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.

House Homeland Security Committee Approves Chemical Security Legislation
The House Homeland Security Committee March 6 approved draft legislation that would extend and modify federal authority to regulate the security of U.S. chemical plants, including water and wastewater treatment plants.  The measure would require any facility that produces, stores, or uses chemicals of concern to submit vulnerability assessments and facility security plans to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for approval.  Additionally, the measure includes “inherently safer technology” provisions that require chemical facilities to evaluate whether a safe alternative chemical could be substituted for a particular chemical used by the facility.  Other amendments approved by the committee include one offered by Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA) that would bar DHS from requiring a publicly owned drinking water or wastewater facility to implement methods to reduce the consequences of a terrorist attack unless that facility receives DHS grant funding.  The committee voted 15-7 to approve the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act, which would make permanent the interim chemical security regulations issued by DHS in April 2007 with some changes. WEF, along with the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, has urged the committee to exempt wastewater facilities from this legislation, arguing that wastewater facilities are not private chemical companies and should not be included in legislation geared toward private industry.  WEF met this week with staff from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to review our concerns.  House Homeland Security Committee aides indicated this week that the legislation would probably be referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over drinking water utilities.  WEF will continue to track this legislation and report on developments. 

EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory Open for Public Comment
EPA is seeking public comments on the draft annual report, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2006.  In the report, EPA summarizes and presents annual U.S. emissions from 1990 through 2006 by source category and sector. The inventory contains estimates of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride emissions.  The inventory also includes estimates of carbon fluxes in agricultural and forest lands.  Wastewater treatment is one of the source categories included in the report, and emissions estimates for methane and nitrous oxide, as well as the methodologies used, are included in section 8.2.  In the 2006 inventory, wastewater treatment ranks seventh in methane emissions and sixth in nitrous oxide emissions.

EPA found that overall emissions during 2006 decreased by 1.5 percent from the previous year, primarily due to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from fuel and electricity consumption.  According to EPA, emissions have grown by 14.1 percent from 1990 to 2006 while the U.S economy has grown by 59 percent.  After responding to public comments, the U.S. government will submit the final inventory report to the Secretariat United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to fulfill the annual requirement as a party to this international treaty.  EPA prepared the report in collaboration with experts from multiple federal agencies.  The draft report was announced in today’s Federal Register and is open for public comment for the next 30 days (http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usinventoryreport.html).

EPA Proposes Additional Options for Animal Feeding Operation Rule
In today’s Federal Register, EPA proposed additional options to a 2006 proposal for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) under the Clean Water Act (CWA).  In the June 2006 proposal, EPA proposed that only owners or operators of CAFOs that discharge or propose to discharge be required to seek authorization under an NPDES permit.  In this supplemental proposal, EPA is proposing a voluntary option for CAFOs to certify to the permitting authority that they do not discharge or propose to discharge and therefore do not need NPDES permit coverage.  Under the proposal, the certification would be valid for five years, if the CAFO abides by its terms, and could be renewed after the five-year period.  EPA is also proposing a framework for identifying the terms of the nutrient management plan (NMP) and offers three alternative approaches for addressing application rates of manure, litter, and process wastewater when identifying terms of the NMP to be included in the permit.  In response to a February 2005 federal court decision vacating some portions of a 2003 CAFO rule, EPA proposed a revised rule in June 2006.  Comments on the supplemental proposal must be received on or before April 7.  The supplemental proposed rule and additional information are available at www.epa.gov/npdes/afo/revisedrule.

Energy Star Expanded to Assist Water Facilities
EPA has expanded the Energy Star Program for drinking water and wastewater facilities.  The agency’s popular energy tracking tool for commercial facilities, Portfolio Manager, has been enhanced to allow water utilities to track energy use and associated carbon emissions, set targets for investment priorities, and verify efficiency improvements.  Water and wastewater facilities account for more than one-third of municipal energy use and spend about $4 billion a year on energy to pump, treat, deliver, collect, and clean water.  Improving the energy efficiency of America’s drinking water and wastewater systems by only 10 percent would save more than 5 billion kilowatt-hours each year, a cost savings of about $400 million annually.  “Wasting energy is sending good resources down the drain,” said EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Water, Benjamin Grumbles. “Energy efficiency is good for the planet as well as the plant managers who make water clean and healthy.”  Additional information about Energy Star and Portfolio Manager for drinking water systems and wastewater plants is available at www.energystar.gov/waterwastewater.   

TMDL Knowledgebase Clearinghouse Available
Virginia Tech's Center for Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Watershed Studies has developed an on-line database to house selected TMDL-related information and documents in one central location.  The searchable clearinghouse contains three types of resources:  TMDL guidance documents, reviews and summaries of TMDL-related technical and trade literature, and state-by-state summaries of TMDL programs across the nation.  State summaries are updated regularly for all 50 states and include the approach and methodology used to develop TMDLs in that state.  In total, about 500 documents are available within the database, which was funded, in part, by an EPA grant.  The TMDL Knowledgebase Clearinghouse can be accessed via the Center's Web site at: www.tmdl.bse.vt.edu/site/knowledgebase/.

Quote of the Week:
Many persons have the wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratifications but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
-Helen Keller

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