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Naples Daily News
Congressional Delegation Lines Up Against Sewage Plan
By CATHY ZOLLO,
crzollo@naplesnews.com
February 20, 2005
Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are joining a growing chorus
of voices against a proposed sewage policy that EPA is soon expected to issue or
ax.
In a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Mike Leavitt on
Friday, Sens. Bill Nelson, and Mel Martinez, Democrat and Republican,
respectively, asked that the agency kill the proposed guidance — and none too
gently.
"This policy would put millions of dollars of tourism revenue at stake and would
also threaten the health of anyone who swims in Florida or eats our famous
seafood," the Florida senators wrote.
The blending policy would allow sewage plant operators across the nation to
reroute raw sewage around their plants in times of heavy rain and mix it with
treated sewage before releasing it to the environment.
It would reverse a current rule that requires operators to fully treat
wastewater in all but the most extreme wet weather circumstances.
Lawmakers on the House side expanded the issue beyond Florida in a letter that
will be delivered to Leavitt early this week. They argued against the policy,
saying it would "undo many of the public health and environmental gains achieved
over the last 30 years under the Clean Water Act."
Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, was among the three congressmen who initiated
the House letter. All 25 members of the Florida delegation have signed it, Shaw
spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said.
And congressional aides say so far, more than 100 others members have signed.
About a quarter of the total are Republicans.
Proponents of the guidance — mainly the sewage treatment plant operators — say
it would protect homes and businesses from sewage backups during stormy weather.
They also say it's a stopgap measure until local communities can bring their
plants and pipes up to date and wouldn't slow those improvements.
Opponents say it will allow plant operators to routinely dump sewage any time it
rains, reversing decades of progress toward cleaning America's rivers, lakes and
streams and exposing the public to disease-causing bacteria and viruses.
About 8 million people across the nation are sickened each year by water-borne
diseases.
EPA officials say they are unsure when they'll make the decision on what has
been called its blending policy. The goal had been to issue or nix the proposed
guidance by month's end, but they couldn't say whether it would happen by then.
"We're still going through the comments," said Rich Hood, EPA spokesman. "We
have people who are still reading, analyzing and putting them in various bins."
In response to the proposed guidance, EPA received 98,000 comments early last
year, among them a scathing review of the proposed guidance from the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection.
State regulators have said they will not allow the practice in Florida, but they
are concerned that EPA's condoning it will give sewage plant operators more
leverage to argue for allowing it.
Citing the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy's call for more sewage plants and
sewer lines, House lawmakers also will ask Leavitt to seek "substantial
additional funding for sewage treatment upgrades through the Clean Water State
Revolving Fund."
That fund saw sharp cuts in the president's budget released earlier this month
that seeks to slash EPA funding by $500 million. Of that, $360 million will be
cut from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.
The fund provides low-cost loans to local communities to replace or repair aging
treatment plants.
Between the opposition to the new guidance and the cuts in funding, sewage plant
operators are feeling the squeeze.
"This proposed cut is the wrong measure at the wrong time," said Ken Kirk,
executive director of the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies, or
AMSA, in a written statement. "Without a long-term sustainable
federal-state-local partnerships, communities will not be able to tackle
essential capital replacement projects needed to meet federal Clean Water Act
mandates."
Kirk wasn't available to comment on the growing opposition to the EPA blending
guidance that AMSA favors.
Nancy Stoner, director of the Clean Water Project of the Natural Resources
Defense Council, said despite her group's vehement opposition to the proposed
policy, she's fighting for more money for sewage plant and pipe upgrades.
"I keep telling them I'm your best friend," Stoner said. "No one talks about
sewage treatment more than I do. The choice is between effective sewage
treatment or a public health disaster. The president is saying we don't have
enough money to provide effective sewage treatment, and then he's cutting the
money."
Congress could opt to restore some or all of the cut funds.
According to the EPA data, without substantially increasing investment in sewage
treatment efficiency, the amount of sewage discharged to U.S. waters will by
2025 reach the same level as those in 1968, the highest in the nation's history.
AMSA estimates bringing all aging sewage treatment plants and pipes up to speed
would cost $200 billion. EPA's estimate is $130 billion.
In Florida, where critics say the proposed policy would have a greater
detrimental effect because of the seasonally wet climate, there is money for
upgrades, though municipalities have to apply for the low-cost loans.
Last year, Florida parceled out $120 million in such loans to local governments.
That amount has increased yearly due to income from past loans replenishing the
fund.