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.

Senate, House Hearings Attack Budget Cuts to Water Infrastructure
This week the U.S. House and Senate held a series of hearings to examine President Bush’s budget cuts to land and water management agencies.  Members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Water and Power, and the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee all expressed concern regarding water infrastructure cuts in the $7.1 billion budget.  The Bush budget proposed cutting the Environmental Protection Agency’s funding by 4.4 percent in fiscal year 2009 by primarily targeting grants for local water and sewer projects. The White House’s proposed budget also would cut $134.1 million from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.  Facing attacks from both Democrats and Republicans, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson defended the cuts by citing fiscal responsibility.  Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) declared the EPA’s proposed budget as “wholly inadequate” to maintain the nation’s wastewater infrastructure and it would result in “unfunded mandates.”

Concern was also expressed over the cuts to the Bureau of Reclamation and to the U.S. Geological Survey.  During the House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, Chairman Norm Dicks questioned USGS Director Mark Myers about the budgets $9,799,000 (15 percent) cut for the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program.   And at the House Natural Resources Subcommittee hearing, both Reclamation Commissioner Robert Johnson and USGS Water Resources Associate Director Robert Hirsh admitted their agencies would appreciate additional funding if it were made available.

EPA Names Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science
EPA announced on February 25, that it has appointed Kevin Teichman to be Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science at the agency's Office of Research and Development.  Teichman has been serving as acting Deputy Assistant Administrator and previously was the director of the Science Policy Office. He directed the Science Policy Office's Air Staff during enactment of the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990. He also managed EPA's indoor air quality research program. Teichman has bachelor's and master's degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley, all in mechanical engineering. To view a full biography visit: http://www.epa.gov/ord/htm/daa1.htm.
 
EPA Launches New Web Multimedia Portal
On February 25, EPA announced that it has launched a new web multimedia portal: http://www.epa.gov/multimedia/. The multimedia portal is EPA’s one-stop location for environmental video, audio/podcasts, and photography.  The portal also includes interactive features such as “Ask EPA” and the Deputy Administrator's blog, “Flow of the River”. Another feature called "EPA in Action" goes behind-the-scenes; following the diverse jobs performed by the EPA workforce and examines some of the most pressing environmental issues facing our nation today.  Viewing video is integrated into the site using flash player, while photos of events and EPA work will be posted in a series of online galleries.  Users may also subscribe to several podcast series or select from a number of individual podcasts featuring EPA experts and senior officials.  This new multimedia portal is an important resource for the public, journalists, academia, local governments and the environmental community. The portal will help increase awareness of important news items through an intuitive, media-rich focus, rather than through traditional electronic print.

EPA Performance Track Program Passes 500-Member Mark
EPA announced on February 22 that facilities from Nestle, Frito-Lay, and Toyota are among the 42 new facilities committing to go “above and beyond” environmental requirements as members of EPA's National Environmental Performance Track Program. The latest members bring the total number of environmental leaders in Performance Track to 538, with members in 49 states and Puerto Rico.  Performance Track recognizes facilities that have a strong record of environmental compliance, set three-year goals for continuous improvements in environmental performance beyond the legal requirements, have internal systems in place to manage their environmental impacts, engage in community outreach, and consistently report results.  Performance Track facilities must meet all environmental regulatory requirements and typically set four goals for environmental improvement (facilities with less than 50 full-time employees set two goals). For example, TABC, a Toyota facility and new Performance Track member, located in Long Beach, Calif., aims to reduce its generation of volatile organic compounds (VOC) air emissions by 19.5 percent through zero-VOC alternatives.  Since the 2000 launch of this facility-based program, Performance Track members have set more than 3,500 goals to benefit the environment in both regulated and unregulated areas. Through goals that have been set since the inception of the program, Performance Track members have reported greenhouse gas reductions of 310,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, reductions in nitrogen oxides of 13,000 tons, and reductions of hazardous waste of 52,000 tons. For more about the National Environmental Performance Track program, visit: http://www.epa.gov/performancetrack/. To watch a video or podcast on Performance Track, visit: http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/greenscene/#econ.

Florida Company, Owner Ordered to Pay $1.86 Million to Victims of Water Scam
A federal court in Miami ordered a South Florida company and its president to pay $1.86 million to some 500 victims of a scheme that sold them water purification systems by falsely claiming their local drinking water contained toxins that presented a health danger (United States v. All County Water Association Inc., S.D. Fla., No. 0:07-CR-60208C, 2/21/08).  On February 25 U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta and Bill Roderick, deputy inspector general for the EPA, announced the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered All County Water Association Inc. (ACWA) and its president, James Basi, to pay the $1.86 million in restitution.  The judgment followed the December 2007 sentencing of Basi to 41 months in prison and a $25,000 fine on his guilty pleas to conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and misuse of a government seal.  ACWA was sentenced to five years probation and a $500,000 fine.  A salesman, Lou Banos, was also sentenced to five years probation.  According to the statement, from May 2002 until July 2007, ACWA, Basi, and Banos falsely told South Florida residents their drinking water was potentially life-threatening. They then sold, financed, installed, and maintained unnecessary water purification systems to the victims.  In their indictment, the defendants were charged with soliciting customers with postcards and brochures for free tap water tests. Water collected was discarded, but victims were told it contained a range of toxins, from mercury to high chlorine levels.

Quote of the Week:
“All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.”
- Benjamin Franklin

To receive This Week in Washington via e-mail, contact Martha Ravenhill at mravenhill@wef.org.