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Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - June 15, 2001

June 15, 2001

AMSA Urges Mikulski To Boost Water Infrastructure Funds
AMSA sent a June 12 letter to Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s VA-HUD & Independent Agencies Subcommittee – responsible for EPA’s Fiscal Year 2002 budget appropriations bill – urging the Senator to "restore full funding for America’s clean and safe water infrastructure programs." Specifically, AMSA urged Mikulski to fully fund the Wet Weather Water Quality Act of 2000 (WWWQA), which authorizes a two-year, $1.5 billion grant program for sanitary sewer and combined sewer overflows, but only in a fiscal year in which at least $1.35 billion in wastewater grants to states is made available. Under Bush’s proposed FY02 budget, only $1.3 billion in such grants would be capitalized, leaving a $500 million shortfall necessary to trigger the WWWQA’s full funding. AMSA will continue its legislative efforts on behalf of full WWWQA funding and increased funding for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds. Several other key Associations joined AMSA in signing the letter, all of which are members of the Water Infrastructure Network. The letter is available on AMSA’s website at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/outreach/6-12-01vahudappropsletter.pdf.

NAS’ TMDL Study Supports AMSA Positions on Water Quality
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) today released its report, Assessing the TMDL Approach to Water Quality Management, and an initial review indicates that it supports several critical AMSA priorities. Significantly, the first paragraph of the report’s Executive Summary says that the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program "has not achieved the nation’s water quality goals of ‘fishable and swimmable’ waters largely because discharges from other unregulated nonpoint sources of pollution have not been as successfully controlled." This is strong support for AMSA’s advocacy for nonpoint source inclusion in the total maximum daily load (TMDL) program. The report also calls for greater state flexibility in developing specific designated uses for their waterbodies and for a more streamlined impaired waterbody listing approach, both of which AMSA supports in principle. AMSA will contact its members with more information after completing a more thorough review of the NAS study.

AMSA Participates in TMDL Rule Litigation Meeting
This week AMSA attended an initial meeting of the parties challenging EPA's controversial July 2000 TMDL rule. During the meeting, EPA, AMSA, industry, nonpoint, and environmental groups outlined their key areas of disagreement and support for the rule's provisions. EPA officials are considering a range of possibilities to resolve concerns with the rule. AMSA will continue its efforts to ensure that any changes to the rule will not eliminate nonpoint sources from the TMDL program. AMSA also is seeking a streamlining of types of waters included on state impaired waters lists, and supports increased state flexibility in listing decisions to ensure that a targeted TMDL will have real-world benefit. A decision regarding the next steps in the litigation process is anticipated before a court deadline of July 16, 2001. AMSA will continue to keep its membership informed on progress in this litigation.

AMSA brought the Association to its members this week in the form of a June 13 Region I Caucus in Nashua, NH, with staff of Senator Robert C. Smith (R-NH) participating. Discussions with both member and nonmember New England wastewater treatment agencies focused on AMSA priority initiatives and issues of critical importance to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) in the region. The Caucus was a huge success and AMSA looks forward to a similar experience at the June 19 Region V Caucus in Cleveland, Ohio. The Association plans on convening future Regional Caucuses with POTWs over the coming months.