AMSA Legislative Update April 2002

The National Office is pleased to provide you with this issue of the Legislative Update, which is current through May 3, 2002. The Legislative Update provides a summary of recent activities that impact AMSA’s membership. For more detailed information regarding AMSA’s position on or activities related to any specific bill, go to the web links at the end of selected news items, or contact AMSA’s National Office at 202/833-AMSA or info@amsa-cleanwater.org.

AMSA members can track congressional action on specific legislation through AMSA’s Bill Tracker. The Tracker provides a direct link from AMSA’s web site to congressional web sites where bill texts and summaries are posted, allowing members to research relevant federal legislation. The site also includes the status and most recent action taken on all federal legislation through a link to the Library of Congress’ “Thomas” web site. To increase the value of this essential resource, the Bill Tracker is routinely updated on the AMSA web site. To bookmark the Bill Tracker, go to http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm.

Clean Water Funding

Senate Bill Markup Delayed
The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee delayed for a third time on April 25 markup of its version of a combined water and wastewater infrastructure funding bill, S. 1961, the Water Investment Act of 2002. A copy of the bill can be found on AMSA’s web site at: http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/legalrts/la02-1.cfm. The $35 billion, five-year bill amends the funding provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), ends federal funding at the end of five years, and places new burdens on SRF applicants. Committee Senators remain at odds over several issues including the formula used to distribute the funds to the states and a labor amendment that would require workers on SRF-funded projects to receive local prevailing wages under the Davis-Bacon law. The most pressing issue for wastewater agencies is new language in the chairman’s mark that would require a municipality that is in “significant noncompliance” with the CWA to obtain a consent decree in order to become eligible for a loan under the state revolving fund.

Though EPW Committee Chairman James Jeffords (I-Vt.) and ranking member Robert Smith (R-N.H.) continued to meet in April to resolve their differences, talks among staff broke down several times in the past month. In response to the changes in both S. 1961 and the chairman’s mark, Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) drafted an amendment that he was prepared to offer if the Committee went through with their original markup. With negotiators now back at the table and attempting a compromise, it now appears that Voinovich will not offer his amendment as a substitute. Additionally, little if any changes are expected to be made to the chairman’s mark of S. 1961 before it is brought before the EPW Committee for a vote. AMSA members whose Senators sit on the EPW Committee were asked in April to call their Senators and voice their opposition to the new provisions in both S. 1961 and the chairman’s mark.

AMSA continues to work with Senate staff to eliminate the consent decree language and to modify the new oversight requirements for asset management, public-private partnerships, land-use planning and other specific technical, managerial, and financial decisions that should continue to be the prerogative of municipal officials at the local level. AMSA’s recommended modifications to S. 1961 were fully detailed in Legislative Alert 02-02, available at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/legalrts/la02-2.cfm. Further details can also be found in AMSA’s February 28 testimony before Senate EPW Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water delivered by Association Vice President Paul Pinault of the Narragansett Bay Commission. A copy of AMSA’s testimony can be accessed at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/testimony/5-23-01testimony.cfm. Pinault called for the addition of a grant component and additional funding to address core infrastructure needs. He also requested the deletion of the majority of the new administrative and regulatory requirements, recommending instead that the bill provide incentives to local communities to employ best management practices.

The White House has expressed firm opposition to the funding levels in the bill, but has looked favorably upon the provisions being opposed by AMSA, and other state and local organizations. The bill authorizes over $20 billion for clean water and $15 billion for safe drinking water projects over five years, and would make the funds available to both publicly and privately owned systems. At the end of the five years it is the intent of the cosponsors to end the annual federal contribution to the state revolving loan funds and allow them to become self-sufficient. In a related action, the Bush administration’s $7.7 billion budget request to Congress for EPA for fiscal year 2003 would totally eliminate funding for the clean water SRF in 2006 (see related story under EPA Budget).

Floor Action on House Wastewater SRF Funding Bill Uncertain
The House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee introduced their version of a wastewater infrastructure funding bill just hours before receiving testimony on the proposal on March 13. The Water Quality Financing Act of 2002 (H.R. 3930) was the focus of the hearing before members of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. Among other things, the bill authorizes $20 billion over five years for the Clean Water SRF. Patrick T. Karney, Director of the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, Ohio, testified on behalf of AMSA. A week later, and with no changes to the original bill language, the T&I Committee unanimously passed H.R. 3930 out of committee. The only amendment that was offered and subsequently approved was to make SRF funds subject to prevailing wage rates (Davis Bacon).

