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.

Provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA

Congress Scrambles to Wrap-up Legislative Business before Adjourning for Elections Leaving Most Appropriations Bills Unfinished
Congress this week scrambled to wrap-up work on a number of bills related to homeland security that have been in the works since 9/11, including legislation on security ports and chemical plants.  Congress was successful in meeting some of their targets, but the rest will wait until members return for a lame-duck session after Election Day.  Congress completed work on chemical security legislation and attached it to the FY07 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill which is expected to pass today.  Legislation dealing with port security was mostly completed by a final conference agreement, but final passage is not expected until November.  In addition to completing Homeland Security appropriations, Congress also completed the FY07 Defense Appropriations Bill.  These are the only two FY07 appropriations measures Congress will finish before the start of the FY07 fiscal year, which begins on Sunday. 

Congress attached a Continuing Resolution to fund government operations through the Elections until November 17th when it expects to return complete the remaining ten appropriations legislation.  Most of the legislation that Congress dealt with in the last few weeks of this session had to do with national security issues, including legislation granting the President authority to try suspected terrorists in military tribunals.  Though Congress was unable to complete work authorizing a government surveillance program, it expects to complete this legislation in November.  Other bills that will wait until November include the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which Congress has been struggling to pass since 2000.  An agreement on the measure was worked out this week, but lawmakers were unable to take final action on it before leaving town. (PS)

Federal and State Officials Sign Agreements to Restore and Protect Long Island Sound
Administrators of the two U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regions responsible for the Long Island Sound and the environmental commissioners of New York and Connecticut signed agreements on Thursday that support ongoing efforts to protect and restore the Sound. The officials adopted a stewardship initiative focused on areas of the Sound with significant ecological and recreational value, authorized $6 million for research and restoration, and committed to restore 300 acres of coastal habitats and 50 river miles of fish passages to spawning sites by 2011. In addition, they signed a directive calling for an evaluation of the management plan for hypoxia to assure that the states and federal government are on target to meet water quality standards for sufficient levels of dissolved oxygen in the Sound.  The $6 million fund was contributed by three utilities:  Cross-Sound Cable, the Connecticut Power and Light, and the Long Island Power Authority.  Priority will be given to projects that promote scientific understanding of the biological, chemical, and physical effects of existing or potential cable and pipeline crossings and the mitigation of their impacts.  Additional information is available at http://www.longislandsoundstudy.net/stewardship.  (SRT)

EPA Signs MOU with Developer on World's Largest Recycled Building
This week the developers of Destiny USA, a multi-use commercial development in Syracuse, N.Y, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with EPA promising to use a variety of environmentally sustainable practices.  When completed, Destiny USA will be the world's largest sustainable structure to be built with recycled industrial materials, incorporate energy efficient features, and reduce vehicle emissions.  As part of its agreement with EPA, Destiny USA has agreed to employ green building techniques, retrofit more than 100 construction trucks to reduce emissions by 85 percent, incorporate hybrid and diesel vehicles in to its fleet, and more.  U.S. businesses generate more than half a billion tons of industrial waste annually, much of which can be recycled and reused.  Information on EPA's Industrial Materials Recycling program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/conserve/priorities/bene-use.htm.  (SRT) 

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/.