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To:

Members & Affiliates

From:

National Office

Date:

March 2, 2000

Subject:

Support for H.R. 3570

Reference:

LA 00-3

Action Please By: As Soon As Possible

On February 2, 2000, Congressmen Steve LaTourette (R-OH) and William Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) introduced H.R. 3570, The Urban Wet Weather Priorities Act of 2000 in the House of Representatives. The introduction of H.R. 3570 represents a significant step forward in elevating AMSA's legislative issues to the forefront. But, this is only half the battle. While many of you have already written your Members of Congress over the past two months, greater participation from the membership is needed in order to create the necessary climate for moving the bill. If you have not already done so, we ask that you contact your House and Senate delegations informing them of H.R. 3570 and asking them to sign on now.

Your input is critical at this juncture. While AMSA and other municipal groups are working to attract cosponsors to the bill, it is being unfairly attacked by environmental activist groups, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) as a roll back of the Clean Water Act. Of course, AMSA and other municipal groups supporting the Bill do not share this view (see attached NRDC position paper and AMSA response). While the National Office has forwarded its response to NRDC to all members of the House, we urge all AMSA members to further reinforce the importance of H.R. 3570 to their Congressional delegations. As environmental practitioners, we need to be in the forefront, educating Congress on the complexity, cost, and long-term nature of the solutions to wet weather problems.

The most effective way to get the message across is by faxing and sending a letter to your House and Senatorial delegations, followed by a phone call. We have developed a sample letter (see attached) for you to use in contacting your Congressional delegation, as well as several “Helpful Hints” in formatting the letter and reaching Congress. Each letter should be sent with a copy of the bill summary.

We encourage you to take full advantage of AMSA's website to save time. If you have access to the Internet, you can download a copy of the sample letter and a summary of the bill from Congressional Connection which is located on the AMSA website. Please see the attached instructions on accessing Congressional Connection. If you do not have access to the Internet, please feel free to contact Robin Davis at 202/833-3280 for assistance with contact information. Please send us a copy of your letter by email (gschaner@amsa-cleanwater.org) or fax (202/833-4657). If you have any questions about this Legislative Alert, please feel free to contact Greg Schaner, Manager of Government Affairs at 202/296-9836.

Attachments:

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