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 25, 2007

Fiscal Year 2008 Bill Approved by House Subcommittee Includes Increase for EPA
On May 23, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies approved a $27.6 billion appropriations bill that would increase the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s budget by a 4.5 percent over the current year.  Under the bill, the Agency’s fiscal year 2008 budget would be $8.1 billion.  State and tribal assistance grants would receive $3.4 billion and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) would be increased to $1.1 billion, $41 million over FY 2007 and $437 million over President Bush’s 2007 budget request.  The Department of Interior would receive $10.2 billion, of which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would receive $85 million for the state and tribal wildlife grants program and $264 million would be provided for various Interior climate change programs.  (SRT) 

Legislation Introduced in Response to Supreme Court Decisions on CWA
On May 22, Reps. James Oberstar (D-MN) and John Dingell (D-MI) introduced legislation to clarify that the Clean Water Act (CWA) includes all waters of the U.S. and respond to the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings in 2001 and 2006 regarding the CWA’s jurisdiction.“  These rulings ignore everything we have learned about water pollution and wetland conservation,” said Oberstar, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.  “You have to control pollution at its source.  If you wait until it hits a major waterway, it is too late to deal with the problem effectively.” The Clean Water Restoration Act (H.R. 2421) replaces the term "navigable waters" with "waters of the United States."  According to the bill’s sponsors, it would retain exemptions in the Act for mining, agriculture, and silviculture, which are not currently regulated by the CWA.  “This legislation will not create onerous new rules or regulations,” said Oberstar, who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.  "It simply restores the purpose of the 1972 Clean Water Act ... to restore the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters, not only navigable waters, but all the nation's waters."  Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) is one of the Republican co-sponsors of the bill, which is mostly supported by Democrats.  (SRT)

2007 Farm Bill Conservation Title Passes House Agriculture Subcommittee
On May 22 the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research approved a conservation title for the new Farm Bill, starting the process by which the House Agriculture Committee will replace the Farm Bill that expires in September.  The title would maintain funding for the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) at the current level, freeze enrollments in the Conservation Security Program (CSP) until 2012, and expand the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to include silviculture and forest management.  It would also create a new Regional Ground and Surface Water Enhancement Program that would allow cooperative agreements among the federal government, states, and tribes to achieve regional water quality and quantity goals.  In a letter sent to members of the subcommittee last week, WEF and other water and wastewater organizations pushed for the inclusion of water and wastewater utilities in the program.  They were not specifically listed; however, the language includes in the definition of a partner, "unit of local government."  Copies of the discussion drafts and the amendments approved by the subcommittee are available online at: http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/2007FarmBill.html.  (SJH)

Senator Harkin Proposes Integrated Conservation Title for 2007 Farm Bill
On May 24, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, proposed a $28.6 billion conservation title of the Senate Farm Bill that would allow farmers and ranchers to submit only one application to seek assistance and create a single source of funds.  "I intend to use the new farm bill to strengthen conservation on America's farms and ranches," Harkin said. Harkin’s proposed new program, the Comprehensive Stewardships Incentive Program (C-SIP), would integrate three existing conservation programs into one:  the Conservation Security Program (CSP), the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP).  Harkin’s proposal would spend $6 billion in new conservation funds above the budget projections, or baseline, for the next Farm Bill's five years.  About $3 billion of that would pay for C-SIP.  In a statement released Thursday, Ferd Hoefner of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition supported Harkin’s C-SIP proposal.  "The CSIP proposal provides an excellent framework for achieving important working lands conservation objectives.  It can provide farmers with a common sign-up, common application opportunity with reduced paperwork. It would provide for an annual, nationwide, continuous sign-up process.”  (SRT)

Report Examines Role of EPA in Oversight of Nanotechnology
On May 23, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies issued a report calling for the immediate overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) as a first step in identifying and preventing any adverse effects of the rapidly growing nanotechnology industry on human health and the environment.  EPA and Nanotechnology: Oversight for the 21st Century was authored by J. Clarence (Terry) Davies, one of the authors of the 1970 plan that created the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  In the report, Davies analyzes various regulatory authorities EPA has that could be used to oversee nanotechnology and its products and describes the limitations of those authorities.  According to Davies, "The reality is that the public is not being adequately protected from nano products and materials whose effects on health and the environment are unknown."  He presents twenty-six short- and medium-term actions EPA, Congress, and the White House should take to improve the federal government's oversight of nanotechnologies.  Davies argues that because there are no good methods for monitoring nanoparticles in water or air, both the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act are fundamentally inadequate tools for regulating nanotechnology.  The report concludes that TSCA is the only existing law that can serve as the basis of a general oversight system and as such should be used now and amended for the future.  "The Act desperately needs to be amended both to deal with nano and to adequately address all types of chemicals," according to Davies.  The report is available at http://www.nanotechproject.org/file_download/197.  (SRT)

EPA Posts Two New Issue Papers on Total Coliform Rule
On May 18, EPA announced the availability of two additional issue papers to inform the agency and stakeholders of areas of potential Total Coliform Rule (TCR) revisions and distribution system requirements.  EPA and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) developed a series of TCR issue papers to present available information on a range of issues related to the rule. The objective of the documents is to review the available data, information and research regarding issues relevant to the revision of the TCR, and where relevant, identify areas in which additional research may be warranted. Draft papers were completed in June 2006 and reviewed by a range of industry experts and stakeholders.  The two newly added papers are "The Effectiveness of Disinfectant Residuals in the Distribution System" and "Invalidation of Total Coliform Positive Samples."  The issue papers are available at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/disinfection/tcr/regulation_revisions.html#issuepapers.  (SJH)

Quote of the Week:
“All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds."
 - Voltaire

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.