AMSA Board Briefs - April 1, 2004

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April 1, 2004

• Board Approves Sponsorship of National Public Works Week
  AMSA’s Board of Directors had approved the allocation of $2,000 in Technical Action Funds to the American Public Works Association (APWA) to sponsor National Public Works Week, a celebration of the importance of our public infrastructure and the critical role public works plays in supporting and maintaining it. Through its sponsorship, AMSA will receive prominent recognition in APWA National Public Works Week DC promotional materials, including print media. Thank you for responding to our e-mail ballot.

With the theme, 24/7: Focused on Our Community, National Public Works Weeks is slated for May 16 - 22, 2004, and immediately precedes AMSA’s National Environmental Policy Forum & 34th Annual Meeting. National Public Works Week involves over 500 agencies and includes numerous regional and local events including parades, displays of public works equipment, open houses, and media events. The occasion is marked each year with scores of resolutions and proclamations from mayors and governors. Numerous events are planned in Washington, DC, as well, to elevate our nation’s leaders’ awareness of the role of public works and the critical needs of our public infrastructure. To learn more about National Public Works Week, we invite you to visit www.apwa.net.

• FY 2005 Budget Development Process Underway
  AMSA’s National Office staff has begun the budget development process for FY 2005. Preliminary General Fund and Technical Action Fund budgets are being prepared for initial Board of Directors consideration at their May 24, 2004 meeting. AMSA’s budget process calls for both the Budget & Audit Committee and the full Board to review and adopt the preliminary budgets in May. Member agency comment is then sought, and the Board conducts further review, discussion and final adoption at their July meeting. Board members may anticipate detailed FY 2005 budget information in their notebook for the May Board Meeting.

• Policy Forum Speakers Confirmed
  Plans for AMSA’s 2004 National Environmental Policy Forum and 34th Annual Meeting are well underway. We’re excited about the agenda we’ve put together, and are looking forward to an excellent meeting. We’ve been gratified that many of our speakers have already confirmed their plans to attend and share their thoughts and perspectives with AMSA’s membership. Among those already confirmed for the Policy Forum are: Senator John Warner (R-VA); Atlanta Mayor, Shirley Franklin; grassroots productivity expert, Amy Showalter; Charlie Cook, nationally-know political analyst; Michele Nellenbach and Catharine Ransom, representing the Majority and Minority, respectively, of the Senate Environment Committee; and, Susan Bodine and Ken Kopocis representing, respectively, the Majority and Minority of the House Transportation & Public Works Committee. Board members are urged to make plans now to attend. The hotel cut-off is April 28. Please click on the Policy Forum icon at www.amsa-cleanwater.org for more details.

• Strategic Planning Initiative Proceeds
  Progress on AMSA’s Strategic Planning Initiative has continued in the weeks since we last met. Participants received and commented on a Draft Strategic Plan that chronicles the results of our early February Strategic Planning Session. A new draft is being finalized which will include your recommendations (with the exception of typos and/or clarifications which have already been made) shown in bold. We thank you for your continuing commitment to this process and the insightful and well thought out comments you provided.

We are also awaiting a report reflecting the outcome of the March 10 Strategic Program Analysis conducted by Paul Meyer, our consultant, the National Office Staff and Buddy Morgan and Bill Schatz from our leadership. The full day session included the assessment of current programs, services and activities based on two sets of criteria: 1) Program Attractiveness (the degree to which the program, service, or activity is attractive to AMSA as a basis for current and future resource deployment) and 2) Competitive Position (the degree to which AMSA is in a strong position to support the program). Nine key AMSA programs and initiatives were analyzed through this process.

Board Members will receive both the revised Draft Strategic Plan and our Strategic Program Analysis well in advance of the next leadership meeting on the Strategic Planning Initiative – Friday, May 21, 2004 in Washington, DC. Association members will also learn more about the initiative through upcoming Clean Water News articles and a dedicated section of AMSA’s web site that will include an overview of the process, as well as the final reports resulting from the qualitative and quantitative surveys.

• Both Short & Long-Term Funding Receive Attention
  AMSA’s primary focus continues to be on long-term dedicated funding to overcome the clean water infrastructure funding gap. AMSA, however, does want to clarify that the Association does support increased funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund program as a short-term step toward the ultimate long-term funding objective. Several trade press articles and some comments by other organizations have questioned AMSA’s position on the CWSRF. In March alone, AMSA signed two broad coalition letters demonstrating the Association’s support for legislation to increase the CWSRF to $3 billion for fiscal year 2005 from its current funding levels of $1.35 billion. More than 30 municipal, state, environmental and industry groups signed onto the March 22 letter to all House members, stating “we support this substantial increase in water funding this year as it takes a step toward a longer-term solution for our nation’s water needs.” A similar letter was sent March 10 to all Senators. The Senate successfully passed this funding measure in mid-March and AMSA will continue to support its ultimate passage. For further information, see FaxAlerts 5/12/04 and 5/19/04.

