The last few months of 2022 brought the clearest waters to Lake Tahoe since the 1980s, the latest UC Davis Tahoe Clarity Report found. (Brant Allen/UC Davis TERC)
October 29, 2023 - WASHINGTON, DC – Last Friday, U.S. Representative John Garamendi (D-CA08), every Democratic member of California’s Congressional delegation, and the Nevada Congressional delegation introduced a bill (H.R.6081) to name the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2000 (Public Law 106–506) in honor of the late U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. Every member of the California delegation was invited to cosponsor this new bill.
Under Senator Feinstein’s leadership spanning three decades, Congress has provided more than $715 million in authorized federal funding under this landmark 2000 law to help conserve Lake Tahoe and the surrounding basin. In addition, Senator Feinstein’s 2016 amendments to the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act provided new authorities for the U.S. Forest Service to combat wildfires across the Tahoe Basin, which were employed to combat the devastating Caldor Fire in 2021 and aid in the recovery since.
“Nobody in government has done more to Keep Tahoe Blue than Senator Feinstein. Since organizing the first annual Tahoe Summit in 1997, she led the California and Nevada delegations to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in federal investment to conserve Lake Tahoe and the surrounding basin for future generations. My colleagues and I are honored to pay tribute to Senator Feinstein’s legacy to Keep Tahoe Blue and safeguard that special place for residents and visitors alike,” said Garamendi.
Garamendi served as Deputy Secretary of the Interior during the Clinton Administration for the first annual Tahoe Summit in 1997, organized by Senator Feinstein. The California and Nevada Senators have rotated hosting the Tahoe Summit every year since. In 1999, Senator Feinstein sponsored the original “Lake Tahoe Restoration Act,” the companion bill of which was sponsored by then-Congressman John T. Doolittle (R-CA) and enacted into law in the year 2000. Garamendi sponsored the House companion to Senator Feinstein’s “Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2015” with then-U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV), which was enacted into law the following year.
Along with U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV01), Susie Lee (D-NV03), Steven Horsford (D-NV04), and Kevin Kiley (R-CA03), Garamendi is an original cosponsor of U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Congressman Mark E. Amodei’s (R-NV) bipartisan bill to reauthorize $415 million in federal funding under the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act until 2034.
In addition to her efforts to Keep Tahoe Blue, Senator Feinstein was a tireless advocate for conserving California's public lands. During her tenure in the Senate, she was responsible for conserving more than 21 million acres of federal land across the state, singlehandedly getting California 70 percent of the way toward President Biden's National Conservation Goal of 30 percent conserved by 2030. That is more than 20 percent of California’s total landmass conserved thanks to Senator Feinstein’s leadership over four decades.
H.R.6081 Original Cosponsors: Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA11), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA18), Jim Costa (D-CA21), Robert Garcia (D-CA42), Katie Porter (D-CA47), Barbara Lee (D-CA12), Josh Harder (D-CA09), Raul Ruiz (D-CA25), Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA31), Julia Brownley (D-CA26), Mark Takano (D-CA39), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA10), Luis J. Correa (D-CA46), Norma J. Torres (D-CA35), Pete Aguilar (D-CA33), Adam B. Schiff (D-CA30), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA19), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA37), Ted Lieu (D-CA36), Doris O. Matsui (D-CA07), Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA38), Kevin Mullin (D-CA15), Juan Vargas (D-CA52), Sara Jacobs (D-CA51), Salud O. Carbajal (D-CA24), Brad Sherman (D-CA32), Ami Bera (D-CA06), Scott H. Peters (D-CA50), Nanette Diaz Barragan (D-CA44), Mike Thompson (D-CA04), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA34), Maxine Waters (D-CA43), Mike Levin (D-CA49), Eric Swalwell (D-CA14), Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA16), Judy Chu (D-CA28), Ro Khanna (D-CA17), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA29), Jared Huffman (D-CA02), Dina Titus (D-NV01), Mark E. Amodei (R-NV02), Steven Horsford (D-NV04), Susie Lee (D-NV03).
Source: Representative John Garamendi
