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Incentives to Protect Sewage Plants Included In Senate Wastewater Security Legislation
Cities and towns would be encouraged to assess the vulnerability of their sewage treatment plants to terrorist attacks and natural disasters and be eligible for funding to conduct the assessments, under a bill introduced May 10 by three Republican senators.
The Wastewater Treatment Works Security Act (S. 2781), sponsored by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Sens. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), builds upon an earlier bill (S. 1039) that Inhofe introduced during the 108th Congress in 2003.
The new bill does not require the assessments, but it offers
financial aid to utilities if they choose to do them. Also, in a change from the
earlier bill, the new legislation encourages assessments for vulnerability to
natural disasters such as hurricanes, as well as terrorist strikes.
The legislation would authorize $220 million in grants to be disbursed by the
Environmental Protection Agency to improve wastewater security.
The funding would be used for facility vulnerability assessments; upgrading
software that uses risk-based methods to prepare and update vulnerability
assessments and emergency response plans; identifying and researching ways to
secure collection systems; and assisting with development of voluntary
interstate mutual aid networks.
Inhofe emphasized that this bill attempts to plug the gaps in wastewater
security highlighted by a recent Government Accountability Office report (85 DEN
A-11 5/3/06 ).
He said the bill takes the "right approach" in not prescribing
one-size-fits-all, "heavy-handed unfunded federal regulations" for securing
wastewater facilities and associated collection systems. Chafee, who chairs the
Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water,
said the bill would help communities meet the needs identified by vulnerability
assessments should the "unthinkable" occur.
Plugging Security Gaps
Taking into account the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the bill also
contains provisions that recognize that a wastewater treatment plant is equally
vulnerable to terrorist attacks and natural disasters. Consequently, this
wastewater security bill modified definitions of the terms "disruption of
service, vulnerability assessment, and emergency response plans" to incorporate
natural disasters that could affect such facilities in addition to "intentional
harmful acts."
The legislation recognizes the disrupting effect of natural disasters on
wastewater utilities by offering financial assistance to form interstate and
intrastate mutual compacts among utilities, according to Adam Krantz, government
and public affairs managing director for the National Association of Clean Water
Agencies, which represents more than 16,000 wastewater utilities. The compacts
would be similar to those in Florida, where drinking water and wastewater
utilities from other states assist with emergency repairs.
The compacts would address issues of liability and workers' compensation
schemes, which are problematic because coverage does not extend across state
boundaries. Proponents say the compacts would accelerate recovery work.
Compared with the previous version of the legislation, the current bill attempts
to fill in wastewater security gaps that GAO highlighted in a May 1 report. The
report, which Inhofe had requested to gauge the level of utility preparedness,
found that 74 percent of surveyed utilities had either completed vulnerability
assessments, developed security plans, or were close to completing both. The
bill would offer incentives to the remaining utilities to complete those
assessments and plans.
The GAO report also identified security gaps in wastewater collection systems.
According to this report, "Little effort, however, has been made to address
collection system vulnerabilities, as many facilities cited the technical
complexity and expense involved in securing collection systems that cover large
areas and have many access points."
Krantz said the bill acknowledges the commitments made by the wastewater
community in protecting the environment and providing continuity of service.
By Amena H. Saiyid