This Week in Washington is a weekly publication of the Water Environment Federation’s Government Affairs department. It provides updates on the latest legislative and regulatory developments that affect the water and wastewater communities.

Provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA

Senate EPW Committee Approves Water Infrastructure Legislation

By voice vote, the Senate EPW Committee on Wednesday approved S. 1400, Water Infrastructure Financing Act, a bill that authorizes substantially more monies for water projects financed through the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water SRF.  The bill also establishes a new grants program, authorized at $300 million annually, to provide grant financing for infrastructure projects that restore impaired watersheds.  During the Committee meeting, Senate Lieberman (D-CT) offered an amendment to attach prevailing wages provisions required under the Davis-Bacon Act to projects receiving financing under both the CW and DW SRF programs.  The Committee also accepted a manager’s amendment offered by both Senator Inhofe (R-OK), Chair of the Committee, and Senator Jeffords (I-VT), EPW Ranking Member, that includes an allocation formula for distributing SRF capitalization grants. The legislation’s future is highly uncertain.  The full Senate will probably not take up the bill until next year and the House has yet to begin work on its version.  During the last Congress, water infrastructure legislation never made it to a full Senate vote, nor did it make it past the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee because of opposition to Davis-Bacon and the proposed formula.  Though it is expected that the House Water Resources Subcommittee will once again work on infrastructure financing legislation, opposition still exists on these two key issues.   

The Committee also approved other water-related bills:  S. 158, the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act, setting up a program of federal assistance and grants to sites along the sound in New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island; and a measure to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 to increase money for grants for sanitation infrastructure for rural and native villages in Alaska. (PS)

Senate EPW Approves EPA Nominations

Also on Wednesday, the Senate EPW Committee approved the nominations of three Administration nominees for posts at EPA. The three nominees are Marcus A. Peacock, nominated to be deputy EPA administrator; Susan P. Bodine, named assistant administrator for solid waste and emergency response; and Granta Y. Nakayama, nominated to be assistant EPA administrator for enforcement and compliance.  Though the Committee approved these nominations by voice vote, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has indicated that she may place a hold on the nomination of Susan Bodine if her questions regarding human exposure to superfund toxic waste dump sites and clean-up plans are not answered.  Mr. Peacock and Mr. Nakayama are not expected to face further delays. (PS) 

MTBE Deal Still Elusive

A proposed deal to resolve the MTBE issue is still evading conferees negotiating an Energy Bill.  House Republican leaders offered a deal that would establish an $8 billion public fund to clean up sites contaminated by MTBE or methyl tertiary-butyl ether, a gasoline additive designed to reduce air pollution.  The oil industry agreed to contribute $2 billion to the fund in exchange for immunity from law suits seeking to hold the industry liable for the clean up.  The deal has not received the support of several Senators, including Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Senator John Sununu (R-NH), nor does it look likely that it will.  Senator Gregg is considered the key vote to resolving this issue, and he maintains that the size of any fund should be at least double that which is being proposed.  The proposed deal has also drawn fire from groups representing local communities and drinking water utilities who claim that at least $25 billion will be required to clean up sites contaminated by MTBE.  The oil industry maintains the costs are closer to $1.5 billion.  Meanwhile, Senator Dianne Feinstein (R-CA) delivered a letter to EPA on Thursday that was signed by 21 senators requesting more information on a draft risk study that may conclude that MTBE is a likely human carcinogen, a more serious label than the agency’s current “possible” designation.  President Bush has repeatedly called on Congress to conclude an Energy Bill before August recess, which begins August 1st.  It is unlikely an Energy Bill will be able to withstand a Senate filibuster if the MTBE issue is not resolved.  (PS) 

House Subcommittee on Water and Power Holds Oversight Hearing on Aging Infrastructure

