum
present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 4252.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 identifies the short title of the bill as the
``Inland Empire Perchlorate Ground Water Plume Assessment Act
or 2010''.
Section 2 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, acting
through the United States Geological Survey, and in
coordination with the State of California, and other federal
agencies, to conduct a study of the water resources of the
Rialto-Colton Basin in the State of California. The study shall
include a characterization of the extent of perchlorate in the
area groundwater and an identification of potential source
areas. At the conclusion of the study, the Secretary of the
Interior shall report to the Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources and the House Natural Resources Committee.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
H.R. 4252--Inland Empire Perchlorate Ground Water Plume Assessment Act
of 2010
H.R. 4252 would direct the U.S. Geological Survey to
conduct a study of water resources in the Rialto-Colton Basin
located east of Los Angeles, California. The study would
identify the location of aquifers in the basin, evaluate the
impact of perchlorate contamination in the basin, and include
analysis of other related water issues in the basin. Based on
information from the U.S. Geological Survey and assuming
appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that
implementing H.R. 4252 would cost $4 million over the next two
years.
Enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending
or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
H.R. 4252 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
On March 3, 2010, CBO provided a cost estimate for H.R.
4252 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural
Resources on February 24, 2010. The two versions of the
legislation and CBO's cost estimates are similar.
The CEO staff contact for this estimate is Aurora Swanson.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out H.R. 4252.
The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of
imposing Government-established standards or significant
economic responsibilities on private individuals and
businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would he no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of H.R. 4252, as ordered reported.
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
H.R. 4252, as ordered reported, does not contain any
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits,
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
Statement for the Record, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the
Interior
Madam Chairwoman and members of the Subcommittee, I
appreciate the opportunity to provide the Department of the
Interior's views regarding U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
scientific capability relevant to the Inland Empire Perchlorate
Ground Water Plume Assessment Act of 2009 (H.R. 4252).
usgs science in support of groundwater management and contaminants
The USGS serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific
information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss
of life and property from natural disasters; manage water,
biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and
protect our quality of life. The specific mission of the USGS
California Water Science Center is to collect, interpret, and
provide unbiased and timely scientific information of the
highest quality for the responsible planning, use, and
management of California's water resources in cooperation with
local, State, and other Federal agencies. Scientific issues
related to the occurrence and movement of groundwater and
contaminants, such as perchlorate, fall within the scope of the
USGS mission.
perchlorate issues in rialto-colton and the ``inland empire''
The Rialto-Colton Basin is located in western San
Bernardino County in California, about 60 miles east of Los
Angeles in the upper Santa Ana River watershed (the Inland
Empire). The Rialto-Colton Basin is bounded on the northeast by
the Bunker Hill and Lytle Creek Basins and on the southwest by
the Chino and North Riverside Basins. Groundwater presently
constitutes about 79 percent of the drinking-water supply in
the Inland Empire. Perchlorate has been detected in the main
water-producing aquifers within the Rialto-Colton and adjacent
basins and has contaminated water in more than 20 production
wells that supply the communities within the Rialto-Colton
Basin and surrounding area.
Perchlorate (ClO4) has both synthetic and
natural sources. Synthetic perchlorate is a residual of the
manufacture and use of rocket propellants, fireworks, flares
and other pyrotechnic devices. Minor concentrations of natural
perchlorate has been measured in mined Chilean nitrate
fertilizers. Perchlorate is extremely soluble and is carried in
groundwater without retardation or absorption. The two major
sources of synthetic perchlorate in the area are San Bernardino
County's Mid-Valley Sanitary Landfill and a 160-acre site near
the landfill. These two sites were used for storage and
destruction of perchlorate-containing compounds such as
explosives, propellants, and pyrotechnic devices. Chilean
nitrate fertilizer was commonly used in the Basin in the early
part of the 20th century. In addition, imported water from the
Colorado River contains measurable perchlorate and also may be
a source of perchlorate in the Inland Empire. Recent data
collected by the USGS indicates that low levels of perchlorate
have accumulated naturally in unsaturated zones in arid and
semiarid areas of the southwestern United States, such as the
Mojave Desert, likely as a result of atmospheric deposition.
