Rocket Fuel, Levees, and Freeways

Pombo has been quite active locally as of late. Ever since the influence peddling, his aide's trouble, and the tax payer funded vacation -stories came to light, he's been buisy doing conference calls, meetings, and public events, in his own district.

AP: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, want Congress to approve $50 million to clean up perchlorate contamination in California. (Source)

Tracy Press: "...Wednesday after he spent the morning speaking about economic challenges that face San Joaquin County at a business group’s annual meeting...Pombo, R-Tracy, boarded a helicopter with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others to get a bird’s-eye view of the levees protecting Sacramento and along the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta." (Source)

SfChron: "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an emergency declaration Friday that he says will speed improvements of delta levees in need of urgent repair.

The emergency declaration has been pushed by some Republican lawmakers who see it as a way of sidestepping environmental regulations for flood-control projects.

Schwarzenegger told reporters that the timing of his announcement stemmed from worry over levee failure, not worry over buttressing his image with GOP party faithful. He issued the declaration less than an hour before arriving at the state Republican convention in San Jose. He said the proclamation would accelerate work on 24 severely eroded portions of levees." (Source)

Tracy Press: "Pombo, R-Tracy, met with officials from cities and counties in his congressional district who are asking that he crack open the federal government’s piggy bank to build freeway interchanges, widen roads and strengthen flood-control levees." (Source)

Tri-Valley Herald: "Pushing a regional agenda, local leaders told Congressman Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, that the five Valley cities could use federal help to work cooperatively to prepare for emergency response and recovery.

Pombo, who met with leaders from Danville, Dublin, Pleasanton, San Ramon and Contra Costa and Alameda counties Tuesday, listened to elected officials and staff members detail local priorities.
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Central to their request is assistance for a radio communication system — which may cost between $50 million to $100 million — that could be used in both Contra Costa and Alameda counties. Emergency responders currently operate on different systems.
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Discussion of the Valley's traffic congestion, as well as Interstate 580's importance as a route from the Port of Oakland to the Central Valley, prompted Pombo to note that planning for transportation corridors and statewide movement of people and goods needs a greater look."
more...(Source)

Tri-Valley Herald: "Pombo, who steered clear of national issues, said the biggest items on his agenda are energy and transportation.
"A lot of people don't realize the (energy) crisis we are in," he said." (Source)

Tracy Press: "Recent studies suggest that smelt and striped bass populations in the Delta have reached record lows, and some Washington lawmakers want to know why.
House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, has called for a committee oversight field hearing in Stockton at 8 a.m. Monday to examine Delta fisheries’ populations in the San Francisco Bay-San Joaquin Delta." (Source)