On Tuesday, July 19, the House Subcommittee on Water and Power held a hearing to assess the extent of the problems being caused by the aging infrastructure of its large-scale projects, such as dams, reservoirs and canals, many of which were build nearly 100 years ago in western states.  The Subcommittee examined the extent of the problems being caused by aging infrastructure and possible financing solutions within the Bureau of Reclamation to address the issue.  While many of the early projects built by the Bureau of Reclamation were built as single-purpose irrigation water supplies, some projects have been expanded to include water for municipal and industrial uses, environmental purposes, Native American water rights settlements, and hydropower facilities.  Other projects, like Hoover, Glen Canyon, Grand Coulee and Shasta Dams, were originally built as multi-purpose facilities.  A list of witnesses and copies of their testimony are available at http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/archives/109/wp/071905.htm.  (PS)

Senate Commerce Committee Approves Coastal Legislation

On July 21the Senate Commerce Committee passed on voice vote S. 360, The Coastal Zone Enhancement Reauthorization Act of 2005, which would authorize $892 million for fiscal years 2006- 2010 for programs under the Coastal Zone Management Act.  The Act was created to help states develop coastal management programs to protect coastal environments from problems associated with residential, recreational, commercial and industrial uses.  The bill was sponsored by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA).  The Committee also passed S.1390, a bill reauthorizing the Coastal Reef Conservation Act of 2000, which authorizes $131 million over four years for coral reef conservation, and additional money for planning grants to implement local coral management and protection plans.  This legislation is sponsored by Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Senator John Sununu (R-NH).  (PS)  

EPA Air Chief Holmstead Resigns

Jeff Holmstead, the controversial head of the U.S. EPA's air pollution office since the start of the Bush administration, resigned effective Aug. 30 in a letter sent today to President Bush. Holmstead, assistant administrator for the agency's Office of Air and Radiation, has been a chief architect of the administration's Clear Skies legislation for power plants that has struggled to gain support on Capitol Hill.  A former industry lawyer, Holmstead also has been a key figure in the administration in developing what are now final regulations to overhaul the New Source Review permitting program and to allow market-based trading of mercury emissions from electric utilities. Both rules are now the subject of litigation in federal appeals court. Environmental groups have been particularly critical of Holmstead ever since he left the Washington law firm of Latham & Watkins. Twice in the last four-and-a-half years, Holmstead has been called on to step down: once by former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and also by the free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute. Speculation about Holmstead's successor immediately focused on his chief legal adviser and a former colleague at Latham & Watkins, William Wehrum. (SJH) 

Ft. Worth, TX Village Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant Receives NBP EMS Certification

The National Biosolids Partnership (NBP), which includes WEF, NACWA, and U.S. EPA, recognized the City of Ft. Worth, TX Village Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant as the seventh wastewater agency in the nation to be certified and admitted to the Partnership’s environmental management system (EMS) for biosolids program.  Ft. Worth is one of 80 demonstration agencies currently participating in the NBP EMS program.  As the seventh wastewater agency certified and admitted into the NBP EMS program, Ft. Worth’s achievement recognizes that the agency has been independently verified as having an effective biosolids EMS.  Village Creek WWTP’s biosolids EMS was independently verified on July 20 by the audit firm Det Norske Veritas (DNV) to conform to the NBP’s EMS guidance.  An additional 10 NBP wastewater demonstration agencies are expected to undergo audits of their biosolids EMS programs in 2005.  For more information on the City of Ft. Worth, TX Village Creek WWTP’s Biosolids EMS program, visit:. http://www.fortworthgov.org/water/wastewater/emsbiosolids.htm.  For more information on the NBP EMS program, visit: http://www.biosolids.org (SJH)

Quote of the Week: “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.”   -- Barry LePatner

This Week in Washington is provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA. To receive This Week in Washington by e-mail, contact Lisa Jones, (703) 684-2400 ext. 7741, ljones@wef.org . For more information on this week's stories, please contact the WEF staff whose initials appear at the end of the item in which you are interested. TW - Tim Williams (703) 684-2437, twilliams@wef.org ; SRT - Sharon Thomas, (703) 684-2423, sthomas@wef.org ; SJH - Sam Hadeed (703) 684-2418, shadeed@wef.org ; PS-Patricia Sinicropi (703) 684-2416, psinicropi@wef.org . This Week in Washington is available on-line at http://www.wef.org/PolicyAction/USGovernmentAffairs/TWIW/.