In mid-April, the House Ways and Means Committee took up the bill’s tax provisions. By voice vote, the Committee stripped the bill of two Internal Revenue Code changes. The provisions would have allowed for a greater use of state-issued bonds to fund water and sewer projects in addition to allowing tax-exempt bonds to be used for public-private water infrastructure projects.

AMSA continues to voice its concern over language in the bill that would place additional burdens on POTW applicants and continues to work with Congress to get clarifying and explanatory language into the bill report which will accompany the legislation to the House floor. The report language will provide further instruction on and interpretation of specific provisions of the bill to the partners in the program, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state clean water and financial managers and SRF applicants.

Meantime, the cosponsors of the bill, T&I Committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska) and Ranking Member Jim Oberstar (D-MN), and Water Resources Subcommittee Chairman John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) and Ranking Member Pete DeFazio (D-OR), have circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter to House members asking them to support the bill. As AMSA works to favorably change the House bill, member agencies have been asked to write letters to their Representatives to encourage them to become cosponsors of H.R. 3930. To view a sample letter and contact your Congressman, go to the March 26 Fax Alert Special Edition, posted on AMSA’s website at: http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/faxalerts/032602.cfm on AMSA’s web site.

Opposition to further action on the bill, however, has surfaced at both the White House and in Congress. As was the case with the Senate bill, the White House opposes the $20 billion funding level in H.R. 3930. Officials at EPA and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have said the authorization levels are not in keeping with the President’s current budget priorities and that they will continue to lobby the bill’s sponsors to drastically reduce the $20 billion price tag. Additional opposition has been voiced by House Majority Leader Richard K. Armey (R-Texas) who told a mid-April meeting of the GOP conference that he would not allow the bill to come to the floor for a vote because of the David-Bacon amendment.

Boehlert Research Bill is Companion to H.R. 3930
House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) has introduced the Water Quality Research, Development, and Technology Demonstration Act (H.R. 3996), a $500 million, five-year wastewater research bill that he anticipates will become part of the Water Quality Financing Act of 2002 when it reaches the House floor. Among other things, H.R. 3996 amends the CWA to authorize the EPA Administrator to make grants to nonprofit organizations to provide technical and information assistance for rural and small treatment works. Before being considered in tandem with H.R. 3930, the bill must first be passed by both Boehlert’s Science Committee and the T&I Committee. To read a copy of the bill, go to the Bill Tracker on AMSA’s website at: http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm.

Wastewater Security Funding Under Discussion
The House-Senate conference on H.R. 3448, The Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2001, continues. The House version of the bill includes provisions mandating vulnerability assessments and emergency response plans for water systems. If enacted, the House version would require water systems serving over 100,000 people to complete their assessments by December 31, 2002. Systems serving between 50,000 and 100,000 people would have until June 30, 2003; and smaller systems would have until December 31, 2003. The bill would authorize $120 million for the assessments. It is likely that AMSA’s efforts to include wastewater utilities in the bill will succeed. However, in order to receive the federal funds, wastewater utilities may be required to conduct vulnerability assessments.

On a related note, AMSA is in the process of completing its Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool (VSAT), which is due out in June 2002. VSAT, created with the support of Congress and EPA, will provide wastewater treatment utilities with an easy-to-use software package to help utility managers comprehensively assess, prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities to security and crisis events for the gamut of utility assets, including physical plant, customers, information technology, employees, and others.

The Senate version of the bioterrorism bill does not have any provisions on wastewater or drinking water, but Senate conferees hope to wrap into the conference two other water security bills, S. 1593 and S. 1608. S. 1593 would authorize $12 million per year for research into water and wastewater system security. S. 1608, cosponsored by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Jeffords (I-VT) and Senator Bob Smith (R-NH), would provide funds for projects such as security staffing, fencing, training, and other security-related activities. The bill authorizes $50 million for one year. AMSA will continue to support passage of all wastewater security-related funding bills. Look for these water and wastewater security bills on the Bill Tracker on AMSA’s web site.

On April 11, 2002, P. Michael Errico, General Manager of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission testified before the Senate Committee on Appropriations on behalf of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, with AMSA input, regarding water and wastewater security needs. Errico estimated the cost for immediate water and wastewater security improvements at $4 billion, which includes performing vulnerability assessments, making capital improvements, and increasing research and development for security-related technology.

