November 3, 2005

Provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA

White House Proposes Further Cuts to Clean Water State Revolving Fund
This week, the White House issued a list of proposed off-sets to help fund recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  The off-set package totals $2.3 billion and is the form of rescissions to federal programs the White House considers “lower-priority”.  Included on the list is a $166 million rescission in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program.  Congress enacted $900 million for the CWSRF in its FY06 EPA appropriations bill.  The proposed rescission would reduce the level of funding available for the program in this fiscal year to the Administration’s original FY06 request of $730 million.  Additional federal programs targeted for rescissions include $306 million from the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service.  The rescission package has drawn concern from both sides of the aisle, including the Senate Chairman of the Interior and EPA Appropriations Committee, Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT), who said in a statement, “I have always supported the move to tighten our belt wherever possible, but it is critical that these cuts come down equally across the board, and that does not seem to be the case.”  Programs within his jurisdiction are targeted for $800 million in cuts.  (PS)

Great Lakes Task Force is Critical of Regional Collaboration Strategy in Report to the White House 
EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson signed the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force report and sent it to the White House on October 28.  The report highlights what the Task Force has accomplished since it was created by President Bush in May 2004.  The report also outlines the Task Force's involvement in the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration and that partnership's efforts to develop a strategy for protecting and restoring the Great Lakes.  In the report, the Task Force criticizes the GLRC’s strategic plan, stating that it relies too heavily on new Federal funding.  In the report, the Task Force states that the July 7 strategic plan “does not take into account the ongoing Federal, state, tribal, and local investments in the Great Lakes and how to focus those substantial resources to maximize results.”  The Task Force has commented on the strategic plan and will continue to work with the GLRC to develop a “shared strategic direction.”  The task force is lead by EPA and includes 10 agency and Cabinet officers.  The Task Force report is available at http://epa.gov/greatlakes/collaboration/final_rttp_10282005.pdf.  Additional information on the task force is available at http://epa.gov/greatlakes/collaboration/taskforce/index.html. (SRT)
 
WEF Recognizes Congressional Leaders for Their Outstanding Service on behalf of the Water Environment
During its 78th Annual Meeting at WEFTEC.05®, WEF recognized several Congressional leaders for their efforts on behalf of improving the water environment.  The members included Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) for her efforts to increase funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program, reduce mercury pollution in lakes and streams, and improve the management of our oceans and coastal communities; and Congressman Vern Ehlers (R-MI) for his efforts to clean up the Great Lakes and his work with communities on reducing combined sewer overflows.  WEF’s President’s Award was presented to three Members of Congress in recognition of their support for the National Biosolids Partnership Program, the only federal program geared toward providing training and technical assistance to communities on biosolids best management practices.  The members who received WEF’s President’s Award are Congressman Charles Taylor (R-NC), Congressman Norm Dicks (D-WA), and Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA).  (PS)

NACWA and NRDC Discuss Blending Agreement at WETFEC
During the Wet Weather Work Group meeting this week at WEFTEC.05®, representatives from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) discussed the draft guidance for utilities on blending that the two organizations developed jointly.  NACWA and NRDC presented the draft guidance to EPA a week earlier and are encouraging the Agency to consider adopting the guidance as their approach to blending.  The guidance interprets the 40 CFR 122.41(m) bypass provisions and the term “no feasible alternatives” as they apply to peak wet weather flow diversions from publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) serving separate sanitary sewer systems.  The guidance calls on POTWs to seek permission from regulatory authorities to blend treated and semi-treated wastewater when renewing or obtaining new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits and would require them to submit a "detailed analysis" with their permit applications intended to explain why blending wastewater is the only feasible course of action.  In remarks during the Regulatory Update Session on Tuesday afternoon, EPA Assistant Administrator for Water, Ben Grumbles, stated that he is pleased by the effort made by these two organizations to come together and propose a course of action.  The draft NACWA/NRDC guidance is available at http://www.nacwa.org/getfile.cfm?fn=2005-10-27pww.pdf or at http://www.nrdc.org/media/docs/051027.pdf. (SRT)

Hearings Continue on Hurricane Katrina Assessments
The House and Senate continued to hold hearings this week on Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts and to assess what went wrong to the levee system in New Orleans.  The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee held a hearing with representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Science Foundation, and the American Society of Civil Engineers on why the levee system failed and what can be done to ensure adequate design and maintenance of the levees in the future. The experts urged that a single federal agency be identified as the lead agency to control the levee system going forward, instead of the current partnership approach.  The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held an oversight hearing on activities in response to Hurricane Katrina with Agencies under EPW’s jurisdiction, including Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Economic Development Administration, Fish and Wildlife Service, and the General Service Administration.  The Committee also heard from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice on how recovery efforts on the ground are progressing. Finally, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing with Members of Congress on various legislative proposals in response to Hurricane Katrina to help that region recover and rebuild.  (PS)

EPA Extends CAFO Permitting Deadline as Agency Revises Regulations
In the October 31 Federal Register, EPA announced that it will extend the February 13, 2006, NPDES permit application deadline in the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) regulation and the Nutrient Management Plan due date of December 31, 2006.  EPA will propose new deadlines in a separate notice of proposed rulemaking sometime before February 13.  EPA is in the process of developing options for revising the CAFO rule to comply with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals' decision issued in Waterkeeper v. EPA, 399 F.3d 486 (2nd Cir. 2005).  The Second Circuit ruled that EPA may not require all CAFOs to obtain NPDES permits based on their "potential to discharge." The court also struck down EPA's requirement that CAFOs submit nutrient management plans to obtain NPDES permits.  According to EPA’s semi-annual regulatory agenda, which was published in the Federal Register on the same day, the Agency will propose revisions to the CAFO rule in March 2006 and finalize the rule by March 2007.  (SRT)

Programmatic EIS Calls for Reducing Impacts from Mountaintop Mining
On October 28, the US Army Corps of Engineers, US Environmental Protection Agency, US Fish and Wildlife Service; US Office of Surface Mining, and West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection jointly released a final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PIES) on mountaintop coal mining and associated valley fills in Appalachia.  In the final PIES, the agencies identified a preferred alternative that calls for improved efficiency, collaboration, and divisions of labor in the regulation of valley fills in US waters under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA).  These actions, according to the PIES, will "serve to further minimize the adverse effects on aquatic and terrestrial resources and protect the public." The 507-page PEIS is unavailable at http://www.epa.gov/region3/mtntop/pdf/mtm-vf_fpeis_full-document.pdf.  (SRT) 

Quote of the Week:  "A waster of water is a waster of better."  ~Old Irish Adage

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/.