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.

EPA Issues New Water Quality Trading Toolkit
On August 7, EPA released a new publication to support innovative, market-based approaches to water quality trading. The Water Quality Trading Toolkit for Permit Writers: Interim Technical Guide is intended to provide National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting authorities with the tools they need to incorporate trading provisions into permits.  The toolkit is EPA’s first “how-to” manual on trading programs consistent with EPA’s 2003 National Water Quality Trading Policy.  EPA hopes the toolkit will help provide national consistency among trading programs and serve as a resource for all stakeholders, including those in the regulated community interested in establishing such programs.  Focused on trading nitrogen and phosphorus, the toolkit covers the fundamental concepts of designing and implementing trading programs including the relevant geographic scope, effluent limitations, and trade ratios. The toolkit includes five scenarios that detail for permit writers where trading provisions can be incorporated into a permit and includes hypothetical examples featuring permit language. The document also includes a set of appendices which feature detailed case studies based on actual trading programs.  The toolkit is available at www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/trading/WQTToolkit.html.

Congressional Budget Report Confirms Downtrend in Federal Funding for Water and Wastewater 
On August 8, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report that describes trends in public spending for transportation and water infrastructure since 1956.  The report, the fifth in a series by CBO on the topic since 1992, found that federal spending on wastewater treatment and water supply has decreased since 1977, when adjusted for inflation.  CBO reported that federal funds spent on water supply and wastewater treatment facilities peaked at $14.2 billion in 1980 and has steadily declined since then, while state spending has gone from $29.7 to $79.4 billion from 1972 to 2004.  The report, Trends in Public Spending on Transportation and Water Infrastructure, 1956 to 2004, is available at www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/85xx/doc8517/08-08-Infrastructure.pdf.

EPA Requests Comments on Wetland Mapping Standard
EPA announced in the August 7 Federal Register that the agency is requesting comments on a national standard for mapping wetland inventories.  The standard provides federal, state, tribal, and local wetland managers with information on what data to collect when mapping wetlands that will be uploaded to the National Wetland Inventory (NWI) and incorporated as part of the wetlands layer of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) in the U.S. Geological Survey National Map. The intent of the standard is to support a consistent and seamless transition from traditional paper-based map products to technology-based mapping products.  The standard specifies a core set of data quality components necessary to add to the NWI and is based largely on the existing draft standard used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Comments are due November 9.  The FR notice is available at www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WATER/2007/August/Day-07/w15351.htm.  

EPA Report Summarizes TMDLs for Stormwater Sources
EPA issued a report summarizing 17 total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) that have been developed for stormwater sources in 16 states during the past eight years.  The TMDLs included in the report cover a range of pollutants, models used, and different allocation and implementation methods.  The report is intended to help TMDL practitioners, NPDES permitting agencies, and permit holders as they develop and implement new stormwater source TMDLs.  According to EPA, sediment, pathogens, nutrients, and metals from stormwater impair thousands of waters in the U.S.  The report, Total Maximum Daily Loads with Stormwater Sources: A Summary of 17 TMDLs, is available at: www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/techsupp.html.

Quote of the Week:
“This used to be among my prayers - a piece of land not so very large, which would contain a garden, and near the house a spring of ever-flowing water, and beyond these a bit of wood."
 - Horace (65 BC to 8 BC)

To receive This Week in Washington via e-mail, contact Sharon Thomas at sthomas@wef.org.