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.

January 6, 2006

Provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA

EPA Amends Allotment Formula for Clean Water Act Section 106 Funds   
On January 3, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amended 40 CFR 35.162 to change the way the Agency allocates funds under the water pollution control grant program (Section 106 of the Clean Water Act).  The amendment is in response to a request in the President’s FY 2006 budget for an $18 million increase in Section 106 funding for enhanced monitoring activities, particularly for statistically-valid assessments of water quality nationwide and for strengthening State and interstate monitoring programs.  The amendment allows EPA the flexibility to allot separately the money that has been appropriated by Congress to support enhanced monitoring efforts. The amendment applies only to those portions of Section 106 funds which have been targeted in EPA's appropriations process for specific water pollution control elements. These funds supplement an existing allocation of approximately $200 million annually to support state, interstate agency, and tribal programs to combat water pollution. For further information about the changes in the allotment formula, visit: http://www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/altformula-fy06.htm. (SRT)

EPA Commits $10 Million for Beach Monitoring and Notification
On January 5, the Bush Administration announced that 30 states and 5 territories will share $10 million in EPA grants for beach water quality monitoring and notification programs. During the past six years, EPA has provided nearly $52 million under the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act (BEACH) of 2000.  As part of the Clean Beaches Plan, EPA is working on new technologies to provide faster test results so that local health agencies can determine more quickly if a beach should be open for swimming.  Grants are available to eligible coastal states, territories, and tribes based on the length of beach season, the miles of beach, and the number of people who use that beach.  States and territories must submit a formal application to receive their allotted funds.  The grants will be awarded early this year and will cover a five-year period.  Information about available 2006 funds can be found at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches/grants. (SRT)

EPA Finalizes Two Drinking Water Rules
In the Federal Register on January 4 and 5, EPA finalized two drinking water protection rules, one that requires water systems to limit the amount of potentially harmful "disinfection byproducts" (DBPs) in drinking water and another intended to reduce the risk of disease-causing microorganisms entering water supplies.  The rules were proposed in August 2003 and were developed from consensus recommendations from a federal advisory committee.  Finalizing the two rules represents the last phase of a congressionally required rulemaking strategy under the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act.  The Stage 2 Disinfection Byproducts Rule targets water systems that have the greatest risk of high DBPs by using more stringent methods for determining compliance. Under the rule, water systems are required to find monitoring sites where higher levels of DBPs are likely to occur and use these new locations for compliance monitoring. If DBPs are found to exceed drinking water standards at any of these new monitoring locations, water systems must begin to take corrective action.  The Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule increases monitoring and treatment requirements for systems that are prone to outbreaks of Cryptosporidium.   The final rules are available at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/disinfection/. (SRT)

NRCS Requests Proposals for 2006 Conservation Innovation Grants
This week, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced up to $10 million available for proposals under the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program.  CIG is a voluntary program intended to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies while leveraging Federal investment in environmental enhancement and protection, in conjunction with agricultural production. Under CIG, Environmental Quality Incentives Program funds are used to award competitive grants to non-Federal governmental or non-governmental organizations, Tribes, or individuals.  CIG has two competitions available in fiscal year 2006 - National and State.  The announcement for program funding for the National competition is available at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig/.  The proposals are due March 20.  Each State administering a CIG competition will announce funding availability through separate requests for proposals.  (SRT)

EPA Releases Watershed Handbook
EPA's Office of Water announced on January 6 the availability of hard copies of the draft Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters.  The guide is aimed toward communities, watershed groups, and local, state, tribal, and federal environmental agencies.  The 414-page handbook is designed to take the user through each step of the watershed planning process and is more specific than other guides about quantifying existing pollutant loads, developing estimates of the load reductions required to meet water-quality standards, developing effective management measures, and tracking progress once the plan is implemented.  EPA is accepting comments on the draft handbook, available online at http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/watershed_handbook, by June 30. (SJH)

Save the Date!  WEF and EPA Co-sponsored Meeting on Designated Uses and UAAs Planned for February
WEF and EPA are co-sponsoring a 1 and 1/2 day Public Meeting on Designated Uses and Use Attainability Analysis on February 8 and 9 in Chicago.  The meeting is intended to help educate the public on current water quality standards regulations, policy, and practices related to designated uses and use attainability analysis and to provide a forum for the public to join in discussions, ask questions, and provide feedback.  The meeting will start on February 8 at 12:30 p.m. and end on February 9 at 3 p.m.  EPA is offering an optional introductory session on the basics of designated uses as they apply to water quality standards implementation on the morning of the first day.  To reserve a room at the Palmer House Hilton at the meeting rate, call (312) 726-7500 by January 20th.  The meeting is free, but you need to register.  Registration information and an agenda are available at http://www.tetratech-ffx.com/stakeholders/.
If you have any questions, please contact Sharon Thomas at sthomas@wef.org.  (SRT)

Quote of the Week:  “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”    ~Oprah Winfrey

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/.