Click Here to see previous Fax Alerts
June 23, 2000
EPA Releases Draft Final TMDL Rule
Early this week EPA sent the proposed final TMDL rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final interagency review. OMB is expected to take 60 days or less to review the Draft Final TMDL Rule. In response to public pressure, EPA also placed the draft rule in the public docket. AMSA members and staff are reviewing the latest changes to determine whether the new regulations will be an improvement over the existing rule. Copies of the rule and a three-page EPA comparison of the changes between the old and new rules were mailed late this week to members via AMSA Regulatory Alert 00-14. In spite of widespread opposition to the rule by industry and the agriculture community, EPA remains committed to publishing the new regulations this summer. However, the agency's ability to enforce the new rule has been challenged by the House of Representatives. Language attached to the appropriations bill that will fund EPA in fiscal year 2001 prohibits the agency from spending money to finalize or implement the rule. EPA remains optimistic that the appropriations bill sent to the President for signature later in the year will not contain “anti-environmental” riders. AMSA members along with representatives of other municipal stakeholders have scheduled a meeting with EPA on June 27 to discuss the latest version of the rule.House Passes EPA Budget Bill for Next Year
House members worked late into the night for two days this week to approve an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2001 for Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies (H.R.4635). The bill includes $7.2 billion for the EPA. The Clean Water State Revolving Fund was cut from last year's level of $1.35 billion to $1.2 billion. The Drinking Water SRF was increased by $5 million to $825 million for fiscal 2001. Funding for the National Biosolids Partnership remained steady at $1 million. The TMDL rider “which will prevent EPA from implementing the new TMDL regulations if they are published this summer” remains in the bill at this time. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies is not expected to begin work on its version of EPA's budget until mid-July. While AMSA still has concerns with the rule, AMSA wrote members of the House of Representatives on June 16 opposing legislative efforts that may interfere with EPA's ability to issue and implement the regulations.Davis-Bacon Act Settlement Agreement Aimed at Clean Water SRF
The EPA is asking for comment on a proposed settlement agreement between the Agency and the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL/CIO. In a June 22, 2000 Federal Register notice (Vol. 65, No. 121), EPA proposes a settlement agreement which would “prospectively apply the Davis-Bacon Act's prevailing wage rate requirements in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program established in title VI of the Clean Water Act, in the same manner as they applied before October 1, 1994.” EPA is accepting comments on the proposed settlement agreement until August 4, 2000. To get a copy of the Federal Register notice, go to the following web address: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=00-15719-filed.Summer Conference Registration Deadline Nears . . . AMSA members are encouraged to send in their registration as soon as possible for the Summer Conference scheduled for July 18-21 at The Camberley Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. The advance registration deadline for AMSA's Summer Conference is Friday, July 7. AMSA's conference on TMDLs comes at a critical time in the debate. You'll have a chance to hear what the experts have to say about the Draft Final TMDL Rule as well as a glimpse into the politics that may prevent the new regulations from taking effect.