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.

September 23, 2005

Provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA

Louisiana Congressional Delegation Proposes $250 Billion for Katrina Recovery
On Thursday, September 22 Senators Mary L. Landrieu (D-LA) and David Vitter (R-LA), introduced S.1765, Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief and Economic Recovery Act, a comprehensive piece of legislation to provide long-term relief and assistance to the people of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast as they work to recover and rebuild the region.  The overall proposal calls for $250 billion of federal spending for nineteen categories of spending priorities including defense, economic development, health services and transportation and infrastructure programs.  The proposal includes $8 billion for the EPA to provide restoration to Lake Pontchartrain, make repairs to water and wastewater infrastructure, and provide emergency drinking water assistance, among other items.  This is the first comprehensive package that outlines specific spending targets for comprehensive Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts in Louisiana.  To date, Congress has appropriated approximately $60 billion for emergency recovery needs.  Earlier this week, Members of the Republican Study Group, a group of Republican House Members dedicated to federal spending restraint, offered a series of federal program cuts to off-set spending for Katrina recovery, including elimination of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program.  Neither the White House nor Republican leaders have indicated how they intend to pay for recovery efforts for Hurricane Katrina. (PS)

Mississippi and EPA Region 4 Develop Plans to Monitor Gulf Coast Waters
EPA Region 4 and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality have developed a plan for monitoring water quality off the coast of Mississippi to look for disturbances caused by hurricane Katrina.  The study will compare current levels of pollutants entering the Mississippi Sound from major bay systems to historic conditions. Water samples will be tested for enterococcus, total organic carbons, nutrients, pesticides, metals, and PCB.  The study area consists of four major bay systems on the Mississippi coast, including Bay Casotte, the Pascagoula and West Pascagoula River systems, the Back Bay of Biloxi and Bay St. Louis, and the Pearl River.  The main objective of the survey is to provide a snapshot estimate of both conventional and toxic pollutant loadings entering the sound.  Mississippi plans to use the results to design more targeted studies.  (SRT)

Proposed Legislation would Allow Greater Subsidization for POTWs
Senator Inhofe (R-OK) introduced legislation this week authorizing Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to provide additional subsidization for loans made through the Clean Water State Revolving Funds.  S. 1709, Gulf Coast Water Infrastructure Emergency Assistance Act of 2005, would allow these states to provide zero interest loans, loan forgiveness and extended loan terms for up to two years for loans made to publicly owned treatment works that were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The bill has broad bi-partisan support in the Senate, though no similar bill has been introduced in the House.  EPA estimates that 36 out of 122 publicly owned treatment works are inoperable in Louisiana, 4 out of 115 are inoperable in Mississippi, and one facility is inoperable in Alabama. (PS)
 
EPA and USDA Announce Second National Conference on Trading - Call for Abstracts Available
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are co-hosting the 2nd National Water Quality Trading Conference. The Water Environment Federation is one of several organizations cooperating in the development of the conference, which is scheduled for May 23-25 in Pittsburgh.  USDA recently released a National Policy on Market-Based Environmental Stewardship and hopes the conference will raise awareness regarding the opportunities for agriculture’s involvement in water quality trading.  The conference will also highlight the economic and environmental benefits of trading, explore the opportunities and challenges associated with developing and implementing trading programs, and encourage discussion on the future of trading. The conference theme, “Implementation at the Watershed Scale”, will examine the fundamentals and mechanics of water quality trading as well as highlight examples of water quality trading programs.  The Call for Abstracts is available on the web at http://cfpub2.epa.gov/npdes/courseinfo.cfm?program_id=0&outreach_id=267&schedule_id=851.  Abstracts are due November 25. (SRT)
 

Quote of the Week: “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going”.     -Jim Ryun

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/.