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.

June 30, 2006

Provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA

Senate Appropriations Approves FY07 Interior and EPA Bill
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved an FY07 discretionary spending plan for the Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Forest Service, and related agencies.  The total approved package is $26.1 billion, with $7.5 billion for EPA.  The bill’s total allocation was slightly more that the allocation approved by the House; however, the total for EPA is the same as in the House passed measure.  The Clean Water State Revolving Fund program received the same allocation as was passed by the House, $687.5 million, which is the same amount as was requested by the Administration.  The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund also received the same amount as was passed by the House and requested by the Administration, $841.50 million.  Overall, the State and Tribal Assistance Grants programs received $133.3 million below current funding.  The Senate Committee also accepted an amendment by voice vote from Senator Craig (R-ID) to provide $11 million to help small communities meet EPA arsenic regulations.  Craig had threatened to propose a one-year moratorium on EPA’s ability to implement the regulation, but faced strong resistance from environmental groups and settled on providing extra money for compliance assistance.  (PS)

GOA Report Criticizes Consistency of EPA Enforcement
On June 28 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on the consistency of compliance and enforcement activities undertaken by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The report, Environmental Compliance and Enforcement: EPA's Efforts to Improve and Make More Consistent Its Compliance and Enforcement Activities, was released at a hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.  John Stephenson, director of GAO's Natural Resources and Environment Division, told the committee that EPA's regional offices and the states vary considerably in the number of inspections performed at regulated facilities and the amount of penalties assessed for noncompliance with environmental regulations.  According to GAO, the factors contributing to regional variations include differences in philosophy among regional enforcement staff, incomplete and unreliable enforcement data that impede EPA's ability to accurately determine the extent to which variations occur, and an antiquated workforce planning and allocation system that is not adequate for deploying staff in a manner to ensure consistency and effectiveness in enforcing environmental requirements. 

Granta Nakayama, EPA assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance, told the committee that some variation in environmental enforcement is necessary to reflect local conditions, and EPA needs flexibility in order to take into account the circumstances of individual cases.  In response to GAO’s report, EPA has initiated several long-term actions intended to achieve greater consistency in state and regional enforcement actions. These include a new State Review Framework process for measuring states' performance of core enforcement activities, a number of initiatives to improve the agency's compliance and enforcement data, and enhancements to the agency's workforce planning and allocation system to improve the agency's ability to match its staff and technical capabilities with the needs of individual regions.  The GAO report is available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06840t.pdf (SRT).

Draft Stage 2 DBPR Implementation Guide Available for Comment
EPA is requesting public comment on its recently released Draft Final Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule (Stage 2 DBPR) Implementation Guidance.  The guidance provides states, tribes, and EPA Regions with EPA's current policy recommendations for complying with the Stage 2 DBPR under the Safe Drinking Water Act.  It contains a summary of the rule, guidance for preparing state primary enforcement authority (primacy) revision applications, rule fact sheets, a quick reference guide, and flowcharts illustrating rule requirements.  In the document, EPA indicates that comments may be submitted at any time.  The draft is available at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/disinfection/stage2/compliance.html. (SRT)

Quote of the Week: “America is not merely a nation but a nation of nations.”  ~Lyndon B. Johnson (1908 - 1973)

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/GovernmentAffairs/TWIW/.