NACWA Legislative Update July 2005

This edition of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies’ Legislative Update, current through August 1, 2005, provides information on the activities of the 109th Congress of interest to the nation’s publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). For more detailed information regarding NACWA activities related to specific legislation, click on the web links at the end of selected news items, or contact NACWA’s Lee Garrigan at 202/833-4655 or lgarrigan@nacwa.org.

NACWA members can track congressional action on individual bills through NACWA’s Bill Tracker. The Tracker provides a direct link from NACWA’s website to congressional websites 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” website. To renew or bookmark the Bill Tracker, go to http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm.

Budget and Appropriations

President Signs EPA Fiscal Year 2006 Budget into Law
President Bush on August 3, signed into law H.R. 2361, the Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2006, which will fund the programs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in fiscal year (FY) 2006. Over protests from NACWA and other concerned stakeholder groups, Congress provided only $900 million for the clean water state revolving loan fund (CWSRF), a $200 million reduction from last year and a decrease of 33 percent since FY ’03. The Administration had sought just $730 million for the program in the budget it sent to Congress earlier this year. NACWA and a broad group of stakeholder organizations signed a joint letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee leadership June 8 (http://www.nacwa.org/advocacy/co/2005-06-08sensrf.pdf) that requested the Committee to support at least $1.35 billion for the clean water SRF. During deliberation of the bill, the White House Office of Management and Budget sent Senators a Statement of Administration Policy that urged the Senate to reduce the funding level for the clean water SRF to $730 million, and to redirect those funds to EPA’s Water Sentinel program, the Brownfields program, and other Administration-supported initiatives.

EPA’s FY ’06 budget provides $850 million for the drinking water (SRF), $2 million for the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Water ISAC), and $1.2 million for Wastewater Operator Training grants. Congress eliminated all funding for 104 (b) Cooperative Agreements, the program that has helped to fund the NACWA-sponsored Pretreatment Workshops.

Also included in the final bill is the text of House Section 433, originally inserted as an amendment, offered by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), during consideration of the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 (H.R. 2361) (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm) on the House floor. The section states that no FY ‘06 “funds from EPA’s budget may be used to finalize, issue, implement, or enforce the proposed [November 2003 blending] policy of the EPA” (http://www.nacwa.org/advocacy/co/2005-05-19STUPAK.PDF). NACWA asked its members to take action in a May 15 Special Edition FaxAlert (http://www.nacwa.org/ private/faxalerts/051205.cfm) and also organized a May 16 coalition letter signed by 42 municipal, state and regional stakeholder groups (http://www.nacwa.org/advocacy/co/2005-05-16blend.pdf) opposing the blending amendment. NACWA then prepared and distributed a May 19 ‘Truth Alert’ (http://www.nacwa.org/advocacy/co/2005-05-19btruth.pdf) to all members of the House. EPA withdrew the November 3, 2003 proposed guidance prior to the addition of the language to the House bill. As a result of EPA’s action, the bill will have no additional effect on NACWA members.

Congress Awards Funding to National Biosolids Partnership
NACWA and its members won an important victory in the EPA FY ’06 budget bill when Congress awarded $1 million to the National Biosolids Partnership (NBP) to continue its environmental management system (EMS) for biosolids programs. NACWA, wastewater utilities, and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) have been pushing for the funding through letters and meetings with Members of Congress and appropriations committee staff since January 2005. House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chairman John J. Duncan Jr. (R-TN) supported the NBP funding in a July 7 letter to Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Charles Taylor (R-NC) (http://www.nacwa.org/advocacy/co/2005-07-07duncan.pdf). Special project funding was especially competitive this year, as EPA’s budget was moved from the House Subcommittee on VA-HUD & Independent Agencies to the Interior & Related Agencies Subcommittee, which had fewer uncommitted funds to award to individual projects. Special project grants – or earmarks – were cut in EPA’s budget from $310 million in FY ’05, covering 667 projects, to $200 million in FY ’06, which will pay for 250 projects. The size of the grants range from $50,000 to $5 million, and are awarded for wastewater, drinking water, groundwater and lake and stream improvement projects. Since the number of wastewater utilities choosing to participate in the NBP EMS program is increasing and more agencies are becoming certified, NACWA will work with WEF this fall to develop a plan to request additional funds in the FY ’07 EPA budget.

