Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - March 22, 2002
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March 22, 2002
AMSA Urges Members to Seek Cosponsors for Floor Vote,
Infrastructure Bill Passes House Transportation Committee
On March 20, the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee passed H.R. 3930, with the only approved amendment being to make the clean water state revolving fund (SRF) subject to prevailing wage rates under the Davis-Bacon Act. To ensure broad House support for H.R. 3930, which will provide $20 billion to the SRF over five years, AMSA will be sending members a Special Edition FaxAlert on Monday which will include, among other things, a link to a letter of support to be sent to Association members' Representatives. With Congress on recess until April 8, AMSA urges members to meet with or contact their delegates over the next two weeks at their local district offices. On a related note, Chairman Boehlert of the House Science Committee introduced the Water Quality Research, Development, and Technology Demonstration Act (H.R. 3996) this week, which would provide $500 million for wastewater research, development and demonstration projects over five years. A copy of H.R. 3996 is available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:h.r.03996:. AMSA is reviewing H.R. 3996 and will provide members with more information on this bill in future Alerts and Updates. On the Senate side, AMSA will continue working with key Senators and their staff on amending language in the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee's wastewater infrastructure bill, S.1961, pursuant to AMSA's recommended modifications as described in Legislative Alert 02-02. EPW's markup of S. 1961 is expected to take place in mid-April.
AMSA Files Motion to Intervene in Key Clean Water Act Case
Yesterday AMSA filed a motion to intervene in a precedent-setting Clean Water Act (CWA) case, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, et al., v. Whitman. In the case, environmental groups are challenging EPA's approval of West Virginia's antidegradation regulations. Backed by national environmental groups, the Ohio Valley plaintiffs are seeking more stringent state antidegradation regulations that would further an overall "no growth" agenda. If the Ohio Valley plaintiffs are successful, the case could have potential adverse impacts for publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) nationwide. This case is one of first impression, lending this decision precedent-setting significance. West Virginia's regulations currently include important POTW exemptions, as is the case with numerous other states, making this first-impression, legal challenge in West Virginia a potentially landmark lawsuit with broad consequences. A detailed discussion of these POTW exemptions and legal questions involved in the lawsuit will be sent to members next week via a Legal Alert. Documents related to the case are available at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/littrack/littrack.cfm#12.
AMSA Receives Advanced Draft of EPA’s Effluent Trading Policy
This week, EPA forwarded its latest draft of the Office of Water's "Water Quality Trading Policy" for advanced review by AMSA. The draft policy, which will be available for public comment in the next four to six weeks, sets forth what EPA believes is necessary for water quality trading to be successful and consistent with the Clean Water Act and federal regulations. AMSA's Water Quality and Legal Affairs Committee leadership will be providing EPA with more detailed feedback in the weeks prior to the proposed policy's official release and will prepare more detailed comments when the proposed policy is released. The draft trading policy is available on AMSA's web site at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/epa/WQTPolicy2-25.pdf.