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 Environment Panel Holds Hearing on Wetlands Bill
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing Wednesday on legislation to restore the jurisdictional boundaries of the Clean Water Act after recent Supreme Court decisions narrowed its scope.  S. 1870, the Clean Water Restoration Act, would remove the term “navigable” from the Clean Water Act to remove confusion over whether the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction could extend to wetlands and other bodies of waters that may not directly flow into a navigable river but are, nonetheless, part of the watershed in which a river, stream, or lake is located.  Among the witnesses at yesterday’s hearing was former EPA Administrator Carol Browner who urged the Congress pass the legislation in order to preserve wetland protections U.S. EPA administrators have abided by for years.  The legislation is sponsored by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and in the House, the legislation is sponsored by Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN), Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.  Republicans argue that the bill would unduly expand the scope of the Clean Water Act jurisdiction to bodies of water such as ditches and puddles, which Browner dismissed as untrue.  Additional witnesses at this hearing were: Alexander Grannis, Commissioner for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation; Joan Card, Director of the Water Quality Division for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality; David Brand, Sanitary Engineer for Madison County, Ohio; and Randall Smith, CEO of Smith 6-S Livestock.   WEF sent a letter in support of this legislation with the understanding that regulatory exemptions that currently exist for constructed wastewater treatment ponds and wetlands would continue.  The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is scheduled to hold its hearing on the bill next Wednesday, April 16th.  To view statements from the Senate hearing, visit: http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=116d6ddd-802a-23ad-4f2f-4d329c912bb2.

Senate Hearing Announced for Pharmaceuticals in Water
Last month the Associated Press (AP) published a three-part series on pharmaceuticals in source water and drinking water.  The first article reported that the AP found “minute concentrations of a vast array of pharmaceuticals” in the drinking water supplies of 24 of the 28 tested major metropolitan areas. Following a public outcry, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee leaders Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the committee chair, and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) announced they will hold oversight hearings in early April.  The hearing, Pharmaceuticals in the Nation’s Water: Assessing Potential Risks and Actions to Address the Issue, has been scheduled for April 15. 

Coastal Areas Worldwide Suffer from Eutrophication and Hypoxia
According to a report released last week by the World Resources Institute (WRI), coastal communities worldwide are witnessing their livelihoods choked by agricultural and industrial pollution. Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus has emerged as one of the leading causes of degraded water quality. WRI identified 415 over-enriched - or "eutrophic" - coastal areas throughout the world. Of these, 169 are depleted of oxygen, creating "dead zones" that are unable to support marine life. Another 233 of the systems identified are experiencing one or more symptoms of eutrophication, including toxic algal blooms, loss of biodiversity, and die-off of coral reefs. Only 13 of the coastal areas identified exhibit signs of recovery. Some of the coastal areas studied include the Chesapeake Bay, Baltic Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Tampa Bay. Seventy-eight percent of the assessed continental U.S. coastal area and 65 percent of Europe's Atlantic coast are eutrophic. The sources of pollution vary by region. In the United States and Europe, agricultural sources such as animal manure and commercial fertilizers are typically the main causes of eutrophication. Sewage and industrial discharges, which usually receive some treatment, are a secondary source.  As a result, the WRI recommends environmental agencies and costal authorities in the United Sates should: (1) continue coastal zone assessments; (2) ensure that eutrophication assessment methodologies are being consistently applied; (3) and enhance existing decision-support tools and develop tools for those areas where none currently exist.  To read the full report, Eutrophication and Hypoxia in Coastal Areas: A Global Assessment of the State of Knowledge, visit: http://www.wri.org/publication/eutrophication-and-hypoxia-in-coastal-areas.

EPA Launches Environmental Indicators Gateway
EPA announced on April 9 that it has launched the Environmental Indicators Gateway Web site to provide enhanced public access to environmental and health information generated by the agency.  Information is presented in the context of environmental indicators, numerical values that provide insights into the status and trends of environmental and public health conditions over time.  The Gateway establishes a single catalog of EPA's indicator work that allows browsing and searching among existing EPA web sites and indicator materials.  The site allows users to browse EPA's environmental indicator reports by geography, topic area, or time period. For each report featured on the site, users can find information on key details of the project including geography, project purpose, contact information, and data quality considerations.  In addition to enhancing public access, the Gateway provides a resource for EPA and other federal agencies and partners to better coordinate their own environmental indicator work.  To better accomplish the goals of EPA's Environmental Indicators Initiative, EPA plans further enhancements to the site.  The Gateway is available at www.epa.gov/indicators.

New EPA Report on Pollution Reduction Costs of U.S. Manufacturers
According to a report issued by EPA on April 9, the U.S. manufacturing sector spent $5.9 billion dollars on capital expenditures and $20.7 billion dollars on operating costs for pollution prevention and treatment in 2005.  These figures represent less than five percent of total new capital expenditures and less than one percent of total revenue for the sector, respectively. The estimates were reported in a U.S. Census report, Pollution Abatement Costs and Expenditures (PACE): 2005. The PACE report is the latest in a series conducted since 1973 to assess annual costs for pollution abatement by the manufacturing sector.  The reported costs include capital and operating costs for treatment/capture, prevention, recycling, and disposal, as well as depreciation of pollution abatement equipment.  To view information on the 2005 PACE data or download the report, visit http://yosemite.epa.gov/ee/epa/eed.nsf/pages/pace2005.html.

April 14 Hotel Deadline Approaching for Clean Water Policy Forum
WEF and the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) will host the 2008 National Clean Water Policy Forum on May 4 – 7 in Washington, DC.  Room reservations at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel (202.347.3000) must be made by Monday, April 14 to receive the special conference rate of $285 single/double.  The Forum will cover the latest federal legislative and regulatory developments, including Clean Water Act jurisdiction, sewer overflow notification, clean water funding, and climate change.  An agenda and additional details are available at www.wef.org/GovernmentAffairs/GAEvents/  or www.nacwa.org.

Quote of the Week:
“Jumping at several small opportunities may get us there more quickly than waiting for one big one to come along. “
 ~Hugh Allen

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