Perchlorate contamination is of concern to water managers
because of the importance of groundwater in this region. Water
managers need to know the source, fate, and transport of
perchlorate within the Rialto-Colton Basin and adjacent basins
in order to effectively mitigate the contamination. Major
uncertainties facing water managers include: (1) the source(s)
of perchlorate in specific wells; (2) the hydrologic and
geologic controls on the migration of perchlorate within the
Rialto-Colton Basin; (3) the effectiveness of the Rialto-Colton
Fault as a barrier to perchlorate migration from the Rialto-
Colton basin to the adjacent Chino and North Riverside basins;
and (4) the potential vertical movement of perchlorate through
long-screened wells.
what is the usgs doing in the area?
The USGS has a long history of hydrologic work in the
Rialto-Colton area and adjacent areas in the Inland Empire
going back as far as the early 1900s. This work has been
updated periodically and collectively forms the basis of our
scientific understanding of the regional hydrogeologic setting,
the movement of water within aquifers pumped for public supply,
and water-quality issues in the area. The USGS operates an
extensive groundwater-monitoring network providing the public
with real-time information on water levels and water quality.
The USGS has developed predictive models in the Rialto-Colton
Basin (Woolfenden and Kadhim, 1997; Woolfenden and Koczot,
2001) and the adjacent Lytle Creek and Bunker Hill groundwater
basins (Danskin and Freckleton, 1989; Danskin and others, 2006)
to assist in the management of the water resources in the area.
These models are based on the current scientific understanding
of the geology and hydrology in the area, including the areal
and vertical extent of aquifers, hydraulic properties, recharge
and discharge of groundwater, and the interaction between
groundwater and surface water. Most of the USGS research done
in the Inland Empire has been in cooperation with local water
management agencies such as the San Bernardino Valley Municipal
Water District under the auspices of the USGS Cooperative Water
Program. In the past five years, about 70 percent of the cost
of these studies has been borne by local agencies.
In recent years, the USGS has been working with local water
agencies to help them understand the sources, distribution, and
migration of perchlorate in the Inland Empire. A recent study
completed as part of the USGS Groundwater Ambient Monitoring
and Assessment (GAMA) Program (Belitz and others, 2003) sampled
99 drinking water wells throughout the Inland Empire and
identified perchlorate in about 67 percent of the wells at the
reporting level of 0.5 micrograms per liter ( g/L); about 10
percent had perchlorate concentrations in excess of the
California maximum contaminant level of 6 g/L, but no well had
concentrations in excess of the EPA health reference level
(Kent and Belitz, 2009). Woolfenden (2008) used a particle-
tracking model to determine the susceptibility of an aquifer to
perchlorate contamination in the Rialto-Colton Basin. Izbicki
(2008) collected wellbore flow and depth-dependent water-
quality data from a public supply well near Highland, CA
located in the northern part of the Inland Empire. Water-
quality and isotopic data indicated that the source of
perchlorate was Chilean nitrate fertilizer.
The USGS is participating in a 2-year study funded by the
Department of Defense Environmental Security Technology
Certification Program (ESTCP) to apply state-of-the-art
chemical and multiple-isotope techniques to identify the source
of perchlorate within the Inland Empire. A total of 25 wells
will be sampled and analyzed for perchlorate, perchlorate
isotopes, and other tracers in the Rialto-Colton Basin and
Chino Basin adjacent to the Rialto-Colton Fault. Data collected
in this study are intended to help identify the areal and
vertical extent of perchlorate contamination near the margin
plumes in areas having high background perchlorate
concentrations from fertilizer or other sources. An important
component of this new work is to investigate the impact of
well-bore flow on the vertical distribution of perchlorate
within aquifers.
