Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi

November 8, 2001

Today Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-SF) announced new federal funding for housing, arts, and environmental programs that will benefit San Francisco. The conference report that passed the House of Representatives today (H.R. 2620) provides funding for the Veterans Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other independent federal agencies.

“The funding approved today by the House of Representatives will benefit the homeless, the arts, the environment, and environmental health in the Bay Area,” Pelosi said. The following San Francisco-based projects were requested by Rep. Pelosi and included in the final bill:

• $1.5 million, in addition to $6.7 million requested in the President’s budget, for EPA to review reduced-risk pesticides that will be safer for our health and the environment;
• $500,000 for wetlands restoration at Crissy Field in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area;
• $300,000 to develop a single-occupancy hotel to provide housing and support services to homeless individuals;
• $175,000 for development of the new de Young Museum; and
• Instructions to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to conduct research and public education on health hazards in housing, particularly HUD housing, relating to mold, excess moisture, and dust. Rep. Pelosi sought this provision out of concern about toxic mold in HUD-subsidized housing in San Francisco.