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.

May 18, 2007

Provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA

Senate Passes Water Resources Development Act, Authorizes $13.9 Billion for Projects
On Wednesday, the Senate voted 91-4 in favor of legislation that would authorize $13.9 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct projects on flood control, navigation, water supply, and environmental restoration across the country.  The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007 (S. 1248) will now go to conference with the House, which passed a $14 billion version of the Act on April 19.  The bill passed despite a White House statement issued May 11 saying that in a time of “much needed fiscal constraints” the spending level in the Senate bill was “unacceptable.”  WRDA would authorize more than 600 projects, some of which have been back-logged for up to seven years.  These projects include new locks on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway System and ecosystem restoration plan for those waters.  It would also provide authorization for the Louisiana Coastal Area ecosystem restoration program to reverse wetland losses and provide hurricane and storm damage reduction benefits.  Two-thirds of the WRDA legislation contains funds for projects in Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico.  Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, stated, “One of the lessons of Hurricane Katrina is that we ignore our water infrastructure needs at our nation’s peril. This bill makes a substantial commitment to protecting Louisiana’s coasts and communities.”  The bill also includes provisions that would reform how the Corps of Engineers carries out its programs, including updates in the Corps’ planning process, independent peer review, and improvements to the mitigation program.  (SRT)

WEF and Other Water Organizations Urge Congress to Fund Cooperative Projects in Farm Bill
In letters sent on May 16, WEF and eleven other wastewater, drinking water, and water reclamation utilities urged Congress to provide cooperative opportunities for water quality, quantity, and conservation initiatives in the 2007 Farm Bill.  The organizations pointed out in their letter that although the current conservation title programs have been “embraced” by agricultural producers, they “overwhelmingly focus on actions undertaken by individual farmers and do not promote land and water benefits that could be achieved through a cooperative, multi-stakeholder watershed approach.”  The 2002 Farm Bill’s Partnerships and Cooperation program, intended to allow water systems to enter into partnerships with individual farmers, “has never been recognized or funded by the Department of Agriculture (USDA).”  

The organizations expressed support for a program put forth by the Bush Administration called the Regional Water Enhancement Program (RWEP), which would set aside $175 million per year to provide competitive grant funding to groups including farmers, ranchers, and water and wastewater utilities to carry out water quality and conservation projects.  The letter called for more money for the program, which the groups believe, “serves as an excellent example of the type of cooperative program that will encourage environmental partnerships.”  The organizations outlined guiding principles in the letter which they recommend Congress use to craft any final cooperative program in the Farm Bill.  To request a copy of the letter, e-mail sthomas@wef.org.  (SRT)

Senate Rejects Adding Climate Change Amendment to Water Resources Bill
On May 15, the Senate rejected the climate change amendment to the $13.9 billion Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (S. 1248).  A 60-vote majority was needed to allow the Senate to proceed with formal consideration of the amendment requiring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate the effects of climate change when planning water resource projects.  The amendment, offered by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Russell Feingold (D-WI), got 51 votes.  As a result, Tuesday’s vote silenced all debate and consideration of climate change effects on projects in the bill, which was passed the next day.  Kerry introduced the legislation as an “important opportunity” for the Senate to finally recognize the “reality of climate change.”  Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) called the amendment “superfluous,” as the Corps already has the authority to consider environmental impacts.  (MB)

Bush Administration Orders First Federal Regulation of Greenhouse Gases
After resisting the regulation of greenhouse gases since he took office in 2001, President Bush on May 14 signed an Executive Order directing four federal agencies to develop regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions from new mobile sources.  The President directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Agriculture to work together "to protect the environment with respect to greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, non-road vehicles, and non-road engines, in a manner consistent with sound science, analysis of benefits and costs, public safety, and economic growth," the Executive Order states.  The President's new policy is based on a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court April 2 in Massachusetts v. EPA that the Bush administration failed to follow the requirements of the Clean Air Act when it refused to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles.  Bush has directed EPA and the Department of Transportation, Energy, and Agriculture to take the first steps toward regulations that would cut gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, “using my 20-in-10 plan as a starting point."  The president announced his "20-in-10 plan" in January during his State of the Union address, which aims to cut America's gasoline usage by 20 percent over the next 10 years.  (SJH)

Witnesses Call for Research & Education on Green Infrastructure to Reduce Runoff
At a House Subcommittee meeting on May 10, witnesses said federal agencies should be conducting research on and educating regulators about “green” materials and methods that can be used to reduce the water runoff caused by roads and parking lots.  Hal Kassoff, senior vice president and highway market leader for Parsons Brinckerhoff consultancy, told the House Science Committee’s Subcommittee on Science and Technology that the key barrier to a broader use of these materials and methods is a lack of awareness and of data to demonstrate that they help communities comply with the Clean Water Act.  The Subcommittee hearing, “Green Transportation Infrastructure: Challenges to Access and Implementation,” opened the floor for witnesses to discuss programs designed to alleviate water pollution caused by runoff from streets and parking lots. The materials and methods addressed during the hearing included the use of porous concrete to filter and slow runoff for residential roads and commercial parking lots and setting planters below the level of sidewalks to receive stormwater through grated curb cuts. 

