EDITORIAL : STORM WARNING; IT'S TIME TO CUT RED TAPE THAT CAN DELAY MAINTENANCE OF FLOOD CONTROL CHANNELS.WEDNESDAY was cleanup day for public agencies that maintain the region's vital flood control system. They had to clear away the debris left by Tuesday's rains so the channels, drains and culverts can handle the runoff Runoff The procedure of printing the end-of-day prices for every stock on an exchange onto ticker tape. Notes: If the "tape is late" then it can take a long time to print off all the closing prices. from future storms. Maintenance, however, isn't simply a one-time, post-storm activity. There also is a need to remove plant life that can emerge months after a storm. That simply is common sense. Unfortunately, common sense can be uncommon when bureaucrats get into the act. That was the case last year when the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies, citing environmental concerns, held up permits needed to remove vegetation that threatened to clog flood control channels Flood control channels are a series of large, concrete, and empty (except when a flood is actually present) open-air channels that extend a ways below the street levels of some larger cities, so that if and when a flood occurs, the flood will run into the channels, and proceed to be . A potential disaster was averted a·vert tr.v. a·vert·ed, a·vert·ing, a·verts 1. To turn away: avert one's eyes. 2. after Vice President Al Gore Noun 1. Al Gore - Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton (born in 1948) Albert Gore Jr., Gore , responding to warnings that warm-water El Nino conditions offshore might spawn To launch another program from the current program. The child program is spawned from the parent program. (operating system) spawn - To create a child process in a multitasking operating system. E.g. unusually intense storms, promised to slash red tape delaying essential maintenance. We appreciate Gore's intervention. Nevertheless, this matter should never have required high-level Washington attention. The process needs to be streamlined. And that's what Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, is trying to accomplish with a bill to exempt the maintenance of flood control channels from the Clean Water Act. The congressman specifically objected to provisions in the law that can force local agencies to create new wildlife habitats when they remove growth from long-established flood control facilities. We urge Congress to support McKeon's effort. Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County taxpayers have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in flood control facilities. The county's right to maintain those facilities without spending additional money it can't afford should be protected by a grandfather clause grandfather clause, provision in constitutions (adopted 1895–1910) of seven post–Reconstruction Southern states that exempted those persons who had been eligible to vote on Jan. . Of course, it is important to protect wildlife habitats, and that can be achieved with good planning. But it's appalling to think that innocent people might be put at risk due to efforts by federal bureaucrats to shake down local taxpayers for money to pay for that habitat protection. |
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