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.

March 2, 2007

Provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA

Experts Testify to Congress on the Nation’s Clean Water Challenges
The Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing February 27 to discuss the problems facing air and water quality programs in advance of tackling the President’s fiscal year 2008 budget request.  During their testimony, witnesses urged lawmakers take a more integrated approach to addressing the nation's environmental health. While the Clean Water Act has done a great deal to improve environmental quality, "we seem to be stuck on a plateau," said Tracy Mehan, former U.S. EPA Assistant Administrator of Water.  Mehan called for a greater focus on addressing nonpoint sources of pollution, improved monitoring, and the need to embrace an integrated watershed approach.  Mehan sees the upcoming farm bill reauthorization as "probably as crucial as any reauthorization of the Clean Water Act" because it would focus on unregulated nonpoint sources of pollution, such as farm runoff.  Jeanette Ann Brown of the American Society of Civil Engineers testified about some of the challenges facing the U.S. wastewater industry, saying the physical condition of the nation’s 16,000 wastewater treatment systems is poor due to a lack of money and planning. She noted that EPA estimates indicated the U.S. will have to spend nearly $390 billion to replace aging infrastructure over the next two decades.  Brown stated that while the federal government and states have been providing fewer grants and loans to publicly owned treatment plants, the average per capita cost for treatment has continued to rise.  (SJH)

House Panel Reduces Reauthorization Period in SRF Bill
The Clean Water Act state revolving fund (SRF) would be authorized at $14 billion for fiscal years 2008 through 2011 under legislation approved by a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on March 1.  The substitute version of the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007 (H.R. 720) revises an earlier version of the bill that was passed by the committee in February and includes an amendment that strikes the fiscal 2012 authorization from the SRF.  The earlier version would have authorized the SRF at $20 billion for a term running through 2012.  Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) moved to reconsider H.R. 720 to address a budget-cap issue.  (SJH)

House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Holds EPA Oversight Hearing
A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee heard testimony during a March 1 hearing questioning EPA's commitment to fulfilling its mission to protect the environment.  Issues of concern included EPA’s programs for superfund, brownfields, leaking underground storage tanks, safe drinking water, environmental justice, and the decline in EPA’s budget.  The subcommittee heard testimony from EPA's Office of Inspector General, as well as from state and local officials, an environmental group, and the National Federation of Independent Business. EPA did not testify, but the agency has been invited to appear at a March 8 hearing.  (SJH)

NRC Report Recommends EPA Improve Sharing of Water Security Information
On February 27 the National Academies National Research Council (NRC) issued a report on EPA’s water security research projects and activities and provided recommendations for future research priorities and better ways to communicate research results.  While NRC acknowledged that EPA has developed tools and generated information in several key areas, it found that in other areas, such as physical and cyber security, contingency planning, and wastewater security, progress has been “weaker or somewhat disjointed.”  According to the NRC, an important overarching issue that remains unresolved is how EPA makes water security information accessible to those who need it.  “The problem of information sharing in a security context is one of the most difficult the EPA faces.  Currently, some important information on priority contaminants and threats that could improve utilities’ response capabilities has been classified and cannot be shared with utilities, even through secure dissemination mechanisms.”   The report, Improving the Nation's Water Security: Opportunities for Research, is available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11872.html.  (SRT)

Senate Bills Introduced to Combat Invasive Species in Great Lakes 
Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) on March 1 introduced two bipartisan bills aimed at protecting U.S. waters from the threats posed by aquatic invasive species.  The National Aquatic Invasive Species Act, which Levin is sponsoring with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), would reauthorize and strengthen the National Invasive Species Act of 1996.  The legislation would regulate ballast discharge from commercial vessels; prevent invasive species introductions from other pathways; support state management plans; screen live aquatic organisms entering the U.S. for the first time in trade; authorize rapid response funds; create education and outreach programs; conduct research on invasion pathways, and prevention and control technologies; authorize funds for state and regional grants; and strengthen specific prevention efforts in the Great Lakes.  The Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act, which Levin is sponsoring with Sens. George Voinovich (R-OH) and Russell Feingold (D-WI), would list three species of Asian carp – the bighead, black and silver carp – as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act. By doing so, Congress would prevent the intentional introduction of these species into the Great Lakes by prohibiting the interstate transportation or importation of live Asian carp without a permit.   (SRT)

EPA Announces New Human Health Research Web Site
EPA announced on March 1 that its Human Health Research Program has launched a new web site with the latest information on its research to protect public health. The program's science looks at such questions as why some people are more sensitive to pollution and how exposure to chemicals affects people's health. The site is designed for the general public as well as for the scientific community. The site contains an overview of EPA research, information on how research has contributed to decision making, resource materials available in journal publications and reports, and a listing of meetings and conferences.  The web address is http://www.epa.gov/hhrp.  (SJH)

Quote of the Week:
“Water sustains all.”
~Thales of Miletus, 600 B.C.

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 online at http://www.wef.org/GovernmentAffairs/TWIW/.