Clean Water Funding

Senate Committee Passes Water Infrastructure Bill; Future in Doubt
On July 20, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee unanimously passed S. 1400, the Water Infrastructure Financing Act of 2005 (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm). The bill, introduced just five days earlier, would provide $20 billion for EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and $15 billion for the agency’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) over five years. The legislation also includes $3 billion in grants for critical clean water and drinking water projects and a new grants program to capitalize revolving funds in eligible states to support projects to control water pollution from agricultural sources. The bipartisan bill, introduced by the chairs and ranking members of the full EPW Committee and the Fisheries, Wildlife and Water Subcommittee, emphasizes watershed planning, assistance for small and disadvantaged communities, innovative technologies, and alternative management approaches. During markup, Senator Joseph Lieberman’s (D-CT) amendment to add Davis Bacon prevailing wage provisions to the bill was accepted on a voice vote over the objections of EPW Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK). Davis Bacon amendments to similar bills over the last few years have prevented the legislation from reaching the Senate floor.

In response to the introduction and markup of the bill, NACWA, in meetings with EPW Committee staff and through a press release, congratulated the committee for taking the lead in addressing the infrastructure funding gap but expressed concern that the federal government would be unable to meet the authorized funding levels. NACWA urged the committee to consider financing its bill through a new clean water trust fund, similar to those that exist for highways and aviation, to ensure full funding for S. 1400. NACWA will be meeting with the EPW Committee over the coming months to brief them on NACWA’s soon-to-be-completed legislative initiative, the Clean Water Trust Act of 2005.

June 2005 House Hearing on NACWA Trust Fund Concept
The debate over the future of long-term federal financial contributions to the country’s aging wastewater infrastructure systems and NACWA’s trust fund concept moved to center stage in June with a two-part hearing in the U.S. House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. Chairman John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) said he convened the two days of hearings to examine differing approaches to financing water infrastructure projects. The June 8 hearing explored the NACWA-supported establishment of a clean water trust fund similar to the highway and aviation trust funds. The majority of Representatives at the hearing indicated they were willing to engage in a serious discussion on the creation of a federal trust fund to finance future clean water projects. NACWA’s work on the trust fund effort has been the focal point of a campaign led by the Association’s Clean Water Funding Task Force. The second hearing on June 14 examined other means of funding clean water projects. C-SPAN taped the hearing, which aired several times during June. NACWA is distributing copies of the hearing video to NACWA Task Force Members and Donors.

After the hearing, NACWA thanked Chairman Duncan for his leadership in a July 13 letter which outlined the association’s opposition to a water tax as a source of funding for a trust fund (http://www.nacwa.org/ advocacy/co/2005-07-13duncan.pdf). NACWA will continue to work closely with the Subcommittee to encourage members to introduce and co-sponsor NACWA’s clean water trust fund bill.

NACWA Trust Fund Bill Nears Completion
NACWA released for review and comment a first draft of a clean water trust fund bill in November 2004. Comments were compiled, reviewed, and integrated into a revised draft sent in January 2005 to NACWA members, Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) member organizations and other stakeholder groups for another round of review and response. The draft legislation was discussed at meetings of the Clean Water Funding Task Force (Task Force) and Legislative Policy Committee at the 2005 Winter Conference. A subsequent draft was distributed for review and discussed at May meetings of the Task Force and the WIN coalition. The Clean Water Trust Act of 2005, a bill summary, and a list of significant changes from earlier drafts, are being finalized to be sent to NACWA members, WIN organizations and other stakeholder groups in August 2005. Organizations will sign on to the bill as supporters and the legislative draft will be ready for introduction in the House and the Senate when Congress reconvenes in September 2005.

