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National Office

Date:

March 2000

The National Office is pleased to provide you with the March 2000 Legislative Update. The update will provide you with a comprehensive overview of AMSA's recent legislative initiatives and the general outlook on Capitol Hill current to March 1, 2000. The attached Bill Digest provides an abbreviated summary of pertinent legislation that AMSA is currently tracking. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the National Office.

Bipartisan Wet Weather Bill (H.R. 3570) Introduced in House of Representatives
Following an intensive effort by AMSA, after over a year of discussions and collaboration with municipal partner organizations and staff of the House Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee, the Urban Wet Weather Priorities Act of 2000, H.R. 3570, was introduced on February 2, 2000 by Congressmen Steve LaTourette (R-OH) and William J. Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ). In the coming weeks, H.R. 3570 will be the focus of intensive outreach efforts to win a number of bipartisan cosponsors as well as broader clean water stakeholder support. With a legislative session compressed by election-year pressures, the early introduction of the bill is extremely advantageous for AMSA members. Along with spurring needed reform in the regulation of urban wet weather flows, the introduction of the bill will also further inform Congress of the need for stepped-up clean water infrastructure funding. The bill was developed by a coalition of organizations that included AMSA, the National League of Cities, National Association of Counties, Water Environment Federation, National Association of Flood & Stormwater Management Agencies, American Public Works Association, and U.S. Conference of Mayors.

How you can help: AMSA has written to all members of the House of Representatives making them aware of the legislation's introduction and the many benefits of the legislation. Included in the correspondance was a summary of concerns that have been expressed with regard to H.R. 3570 accompanied by reponses addressing each issue raised. Each AMSA member has been urged to write to their Congressional delegation as soon as possible to inform them of the bill and encourage them to sign on as a cosponsor. Legislative Alert LA 00-03 contains a copy of H.R. 3570, the "Dear Colleague" letter sent by Congressmen LaTourette and Pascrell, a sample letter, instructions on how to prepare and send the letter, as well as other news items related to the bill. If you have any questions, please contact Greg Schaner at 202/296-9836.

AMSA Rebuts Early Opposition to H.R. 3570
In late February, AMSA issued a strong response to a critique by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in opposition to H.R. 3570. A full text of AMSA's response is included as an attachment to Legislative Alert 00-3, sent to the membership on March 1. Upon review of the NRDC statement, AMSA determined that it demonstrates a seriously flawed understanding of the bill as well as the realities of municipal wet weather control. To set the record straight, AMSA rebutted NRDC's critique point by point and provided copies of the Association's response to the trade press; the sponsors of H.R. 3570; organizations who helped develop the legislation; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Water Office and Enforcement officials.

Among other assertions, NRDC's statement indicated that it had altered its support of the 1994 National CSO Control Policy by saying that codifying the Policy would cause “years of delay in addressing combined sewer overflows.” NRDC added that the CSO Policy provisions are “vague” and “ambiguous.” AMSA responded to these points by noting that “H.R. 3570 would formally codify the CSO Policy into law, a position that NRDC supported since the Policy was adopted in 1994.” NRDC also claimed that H.R. 3570 would authorize “raw sewage discharges from sanitary sewers under a variety of circumstances in which they are now illegal. Instead of encouraging cities to address systemic problems, such as lack of capacity and poor maintenance, that allow raw sewage to be discharged into our lakes, streams, and coastal waters, this bill would provide a variety of excuses for noncompliance, including lack of planning, lack of resources, and finding some other entity to blame.” AMSA countered by stating that “H.R. 3570 would establish an aggressive national program for SSO reduction by requiring all POTW systems to adopt minimum procedures for operation and maintenance, by giving systems the legal authority to require the implementation of such procedures in connected municipalities, and by enabling operators to target their resources between short- and long-term reduction efforts.” AMSA also countered NRDC's claims that grant funding for wet weather control would divert funding from the SRF.

EPA's Proposed Rule on TMDLs Gets Airing in House, Senate
Hearings on EPA's controversial TMDL proposal were convened throughout February in the House Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry, and the Senate Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife & Water.

In the two House hearings, witnesses included representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), as well as the Association of State & Interstate Water Pollution Control Authorities (ASIWPCA), National League of Cities (NLC), General Accounting Office (GAO), and representatives of farmers, foresters, and chemical manufacturers. The California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA), represented by AMSA's Wet Weather Vice Chair David Williams, presented expert testimony on the proposed rule and was well-received by the lawmakers. The hearings have focused on EPA's authority to regulate nonpoint sources, TMDL program flexibility, funding, and data quality. Representative Pascrell, the Democrat co-sponsor of H.R. 3570, raised the possible conflict between the TMDL program and wet weather programs.

The Senate Agriculture Committee hearing featured EPA, USDA, and the states, plus witnesses for timber companies and cotton growers. In his opening statement, Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN) stated, “The Congressional Research Service, in a legal memo prepared for the Agriculture Committee, has stated that it does not appear the EPA has legal authority to regulate nonpoint sources under the Clean Water Act.” In a February 28, letter to Lugar, AMSA disputed the Senator's position on nonpoint sources and cited the critical need for the farm community's participation in binding pollution control programs to achieve water quality goals. The chairman's witnesses generally concurred with his viewpoint, with the exception of Robert W. Adler, long-time environmentalist and current Professor of Law at the University of Utah College. Adler's testimony stated that agricultural agencies and the agriculture community at large should welcome rather than oppose EPA's proposed new TMDL program.

