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.

April 20, 2007

Provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA

Bipartisan Support for Water Quality Protection in Farm Bill Reauthorization
At an April 19th hearing for increasing the funding for voluntary conservation programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Wetland Reserve Program, and the Conservation Reserve Program, lawmakers of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment attested that the Farm Bill should be boosted to reduce agricultural impacts on water.  Reauthorization of the 2002 farm bill, as a means for reducing water pollution problems caused by agricultural runoff, received bipartisan support.  Tim Bishop (D-NY) said “the trouble is that not enough farmers are receiving benefits from these programs.”  “Given that these practices have been proven to work,” he continued, “the onus is on us to work out why there is not more enrollment in these federal programs.”  Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) claimed the bill could serve as a vehicle to pump more money into the programs that provide payments and technical assistance for a variety of farm conservation practices, which also helps the farmer whose only source of income is agriculture production. 

Richard Coombe, regional assistant chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service for Eastern states, told the subcommittee that about 9% of U.S. farmers are enrolled in some type of environmental improvement program offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  He added that since fiscal year 2002, about $2.1 billion has gone to programs and practices that improve water quality, but currently all of the programs are over subscribed.  Other witnesses included Craig Hooks, Director, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, and Wiley Stem, Assistant City Manager, City of Waco, Texas.  Stem testified about his experience managing Lake Waco, which supplies public drinking water for approximately 150,000 central Texas citizens and has been severely damaged by pollution running off agricultural lands in the watershed.   A complete list of witnesses and their testimony is available at http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearingdetail.aspx?NewsID=144.  (MB)

House Approves Over $14 Billion for National Water Restoration Projects
Legislation authorizing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to tackle a six-year backlog of flood control and environmental restoration projects across the country cleared the House of Representatives by a 394-25 vote on Thursday.  The Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (H.R. 1495) has been “six years in the making,” according to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.  Similar legislation passed the House in the 109th Congress but stalled in House-Senate conference negotiations. No water resources authorization legislation has been enacted since 2000.  The bill includes a $950 million authorization for wetlands restoration and hurricane protection in coastal Louisiana and $2.4 billion for water-related projects in Louisiana and another $2.4 for those in Florida and the Everglades.  Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) said the House Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment will now commence hearings on the next water resources bill.  “The second bill would consider new projects and policy changes that we were not able to add to the legislation we considered today,” stated Rep. Johnson in a press release.  Visit http://transportation.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=167 or http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-1495 to learn more about the legislation.  (MB)

USGS Initiates National Monitoring Network Pilots
On April 13, USGS announced that the pilot phase of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network (Network) for U.S. Coastal Waters and their Tributaries is moving forward.  According to USGS, the goal of the Network is to "provide information about the health of our oceans and coastal ecosystems and inland influences on coastal waters for improved resource management."  The Network, which will cover a broad range of water resources, was designed by 80 representatives of Federal, state, and local government organizations; universities; water associations; and the private sector working through the National Water Quality Monitoring Council.  The Network will coordinate water monitoring activities to provide a comprehensive database of information about the health of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources. The pilot phase of the Network will examine current monitoring in three regions—the Delaware River Basin, Lake Michigan, and San Francisco Bay—and is expected to be completed by January 2008.  For additional information, visit http://acwi.gov/monitoring/network.  (SRT)

States in Need of More Diverse Mercury Portfolios; EPA Claims Clean Air Mercury Rule ‘Not Enough’
According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assistant administrator for water, Benjamin Grumbles, EPA’s Clean Air Mercury Rule is “not enough” to reduce the atmospheric deposition of mercury that is contaminating U.S. lakes, rivers, and streams.  On April 17, Grumbles told the House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee that states need to use a “variety of tools,” such as the mercury rule along with targeted strategies under the total maximum daily loads (TMDL) program, and other voluntary and innovative steps to reduce the spate of mercury deposition in waters.  Grumbles was responding to questions posed by Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) at a hearing assessing whether the federal government is “doing enough” to hamper non-point sources of pollution, such as the atmospheric deposition of mercury and agricultural runoff.  According to EPA, over 8.500 water bodies in 43 States and Puerto Rico are listed as impaired due to mercury deposition from both domestic and international sources. (MB)

EPA Releases New Watershed Planning Tool
On April 18, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new web-based tool to help states and local communities protect and restore local water resources. According to EPA, the Watershed Plan Builder will help local watershed organizations develop integrated watershed plans to meet state and EPA requirements and promote water quality improvements.  The tool is designed for watershed organizations, federal and state agencies, tribes, universities, and local governments.  The tool produces an outline of a comprehensive watershed plan tailored to a user's specific watershed.  It addresses monitoring and assessment, community outreach, selection and application of available models, best management practices, implementation, and feedback.  The Watershed Plan Builder is available at http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershedplanning/.  (SRT)

Scientist Tells House Panel to Slash Emissions and Prepare for Rising Sea Levels
At the House Science and Technology Committee panel on April 17th, a lead author of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report stated that U.S. preparation for rising sea levels needs to get on track – now.  He stated that the largest preventative action is to cut man-made greenhouse gas emissions, and stressed that the U.S. and the globe need to begin strategizing for flood control planning and other climate adaptation measures.  According to Shardul Agrawala, an IPCC report author and visiting senior fellow for science, technology, and environmental policy at Princeton University, nations need to prepare for impacts on water supply, the flooding of coasts and other low-lying areas, and other effects that will likely react to rising temperatures over the next few decades. Agrawala and other IPCC authors told the House committee that some of the long-term effects of climate change, such as more dramatic coastal flooding and losses in food supply, can only be addressed by slowing and reversing global emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. "Unmitigated climate change would, in the long-term, exceed the capacity of natural, managed, and human systems to adapt," Agrawala said.

The IPCC’s February report, a product of nearly four years of research of the causes and projected effects of global climate change by some 1,200 international scientists, predicted global sea levels would rise from 7 to 23 inches by 2100, while global temperatures are expected to increase between 2 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit over the same period. To ‘buy’ more time, the chairman of the Science and Technology panel’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Rep. Nick Lampson (D-TX), said the U.S. and other nations need to do both: reduce greenhouse gas emissions and aggressively protect communities form the effects of rising global temperatures.  A list of witnesses and their testimony are available at http://science.house.gov/publications/hearings_markups_details.aspx?NewsID=1765.  (MB)

Quote of the Week:
“Peace cannot be achieved through violence; it can only be attained through understanding.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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; MB-Maya Buchanan (703) 684-2416, Mbuchanan@wef.org. This Week in Washington is available on-line at  http://www.wef.org/GovernmentAffairs/TWIW/.