Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - April 18, 2003
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April 18, 2003
Security Funding Poised for House Passage, Senate Introduction
AMSA’s efforts on behalf of wastewater security funding legislation have enjoyed initial success, with the U.S. House of Representatives poised to hold a floor vote on wastewater security funding legislation that the Association strongly supports, and Senator James Inhofe, Chairman of the Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee, assuring AMSA that very similar legislation will be introduced in the Senate soon after Congress returns from the Spring recess on April 28. AMSA has also received assurances that the Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee will mark up the security legislation in April. This aggressive timetable demonstrates the effectiveness of AMSA’s advocacy efforts, which have continued unabated since September 11, 2001, as well as the congressional commitment to this critical issue.In late February, the House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee approved the Wastewater Treatment Works Security Act of 2003 (H.R. 866), which would authorize $200 million for publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) to conduct vulnerability assessments and to pay for enhanced security at their facilities. Among other provisions, the bill would also provide funding to nonprofit organizations for the improvement of vulnerability self-assessment methodologies and tools for POTWs which could provide key funding for upgrades to, and training on, AMSA’s Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool (VSAT™) software. Again, EPW Committee Chairman Inhofe has assured AMSA he will introduce legislation very similar to H.R. 866 soon after the return from spring recess. Significantly, H.R. 866 does not require the submission of vulnerability assessments to EPA in return for security funding.
H.R. 866 and the expected Inhofe security legislation, however, do face challenges. Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT), Ranking Member of the EPW Committee, recently reintroduced wastewater security funding legislation, S.779, requiring POTWs to file vulnerability assessments and emergency response plans with EPA in return for security enhancement funds — a requirement AMSA ardently opposes. Also complicating the security funding picture is the current debate over chemical security legislation, with several leading Senate Democrats supporting recently reintroduced legislation (S. 157) that requires POTWs covered under section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act (mainly POTWs that use chlorine) to not only file vulnerability assessments with EPA but to consider substituting less hazardous alternative chemicals in their treatment processes. The Bush Administration and Sen. Inhofe are expected to introduce legislation soon that will likely exempt facilities performing assessments under other legislation from doing so again under chemical security legislation requirements. The Administration also wants vulnerability assessments to be filed with the Department of Homeland Security, not EPA. See AMSA’s March Legislative Update at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/legupdate/march03/ for more on chemical security.
To meet these challenges, AMSA plans to contact Association members, particularly those with key EPW Committee delegates, to urge their Senators’ support of the Inhofe security funding bill once it is introduced. AMSA will also continue to meet with staff from the relevant congressional committees to press for legislation that ensures that POTW security information remains in local hands and that chemical security legislation exempts POTWs from duplicative assessment requirements. Security legislation will also be a focus at the Association’s National Environmental Policy Forum and 33rd Annual Meeting, May 17-21 in Washington, D.C. The Association encourages its public agency members to bring local information regarding anticipated or already incurred expenses for security enhancements to the Forum to relate to congressional members and staff. To obtain registration information for the conference, click on the conference icon on AMSA’s homepage at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/.