The Senate Environment Committee's (EPW) Fisheries, Wildlife and Water Subcommittee's entered the fray with a March 1 hearing that focused exclusively on the costs and impacts to states. EPW Chairman Robert Smith (R-NH) and Ranking Member Max Baucus (D-MT) as well as the Subcommittee's chairman, Senator Michael Crapo (R-ID), all were critical of the rule in general, and more specifically, of the nonpoint source issues. The Senators' questions ranged from whether EPA could rescind the proposed rule to why the Agency thinks it can include silviculture in a new TMDL program. For copies of testimony from witnesses at these and other Congressional hearings, log on to http://thomas.loc.gov. Select either 'House' or 'Senate' under 'Committee Home Pages', then select the committee of your choice.

House, Senate TMDL Bills Would Remove All CWA Authority over Nonpoint Sources
In the wake of the recent Hill focus on the TMDL program, several bills were introduced in early February which would deny EPA the authority to regulate certain nonpoint source pollution sources under the Clean Water Act. On February 8, Senator Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D-AR) introduced S. 2041 to exempt discharges from certain silvicultural activities from National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements. The bill prohibits EPA from requiring any State to issue permits for stormwater runoff from silvicultural activities in connection with the following: site preparation, reforestation, thinning, prescribed burning, pest and fire control, harvesting operations, surface drainage, and road construction and maintenance. On February 10, Congressman Jay Dickey (R-AL) introduced an even broader bill, the Timber and Agriculture Environmental Fairness Act (H.R. 3625), which would effectively exempt from the Clean Water Act all nonpoint source runoff from silviculture and agriculture operations. AMSA will continue to monitor the progress of these bills.

House Transportation & Infrastructure Chair Cites Clean Water as Session Priority
House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chair Bud Shuster (R-PA) named Clean Water Act legislation as a potential priority for the session. According to the Chairman, “various legislation could move separately or collectively to reauthorize and improve selected Clean Water Act programs. Provisions could include reauthorization of the State Revolving Funds, financial and regulatory assistance to control sewer overflows, and assistance for restoration of estuaries and other significant bodies of water.” AMSA hopes that with the support of the Chairman, the Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee will be in a strong position to move forward with hearings on H.R. 3570 and other clean water legislation.

EPA Ignores Congressional Request for More Money for SRF
The House Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee met on February 9 to receive testimony on EPA's budget and priorities for fiscal year 2001. In his opening statement, Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) said, “This Subcommittee is extremely disappointed over the Administration's budget request for Clean Water state revolving funds. Once again, despite bipartisan requests to provide leadership on clean water infrastructure, the Administration has proposed a $550 million cut in the popular state revolving funds.” Boehlert added, “EPA and other governmental organizations have estimated clean water infrastructure needs will be more than $300 billion over the next 20 years. This funding gap is expected to increase — particularly if we don't increase federal assistance and encourage innovative financing.” AMSA did not testify, but echoed Boehlert in a statement that called for an “expanded federal commitment to meet staggeringly expensive wastewater needs” and urged “Members of Congress to reject the administration's s request and provide adequate funding to begin to close the massive funding gaps facing local governments across the country.”

Boehlert and subcommittee Ranking Member Robert Borski (D-PA) are expected to urge appropriators to maintain current funding levels for the clean water state revolving loan fund (SRF) at $1.35 billion in fiscal year 2001. The Chairman admonished the waiting EPA witnesses, “You can expect continued, bipartisan resistance to deep cuts in clean water programs.”

The Administration's clean water budget request faired no better in the Senate. The chairman of the VA-HUD & Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee attacked the President's request as heading in the wrong direction, and totally unacceptable. In a prepared statement, Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) criticized the President for requesting only $800 million for clean water, a reduction of $550 million below last year's approved budget. Bond exclaimed. “That's a 41 percent cut! The plan to channel more money into dubious projects and undefined new programs, while at the same time slashing the vital programs that ensure we have clean water is not only unacceptable, it defies logic.”

Appropriations committee hearings for EPA will begin March 16 in the House and March 23 in the Senate.

AMSA Steps Up Campaign for National Biosolids Partnership Funding in FY 2001
AMSA and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) are requesting $1.3 million in FY 2001 funding for Phase 3 of the National Biosolids Program. Congress approved $900,000 for the Program for the past two fiscal years. The new funding will be used to expand the use of the Program's Environmental Management System (EMS) by pilot communities. At AMSA's Winter Meeting in Albuquerque, NM in February, about 150 members signed a letter supporting the Appropriations request. AMSA sent the signed letter to members of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on VA, HUD & Independent Agencies on February 10. Meanwhile, the National Office is working to build support within the Appropriations Subcommittees through a targeted letter-writing campaign.

How can you help? All members are encouraged to participate by writing a letter AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to their Members of Congress. Please refer to Legislative Alert 00-2 for specific instructions and a sample letter. If you have not already prepared a letter, it is not too late to do so. If you have any questions, please contact Greg Schaner at 202/296-9836.

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