EPA Budget

EPA Cuts SRF in Proposed 2003 Budget
EPA sent a $7.7 billion proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2003 to Congress in early February. The administration is asking lawmakers to approve $1.212 billion for the Clean Water SRF (CWSRF), a decrease of $138 million from FY 2002, and $850 million for the Drinking Water SRF (DWSRF), the same amount enacted by Congress last year. EPA’s proposed budget also requests $124 million in new funding, out of a total EPA investment of $133.4 million, in homeland security, including $16.9 million to conduct drinking water system vulnerability assessments on small to mid-sized systems. Reaction was immediate to the proposed levels of funding for the SRFs as Congressional supporters, including Senate majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-SD) and the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN), called on appropriators to increase the funding levels for both SRFs to help ease the backlog of the nation’s water infrastructure projects.

The administration’s proposed budget would zero out federal funding for the CWSRF in 2006, according to Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on VA-HUD and Independent Agencies. At a March 20 hearing on EPA’s budget, Mikulski told EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman that the “move may be a budget gimmick by the White House Office of Management and Budget.” Mikulski also expressed concerns over the current funding formula for allocating funds to the states. The current formula, based on 1970 census data, has prompted Western Senators to call for the reauthorization of the CWSRF.

The Northeast Midwest Congressional Coalition (NEMW) also is calling on Members of Congress to weigh-in with appropriators to fund higher appropriations levels for the clean water and safe drinking water SRFs and the Section 319 Non-point Source Pollution Grants program through “Dear Colleague” letters. Additionally, the House letter asks members to support $450 million for the Wet Weather Water Quality Act (WWWQA), which was signed into law in 2000 but remains unfunded. Copies of the letters can be found on the NEMW web site at: http://www.nemw.org/news.htm#approps.

National Biosolids Partnership Seeks Support
AMSA’s request of $1.5 million to fund the activities of the National Biosolids Partnership (NBP) for fiscal year (FY) 2003 appears to have been placed on the early request lists of both the House and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on VA-HUD-Independent Agencies.

Inclusion on the Senate list was in doubt early last month before AMSA contacted members in states that have Senators on the Senate Appropriations Committee, requesting that they write to their Senators to request that the NBP funding request be included in EPA’s budget for FY 2003. A copy of the memorandum to AMSA members can be found on the AMSA web site at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/leg_outreach.cfm. Members should then click on the March 27 correspondence “Selected AMSA Members asked to Contact Senate Appropriators on NBP Funding.” AMSA also has sent to House and Senate appropriators copies of the NBP resolution signed by members at the AMSA Winter conference in February 2002. To view or download a copy of the resolution, go to: http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/outreach/02-06-02nbpletter.pdf on AMSA’s web site.

AMSA, WEF Seek Full Funding For USGS Water Programs
On April 15, AMSA, the Water Environment Federation (WEF), and a number of other stakeholders including the American Water Works Association and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, sent a joint letter to both the House and Senate appropriations committees encouraging members to restore funding for key U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) water quality programs, such as the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. The President’s fiscal year 2003 budget proposal would reduce or eliminate the USGS’ budget for four key water programs, threatening critical sources of water quality information important to researchers, decision-makers, managers, and planners at all levels of the government. For example, cuts to the NAWQA Program would force USGS to cut an additional six study areas from the already dwindling number of sites across the country. The letter cites a National Academy of Sciences report warning that any further downsizing of the NAWQA program would render it ineffective at producing a national assessment and waste a decade or more of effort. Last year, in response to requests from a number of key stakeholders, including AMSA, Congress ignored the President’s proposed cuts and provided level funding for these programs. AMSA will continue to track the appropriations process and take additional action if necessary to ensure these key water programs receive the funding they require.

AMSA Calls for Increased Conservation Spending in Farm Bill
AMSA continued its strong support for nonpoint source control funding as House and Senate conferees meet to hammer out a compromise version of the Farm Bill. On April 19, AMSA, the National League of Cities, U.S. Conference of Mayors, American Water Works Association, and other municipal organizations sent a letter to all Farm Bill conferees to recommend a “significant increase in funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) aimed at improving water quality in watersheds nationwide in cooperation.” The joint letter urged the retention of several specific conservation-related provisions in the final Farm Bill measure. The conferees agreed on April 26 to a tentative agreement on conservation funding after previously agreeing to work under a $17.2 billion cap for such spending over the next 10 years. This level of conservation funding represents a $1.2 billion increase over the House bill (H.R. 2646), but $3.1 billion decrease from the Senate-passed version (S. 1731). The conference agreement would also increase by $9 billion the amount of funding for EQUIP, as compared to previous levels. AMSA will continue to monitor the progress of the Farm Bill as it moves through the House and Senate, and to provide updated conservation spending figures as they become available.