AMSA Legislative Alert (LA05-1)

Action Please By:
January 21, 2005

On November 22, 2004, AMSA released the first draft of a clean and safe water trust fund bill for review and comment by December 10, 2004. AMSA has compiled and reviewed the comments received from AMSA members, Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) member organizations and environmental and conservation organization stakeholder groups.

AMSA integrated as many of the recommendations as possible into a revised, second draft of the proposed trust fund legislation. The three attached documents – The Water Assistance Trust and Environmental Restoration (WATER) Act of 2005, a list of significant changes from the first draft, and a revised bill overview – are being sent to AMSA members, WIN member organizations and other stakeholder groups for review and response by January 21, 2005. The draft bill remains an evolving project and subject to further review and revision.

Background
The legislation was drafted in response to the overwhelming financial needs of local wastewater and water utilities and the lack of available federal funds in the U.S. general treasury to fund existing clean water programs. It is widely anticipated that the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2006 budget will ask Congress to approve further cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) water and wastewater funding programs. Congress approved an 18 percent cut to the clean water state revolving loan fund program in 2005, which was in line with the President’s FY 2005 budget request.

How to Respond
AMSA encourages you to send your comments by January 21, 2005 to Lee Garrigan at lgarrigan@amsa-cleanwater.org or by fax to 202/833-4657.

Your response will provide valuable input for discussions of the draft legislation at AMSA’s Winter Conference in San Antonio, February 1– 4, 2005.

Attachments:

• Bill Overview Draft 2 Jan 3 (PDF)
• List of Changes Jan 4 (PDF)
• Second Draft Jan 3 05 (PDF)