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To:

Members & Affiliates

From:

National Office

Date:

April 2, 1999

Subject:

The Cost of Clean Release

Reference:

LA 99-5

AMSA and the Water Environment Federation's (WEF) latest collaborative effort — The Cost of Clean . . . Meeting Water Quality Challenges in the New Millennium — is hot off the press and making the rounds in Washington, DC and the rest of the country. We are pleased to present you with a copy of the 1999 report outlining the staggering expenses facing publicly owned treatment works as needs increase and additional regulations are added. We have also enclosed a Q & A that you can use as a supplemental public outreach tool.

Here's How You Can Help Spread The Cost of Clean Message
A copy of The Cost of Clean is being sent to every Member of Congress; however, we need to make sure that the message is heard in every state and congressional district. Next week, AMSA will be calling upon you to write your senators and congressmen to ask for increased funding for our nation's clean water program. Please use this upcoming Legislative Alert to craft your letters to every member in your congressional delegation on this issue that is central to everyone in the clean water community.

We also hope you will take the opportunity to meet with your congressional delegation during AMSA's 1999 National Environmental Policy Forum & 29th Annual Meeting, May 22-26, 1999, in Washington, DC. During the Policy Forum, AMSA members will be briefed on up-to-the-minute policy developments and given additional materials to focus their discussions with decision makers. Make plans now to make your mark on national environmental policy by attending AMSA's Policy Forum. Watch for the Policy Forum flyer in next week's mail. For additional information visit the Conferences & Meetings Section of AMSA's web site or call the National Office at 202/833-AMSA.

Cost of Clean Release a Success
The Cost of Clean was released on March 31 at a packed press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Clean water advocates, EPA representatives and press all gathered to hear about the nation's wastewater funding and infrastructure needs as illustrated in The Cost of Clean. AMSA members should watch for news coverage of the event from notable news services and organizations that attended the event as well as those who indicated planned coverage, including: Associated Press, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Newhouse News Service, PBS' “Nightly Business Report,” Water World magazine, Water Policy Report, Bureau of National Affairs' Daily Environment, Engineering Science & Technology magazine, Engineering News Record, The Bond Buyer magazine and Sludge newsletter.

At the briefing, local elected officials representing cities and counties as well as representatives from other clean water organizations joined AMSA President Michele Plá and WEF President Rhonda Harris in the call for increased clean water funding in the new millennium. Enclosed are news releases and dialogue from participating organizations. The Cost of Clean message was strengthened by the event speakers who depicted an urgent need at all levels of government. A sampling of quotes from the event and press releases follow:

  • AMSA President Michele Plá encapsulated the main themes of the message: “This ($330 billion in estimated needs) is a tremendous burden to place on local ratepayers because you have to keep in mind that this is coming on the heals of debt still in place from previous capital investments.”

  • The Honorable Bruce Tobey, Mayor of Gloucester, MA and Chair of the National League of Cities Energy and Environment and Natural Resources Committee, outlined the staggering infrastructure expenses that are being incurred by small municipalities as wastewater treatment facilities and programs are improved, “We [Gloucester, MA] have rehabilitated old facilities, and we have extended our collection system to included thousands of homes previously not sewered. Total cost? $95 million . . . $58 million is born by the [29,000] people of my city.”

  • C. Vernon Gray, President-elect of the National Association of Counties and Chairman of the Howard County, Maryland, Council, underscored the clean water message from the counties' perspective, “My county, as well as the rest of America's counties, cannot keep pace with the infrastructure needs to keep our water clean. We need more federal assistance and more flexibility in the federal programs that already exist.”

  • Clean Water Action, a national environmental organization, also issued a statement in support of The Cost of Clean's message. Paul Schwartz, Clean Water Action National Campaigns Director, stated, “With combined sewer and drinking water rates skyrocketing more than three times the rate of inflation, consumers are demanding that the federal government keep up its historic commitment to water quality funding. . . .”

Enclosed is a copy of the press release that was sent out to national news organizations and trade publications by AMSA and WEF. We encourage you reach out to local press with your specific community's needs to provide a powerful message that will bring The Cost of Clean message home, where it counts.

Please feel free to share this important report with your agency's governing body. Additional copies of The Cost of Clean . . . Meeting Water Challenges in the New Millennium are available upon request, call AMSA's National Office at 202/833-AMSA.

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