rialto-colton basin, california water-resources study
The key issues of concern identified in H.R. 4252 are:
A. The delineation, either horizontally or
vertically, of the aquifers in the Rialto-Colton Basin
within the State, including the quantity of water in
the aquifers;
B. the availability of groundwater resources for
human use;
C. the salinity of groundwater resources;
D. the identification of a recent surge in
perchlorate concentrations in groundwater, whether
significant sources are being flushed through the
vadose zone, or if perchlorate is being remobilized;
E. the identification of impacts and extents of all
source areas that contribute to the regional plume to
be fully characterized;
F. the potential of the groundwater resources to
recharge;
G. the interaction between groundwater and surface
water;
H. the susceptibility of the aquifers to
contamination, including identifying the extent of
commingling of plume emanating within surrounding areas
in San Bernardino County, California; and
I. characterization of surface and bedrock geology,
including the effect of the geology on groundwater
yield and quality.
The USGS has the capability to complete a 2-year study to
address the issues of concern presented in H.R. 4252 for the
Rialto-Colton Basin. The tasks required are within the scope of
the USGS mission and expertise and could be accomplished under
existing authorities.
H.R. 4252 focuses on perchlorate issues in the Rialto-
Colton Basin; however, perchlorate is a concern throughout the
Inland Empire. If requested, the USGS could consider options
for studying this issue throughout the region.
conclusion
The USGS has the scientific capacity to address issues of
concern identified in H.R. 4252, a strong working relationship
with many of the people currently working on groundwater
quality issues in California's Inland Empire, and a reputation
for providing unbiased information.
The problem of groundwater quality affecting drinking water
supplies is not unique to communities in Rialto-Colton or the
Inland Empire. Perchlorate is an issue throughout the
southwestern U.S. Therefore, methods developed to understand
the perchlorate contamination in the Rialto-Colton could be
useful to water managers in other basins.
We note, however, that the activities called for in H.R.
4252 are already authorized by existing authorities. Any study
conducted to fulfill the objectives of the bill would need to
compete for funding with other Administration priorities.
Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, for the opportunity to present
the views of the Department on H.R. 4252. I will be happy to
answer any questions you or the other Members may have.
references
Belitz, Kenneth, Dubrovsky, N.M., Burow, K.R., Jurgens,
Bryant, and Johnson, Tyler, 2003, Framework for a ground-water
quality monitoring and assessment program for California: U.S.
Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 03-
4166.
Belitz, Kenneth, Hamlin, S.N., Burton, C.A., Kent, R.H.,
Fay, R.G., and Johnson, Tyler, 2004, Water Quality in the Santa
Ana Basin, California: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1238.
Danskin, W.R. and Freckleton, J.R., 1989, Ground-water-flow
modeling and optimization techniques applied to high-ground-
water problems in San Bernardino, California: U.S. Geological
Survey Open File Report 89-75.
Danskin, W.R., McPherson, K.R., and Woolfenden, L.R., 2006,
Hydrology, description of computer models and evaluation of
water-management alternatives in the San Bernardino area,
California: U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2005-1278.
Izbicki, J.A., 2008, Determining the source of
contamination to long-screened wells: East Valley Water
District 2008 Water Quality Conference, October 2008.
Kent, Robert, and Belitz, Kenneth, 2009, Ground-water
quality data in the Upper Santa Ana Watershed Study Unit,
November 2006 to March 2007: Results from the California GAMA
Program: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 404.
Woolfenden, L.R., and Kadhim, Dina, 1997, Geohydrology and
water chemistry in the vicinity of the Rialto-Colton fault, San
Bernardino County, California: U.S. Geological Survey Water
Resources Investigations Report 97-4012.
Woolfenden, L.R., and Koczot, K.M., 2001, Numerical
simulation of ground-water flow and assessment of the effects
of artificial recharge in the Rialto-Colton Basin, San
Bernardino County, California: U.S. Geological Survey Water
Resources Investigations Report 00-4243.
Woolfenden, L.R., 2008 Aquifer susceptibility to
perchlorate contamination in a highly-urbanized environment:
IAHS Publ 324, pp. 156-163.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by H.R. 4252, as ordered
reported.