Subcommittee Chairman David Wu (D-OR) stated, “Our challenge today is not the development of new technologies. It is to get people to start using the technologies we’ve got.”  Wu commented on the impediments of state and federal regulations and said that, “on paper, these technologies look like no-brainers, so why don’t we see them used more often?”  Sam Adams, commissioner-in-charge of transportation and environmental services in Portland, OR, told the subcommittee that his city was not supported by the EPA or the state Department of Environmental Quality when the city tried to implement a comprehensive green infrastructure plan.  In his written testimony, Adams stated, “both agencies favored traditional engineering solutions that assured regulatory compliance within a tightly constrained timetable. Neither agency was willing to provide additional time for Portland to pursue more sustainable, cost-effective and affordable strategies that also promoted comprehensive watershed health.”  Testimony given at the hearing is available at http://science.house.gov/publications/hearings_markups_details.aspx?NewsID=1809.   (MB)

EPA Extends Deadline for Compliance with Oil Spill Prevention Rule
On May 11, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new deadline extension to comply with the oil spill prevention rule. The final rule gives facilities until July 1, 2009 to prepare, amend, and implement oil spill prevention plans required under the December 2006 revised regulations.  EPA claimed the revisions “appropriate” as they would allow the regulated facilities more time to adjust to further revisions to the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure Rule (SPCC), which the Agency plans to propose this year and promulgate by the end of summer 2008.  Facility owners and operators will also have more time to digest the SPCC Guidance for Regional Inspectors, which the agency intends to propose to reflect any new requirements set prior to 2009.  This new deadline is the fifth extension since the 2002 SPCC rules were published.  Under the rules, all facilities with an above-ground storage capacity of 1,320 gallons or underground capacity over 42,000 gallons are required to develop and implement professionally certified oil spill prevention plans.  For more information about EPA’s oil program and the SPCC regulations, visit http://epa.gov/oilspill.  (MB)

EPA Oversight of NPDES Permit Compliance Needs Improvement, Inspector General Says
In a report released May 15, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) said that the agency is not providing effective oversight of compliance with clean water permits at major facilities.  The report claimed EPA and state agencies failed to keep complete and accurate records of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) compliance and enforcement actions, which the OIG said reflects a “management control weakness.”  The report, Better Enforcement Oversight Needed for Major Facilities with Water Discharge Permits in Long-Term Significant Noncompliance Report, stated the Agency did not provide meaningful direction to EPA regional offices and states on what constitutes “appropriateness of actions” to facilities in significant noncompliance with the terms of their NPDES permits.  The OIG also added that EPA does not consistently apply guidance defining timely formal enforcement actions taken by the Agency and the states.  The OIG suggested that EPA specify and implement guidance regarding facilities in significant noncompliance, implement a quality assurance program, and establish controls allowing the Agency to identify significant noncompliance by violators.  The OIG reviewed 56 facilities in EPA regions 4, 5, and 6.  For 21 of those facilities, EPA and states did not take appropriate formal enforcement actions to address all instances of significant noncompliance.  Senior counsel for the Environmental Integrity Project, Michele Merkel, commented that the inspector general’s report has “broader implications” for the enforcement method EPA employs.  “If these categories of polluters that include concentrated animal feeding operations and stormwater permit holders are not filing discharge monitoring reports and the systems are incomplete, then there is no way for the public to know who is in violation,” Merkel said.  To view the report, please visit http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2007/20070514-2007-P-00023.pdf.  (MB)

House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Africa & Global Health
On May 16, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs held a Subcommittee hearing on Africa and Global Health (SAGH). The hearing topic, "Africa's Water Crisis and the U.S. Response,” garnered keynote speakers among the public policy and non-profit sectors and provided a forum for supporters of the implementation of the 2005 Senator Paul Simon Water For the Poor Act. Witnesses included Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), member of Congress; Claudia McMurray, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Walter North, J.D., Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development; Peter Lochery, Director of the Water Team, CARE; and Malcolm S. Morris, Chairman, Millennium Water Alliance.  Information on the hearing is available at http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/sub_africa.asp?subnav=subcommittees.  (MB)

Quote of the Week:
“Take almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream.” 
-Herman Melville (1819-1891), Moby Dick, 1851 

This Week in Washington is provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA.  To receive by e-mail, contact Sharon Thomas at sthomas@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, twilliams@wef.org;  SRT - Sharon Thomas, sthomas@wef.org; SJH - Sam Hadeed, shadeed@wef.org; PS - Patricia Sinicropi,  psinicropi@wef.org; MB - Maya Buchanan, mbuchanan@wef.org.  This Week in Washington is available on-line at www.wef.org/GovernmentAffairs/TWIW.