• WIN Forms Clean Water Trust Fund Committee
  AMSA convened the Clean Water Trust Fund Committee of the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) on March 19 to begin work toward the introduction of a clean water trust fund bill in early 2005. The purpose of the well-attended meeting was to initiate strategy discussions in advance of the introduction of legislation next year. Three subcommittees were formed to focus resources and attention on specific areas. The trust fund revenue source subcommittee will review the WIN–sponsored Hagler Bailly study from 1999 that looks at various revenue options for a clean water trust fund and will determine what additional economic analyses are needed. The group then will identify qualified economists who could perform and complete the necessary research by the end of this summer. The communications and public relations subcommittee will prepare news articles, letters-to-the-editor, and identify qualified communications firms to assist with a public relations campaign to coincide with the introduction of trust fund legislation. The legislative subcommittee was tasked with educating members of congress and their staff, as well as selected candidates running for state and national political offices, on the need for a clean water trust fund. The subcommittee is to begin their work immediately, prepare letters and supporting materials, and schedule briefing through the end of December 2004 in advance of the introduction of a bill in January 2005. The subcommittees were asked to schedule their first meetings before the end of March.

• Legal Developments: Blending Appeal and Missouri Standards Case
  The Board should be aware of two legal developments. First, on March 26, AMSA filed a motion to join the appeal of the blending/sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) lawsuit filed on February 26 by state POTW groups in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association and Tennessee Municipal League are seeking review of the lower federal court’s November 20, 2003 decision to dismiss the case because the challenged regional anti-blending and SSO policies were not final agency actions. The groups filed the appeal to keep the door open for returning to court if EPA discontinues work on the proposed blending policy. As a result, we expect the appeal to be held in abeyance and that minimal AMSA resources will be expended on the suit in the near future. The possibility exists that the court could deny AMSA’s motion to intervene if it determines that procedurally, AMSA should have appealed the district court decision. We will keep the Board and membership apprised of developments in the case and the ruling on our motion.

Second, AMSA Secretary Dick Champion has brought to AMSA’s attention a Missouri case in which activists are suing EPA for failing to ensure correction of shortcomings in the State’s water quality standards (WQS). Pressure from the lawsuit is leading the State, under direction by EPA Regional personnel, to consider dramatic wholesale changes to the State WQS, including automatically assigning a designated use of whole body contact (WBC) to every water body – which would mandate disinfection of all POTW discharges to all State waters regardless of the waters’ depth, flow, or use for recreation. The Executive Committee discussed the case on its call today, and recommends that AMSA become involved in the case as an intervenor. AMSA would file the motion jointly with the Urban Areas Coalition (UAC), which includes AMSA Missouri member POTWs and some non-member POTWs, to avoid the WBC and other problematic outcomes of the ongoing global challenge to the state’s WQS. The UAC also is working work these issues through the state regulatory process. A ballot seeking Board votes on this matter will be distributed tomorrow, and a call will be held for Board members who would like to obtain additional information on the case before voting on Wednesday, April 7 at 2 p.m. eastern. The dial-in for this voluntary call is 1-877-394-0659, pin 483474#.

• Priority Research Projects Identified for WERF
  On March 16 the National Office sent Glenn Reinhardt, Executive Director for the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF), a list of potential research projects for consideration as the Foundation sets its research agenda for the next year. The National Office solicited project ideas from the membership and through the AMSA Regulatory Policy Committee, identified five projects as AMSA’s top priorities for the year. WERF plans to review the list of projects and provide a formal response in the coming weeks. Chris Hornback and more than ten AMSA members attended WERF’s joint Research Council and Subscriber Meeting on March 18-19, 2004 in Phoenix, Arizona, which provided subscribers with an opportunity to provide input directly into the research agenda setting process and the updating of WERF’s Long-Range Research Plan. The WERF Research Council met immediately after the joint session to begin working on the agenda and revisions to the long-range plan. The Research Council will meet again in June to develop research project concepts for 2005 funding, and the input from the March 18-19 meeting and AMSA’s letter will factor into that process.

The National Office is also working with WERF to explore ways of better utilizing WERF’s research products in support of AMSA’s advocacy efforts and to maximize AMSA member input into the research agenda setting process in the future.

• Changing Workforce Publication Released
  The Changing Workforce… Crisis and Opportunity publication is being released to AMSA’s membership today. The management issues featured in this new publication, jointly developed by AMSA and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), were prominently featured during AMWA’s Legislative and Regulatory Conference, held March 28 – 31, and during AMSA’s February Winter Conference in Santa Monica. All AMSA member agencies will receive a complimentary copy of the new publication, via Member Update 04-05, as a benefit of membership. Additional copies can be purchased for $35 each by visiting AMSA’s online bookstore, http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/pubs/publist.cfm.