The bill will include a section that identifies sources of revenue to finance the trust fund. As a placeholder, NACWA has selected two sources of funding to meet the needs of the bill’s programs. The Task Force authorized additional economic analyses earlier this year on three potential revenue alternatives: 1) a broad-based Clean Water Restoration Fee paid by industry (the equivalent of the Corporate Environmental Income Tax, or CEIT, for Superfund), 2) “flushable” products that enter the wastewater stream directly following consumer use, and 3) an agricultural chemicals use fee to include pesticides and fertilizers, the revenues from which would fund non-point source programs. The work was completed earlier this summer and NACWA used the data to select and combine options #1 and #2 as the revenue sources for the draft trust fund bill. Typically, when a bill with a tax provision is introduced, the financing section is removed and introduced separately to be referred to the committees of jurisdiction. NACWA also continues to gather support for its trust fund effort through the Clean Water America website (http://www.cleanwateramerica.org).

NACWA-Supported Stormwater Mitigation Program Dropped from Highway Bill
Despite valiant efforts by stakeholders to rally support for a new stormwater mitigation program in the highway bill, the final conferenced transportation legislation failed to include Section 1620, The Highway Stormwater Discharge Mitigation Program. The new program would have authorized $907 million over five years using 2 percent of the Surface Transportation Program funds for projects such as stormwater retrofits, the recharge of groundwater, natural filters, stream restoration, and minimization of stream bank erosion. During deliberations, House Members were asked to sign a Dear Colleague letter (http://www.nacwa.org/advocacy/co/2005-06-20demsdcdraft.pdf) in support of the Senate-approved program. NACWA joined an effort that included the nation’s mayors, cities, states, environmental groups and water community in support of the Highway Stormwater Discharge Mitigation Program in a final conferenced transportation bill (http://www.nacwa.org/advocacy/co/2005-06hpack.pdf).

The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act – A Legacy for Users was passed July 29 by Congress just before legislators left town for their annual August recess. The bill provides $244 billion in guaranteed spending over the 2005-2009 period ($286.4 billion including 2004) for maintenance, and improvement of the nation’s roads, bridges, mass transit, and safety, providing nearly $90 billion more funding over TEA-21 levels (the most recent law).

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said, “As much as this is legislation that will significantly boost and enhance our nation’s transportation system, it is also a jobs bill that will create employment opportunities for millions of Americans. According to the Department of Transportation, every $1 billion of federal money invested in highway improvements creates more than 47,500 jobs. That $1 billion also yields $500 million in new orders for the manufacturing sector and $500 million spread throughout other sectors of the economy. A safe and effective transportation infrastructure will only help grow our economy.”

President Bush is expected to sign the landmark legislation August 10 in Aurora, Illinois, located in Kane County, one of U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert’s (R-Ill.) districts. Hastert was widely credited with negotiating the difficult legislation. With the highway bill finally completed and ready for signature, NACWA will urge Members of Congress to take up a clean water trust fund as its next infrastructure-related legislative priority.

Extension of NACWA-Supported Wet Weather Grants Law Awaits House Floor Action
The House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee on May 19 unanimously approved H.R. 624, introduced for a second consecutive year by Rep. Dave Camp and 30 co-sponsors. The NACWA-supported bill would amend the Clean Water Act to authorize appropriations for grants to municipalities and States to control combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). EPA estimates it will cost communities $50.6 billion to address CSOs and $88.5 billion to address SSOs. H.R. 624 authorizes $250 million for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2011, totaling $1.5 billion over six years. H.R. 624 also would make other changes to ensure that States may administer the grants in the same way that they administer loans from their state revolving loan funds. Rep. Camp received NACWA’s National Environmental Achievement Award May 3 at the Capitol Hill Reception during NACWA’s 2005 National Clean Water Policy Forum.

NACWA 2003 – 2004 Past President Paul Pinault, Executive Director of the Narragansett Bay Commission in Providence, Rhode Island, testified on behalf of NACWA at a July 2004 hearing before the House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee on a similar bill (http://www.nacwa.org/advocacy/testimony/2004-07-08pptestimony.cfm). The original two-year sewer overflow grant program was signed into law in 2001 and provided authorization for appropriations for grants from EPA to municipalities but was never funded. In order for the bill to pass the U.S. House of Representatives, T&I Committee Chairman Don Young (R-AK) must make a request to the leadership to schedule a vote on the bill on the House floor. NACWA will continue to urge Congress to pass and fully fund the legislation.