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.

House Panel Holds Second Hearing on Water Infrastructure Financing

The House Water Resources Subcommittee held its second hearing this week on ways to address the nation’s water infrastructure financing needs.  This week’s hearing focused on alternative financing mechanisms that the federal government, state governments and local communities can employ to help them fill the expected gap of more than $500 billion over the next twenty years in water infrastructure financing needs.  The panel heard from Stephen Howard of the Lehman Brothers investment house in support of private activity bonds to spur more private sector investment in the water industry sector.  Private activity bonds were helpful in closing the gap in financing needs for solid waste projects in the nineties and many observers believe they can be a helpful tool in closing the gap that exists in the water and wastewater sector.  A bill is currently pending – HR1708 – to lift the volume cap on private activity bonds to allow water and wastewater projects to qualify for these bonds.  The panel also heard from a representative from the State of Maryland who discussed how that State instituted a $2.50 flush fee on users of POTWs, industrial wastewater facilities and septic systems in order to generate revenue to meet the states nitrogen and phosphorous reductions under the Cheasapeake Bay Compact Agreement.  Other panel members included Valerie Nelson from the Coalition for Alternative Wastewater Treatment who discussed ways in which wastewater utilities can reduce their financing needs through strategies such as asset management; Deb Martin from the Rural Community Assistance Partnership who discussed ways in which coordinating state financing programs can help increase a small communities ability to leverage funding from diverse sources; Deputy Mayor Pro Tem of Dallas discussed his city’s decision to raise rates in order to pay for needed wastewater improvements; and Kevin Ward of the Texas Water Development Board discussed how the Clean Water SRF has been used in his state.  Last week the subcommittee’s hearing focused on a proposed trust fund for clean water projects. (PS)

Water Resources Subcommittee Approves Water Resources Development Bill

The House Water Resources Subcommittee passed its 2005 Water Resources and Development Act authorizing up to $10 billion in water resource projects that are administered through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  The bill includes $849 million for Everglades Restoration Projects.  The bill also authorizes money for projects to stem the loss of marshland in coastal Louisiana and to upgrade the lock and dam system on the upper Mississippi.  The bill is similar to a bill the House passed in 2003 that eventually died because the Senate was not able to complete its version.  (PS)

House Appropriations Bill Cuts Funding for NOAA for FY06

On June 16 the House of Representatives passed a spending bill that cuts the budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) more than the Bush Administration or the Appropriations Committee wanted.  The House bill provides $3.38 billion for NOAA; however, this figure is $544 million less than FY05 and $202 million less than President Bush requested.  The final cut to the agency’s budget came on the floor of the House when an amendment passed to cut NOAA by an additional $50 million in order to fund a criminal alien program in the Justice Department’s budget.  The pacific salmon recovery program and conservation program and ocean and fishery research initiative were the hardest hit programs.  The Senate is expected to restore many of these cuts. (PS)

Interior Secretary Norton Names Pat Leahy Acting Director of USGS

Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton announced that Pat Leahy will take over as Acting Director of the U.S. Geological Survey.  Leahy takes over the position from Dr. Charles Groat who announced his resignation earlier this month to accept an appointment at the University of Texas.  Leahy is currently the associate director for Geology at the USGS with responsibility of federal Earth science programs, including worldwide earthquake hazards monitoring and research, geologic mapping of land and seafloor resources, volcano and landslide hazards, and assessments of energy and mineral resources.  President Bush must nominate a permanent replacement for USGS. (PS)

Stupak Bill Extends Ban on Great Lakes Drilling

Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI) introduced legislation this week that would extend the current ban on oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes beyond the current date of 2007.  The bill – H.R. 2930 – was introduced in the House this week and has eleven co-sponsors.  Many Great Lake states already have bans in place; however Indiana, Minnesota and Pennsylvania do not.  The Great Lakes represent 95 percent of the U.S. surface freshwater and provide drinking water to more than 30 million Americans.  (PS)

EPA Inspector General Recommends Better Program Integration to Manage NPDES Backlog

On June 13 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report that evaluated the increasing backlog of expired NPDES permits and recommended steps EPA can take to reduce the backlog.  NPDES permits need to be reviewed every 5 years; however as of June 2003, EPA reported that the backlog of expired permits included 6,675 major facilities and over 95,000 permits covering minor facilities with individual and general permits.  These figures do not include the estimated 400,000 facilities needing general stormwater permits under Phase I and II of the National Stormwater Program.  According to the report, only a small portion of waters listed as impaired are associated with backlogged permits.  OIG concludes that the backlog plays a limited role in impairments because only 10% of all state identified impairments are caused solely by pollution sources regulated by NPDES permits.  The OIG recommended that EPA prioritize permitting resources based on environmental impact to get the greatest benefit.  OIG also recommended integrating the NPDES program with other point source programs to better evaluate the effectiveness of EPA’s efforts related to improving water quality.  After reviewing a draft of the report, EPA’s Office of Water responded that it has addressed several of OIG’s recommendations through efforts already underway, including the Permitting for Environmental Results strategy.  A copy of the OIG report is available at http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2005/20050613-2005-P-00018.pdf. (SRT)

EPA Releases Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs and Assessment Report for Future Costs of Safe Drinking Water

To continue to ensure safe drinking water, the nation's water utilities will need to make an estimated $277 billion in investments over the next 20 years, according to EPA's third Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment released on June 14.  This large national need reflects the challenges confronting water utilities as they deal with aging infrastructures that were constructed 50 to 100 years ago in many cases.  The report to Congress reflects data collected in 2003 and documents anticipated costs for repairs and replacement of transmission and distribution pipes, storage and treatment equipment, and projects that are necessary to deliver safe supplies of drinking water. The Safe Drinking Water Act requires EPA to conduct the assessment every four years.  Results from the assessment are used to develop a formula to distribute Drinking Water State Revolving Fund grants.  Since the program began in 1997, EPA has made available nearly $8 billion in funding to states for infrastructure projects to help utilities provide safe drinking water.  States supplement EPA grants by matching funds and with bonds, repayments, and interest earnings.  The report and related materials are available at: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/needssurvey/. (SJH)

EPA Issues Water Utility Security Guide

EPA’s National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) published Security Information Collaboratives: A Guide for Water Utilities. The purpose of the guide is to inform drinking water and wastewater utilities about the benefits of establishing collaborative arrangements with other organizations to share information on water security. The guide provides step-by-step suggestions for establishing a successful security-information collaborative and includes three case studies.  A security-information collaborative is a group of organizations and agencies formed to share information and address common issues regarding security. The guide describes three types of security-information collaboratives: utility to utility, utility to public health, and utility to law enforcement. To download the guide, visit: http://www.lgean.org/documents/security%20information%20collaboratives.pdf. (SJH)

Wisconsin Study Reveals Fertilizers More Harmful Than Previously Thought

A Wisconsin study found that farmer’s routine application of chemical fertilizers and manure to the land poses a far greater environmental problem to freshwater lakes than previously thought, potentially polluting water for hundreds of years.  The paper is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  The paper concludes that phosphorus in fertilizers builds up in soils and will slowly end up in many lakes where nutrients lead to plant and algae growth and to eutrophication, a phenomenon that turns pristine lakes into smelly, weed-filled swamps.  (PS)

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/.