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To: Members, Affiliates & Legal Affairs Committee From: National Office Date: April 13, 2001 The National Office is pleased to provide you with the Legislative Update. The update provides you with a summary of Capitol Hill events current to April 13, 2001. A Bill Digest of legislation currently tracked by AMSA also is attached. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the National Office.
AMSA to Facilitate Capitol Hill Visits During Annual Meeting
AMSA’s 2001 National Environmental Policy Forum and 31st Annual Meeting–The New Political Landscape . . . Moving the POTW Agenda Forward will be held May 19-23, 2001 at the Marriott at Metro Center in Washington, DC. The Conference will address some of the most critical issues facing publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) today — water infrastructure funding, wet weather programs and regulatory issues. The afternoon of Tuesday, May 22, 2001 has been set aside for Association members to visit their representatives and key offices at EPA national headquarters. AMSA’s National Office will contact Conference attendees to assist in setting up these appointments. The 2001 Policy Forum is designed to get your agency involved in national water policy discussions currently underway on Capitol Hill and at EPA. Register now for this important conference for the benefit of your agency and to add your voice to those of your colleagues around the country at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/mtgs/01nepf/.
Congress Examines Water Infrastructure Needs
Members of Congress waded into the water infrastructure funding debate prior to adjourning April 6, 2001 for their Spring recess. The kick-off hearings in both the Senate and the House focused on the magnitude of the infrastructure needs in America for sewage treatment and potable water. Senator Bob Smith (R-NH), Chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, said in his opening statement in the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Water that water infrastructure was a priority for the committee and that his goal was to analyze the issues through a series of hearings and work on bipartisan legislation to address water infrastructure issues. AMSA's viewpoints, and those of the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN), were presented in testimony delivered by Gloucester, Massachusetts Mayor Bruce Tobey.In the House, Pat Karney, Director of the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, testified on behalf of AMSA before the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources. Karney explained the regulatory and financial pressures on Cincinnati's utility rates and the need for federal grants and loans to ease the financial burdens on ratepayers. AMSA’s testimony and press release can be found in the Member Pipeline at The infrastructure debate in a second hearing in the House Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over drinking water issues, was derailed when Members used the hearing to question EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman on the future of the arsenic standard.
AMSA’s next Legislative Alert will request member agencies to document the infrastructure needs and utility rate pressures in their communities and forward that information to the National Office and members of their Congressional delegations. This will be an important step in furthering the WIN case.
President Releases FY 2002 Budget; $7.3 Billion for EPA
On April 9, 2001 President Bush released the details of the Fiscal Year 2002 budget, which provides $7.3 billion for EPA, including $850 million for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and $450 million for a new sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) and combined sewer overflow (CSO) grant program. The President’s commitment to fund wet weather grants, while shy of Congress’ authorization target of $750 million, is a significant step toward full implementation and full funding of the AMSA-supported Wet Weather Water Quality Act of 2000 (WWWQA), part of the final Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2001 (P.L. 106-554). The President’s Budget can be viewed at: http://www.epa.gov/ocfo/budget/2002/2002bib.pdf.EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman already has showcased the sewer overflow grants as an example of the Administration’s commitment to ensuring safe and clean water in American communities, stating "[t]his is good news indeed for every community that now has to deal with the messy results that can follow periods of heavy rainfall". AMSA now will work through the Budget Conference and the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to add $300 million to the grant program to meet the WWWQA target authorization and increasing the SRF to trigger the grants–which under the WWWQA can only be issued in a fiscal year in which the SRF is at least $1.35 billion. The President’s budget funds the SRF short of this amount at $1.3 billion. (See related story, below).
AMSA Urges SRF Increase in House & Senate to Trigger Wet Weather Grants
On March 30, 2001 AMSA sent a letter urging the House Appropriations Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies to increase the President’s proposal for SRF loans in FY 2002. The funding of SRFs would trigger the AMSA-supported Wet Weather Water Quality Act of 2000 (WWWQA) grant program. Under the President’s budget proposal, SRF loans to the states would be funded at $1.3 billion. AMSA’s letter explains that the 2-year, $1.5 billion grant program for SSO and CSO projects created in the WWWQA is conditioned on SRF funding of $1.35 billion. AMSA’s letter highlights that wet weather grants are an important first step toward revitalizing and rebuilding our nation’s aging water infrastructure and gave the Committee the WINow report. AMSA’s letter can be found in the Member Pipeline at: http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/outreach/4-5-01letters.pdf.In an AMSA-supported effort, on April 6, 2001 the Senate took an important step to raise the SRF to the critical funding level. Led by Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), the Senate passed amendment 217 to provide $800 million in additional funding for wastewater infrastructure–$50 million more for the SRF to trigger the wet weather grants and $750 million to fully fund the program. In introducing the amendment Senator Clinton stated "[t]his amendment is an important first step towards meeting our country’s enormous water infrastructure needs. This amendment will ensure that our beaches are safer for swimming . . . [and] lead to significant improvements in the quality of the Nation’s rivers, lakes, bays and estuaries." In further support Senator Smith added, "[t]he condition of our nation’s wastewater collection and treatment facilities is alarming . . . I strongly believe that Congress must make a firm commitment to helping cities . . ." View the Senate discussion and AMSA’s letter of support at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/outreach/outreach.cfm.
AMSA Supports Mercury Reduction Bill
AMSA expressed its support for Senator Susan Collins’ (R-ME) bill, the Mercury Reduction and Disposal Act of 2001 (S. 351) in a letter dated March 29, 2001. The bill would limit the use of mercury fever thermometers and improve collection, recycling, and disposal of mercury. It also establishes an Interagency Task Force on Mercury. AMSA’s letter highlights our August 2000 Domestic Sources of Mercury report and encourages expansion of the bill to include a national mercury reduction strategy and POTW involvement. It is possible that the Senate will hold mercury hearings later this year. AMSA’s letter can be found in the Member Pipeline at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/outreach/3-29-01letters.pdf.
Congressional Hopes Fade to Nullify TMDL Rule under CRA
Members of Congress who remained hopeful that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's final rule on total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) could be derailed under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows Congress to overturn regulations through joint resolutions, received different information from the House parliamentarian. According to the House parliamentarian, only rules submitted to Congress on or after July 13, 2000 could be reviewed under the CRA. The TMDL rule was sent to Congress on July 11, 2000 (although it was published in the Federal Register on July 13, 2000). However, opponents of the final TMDL rule remain hopeful that the Senate parliamentarian will make a more favorable determination on the issue.The CRA was used by Congress for the first time earlier this year to overturn the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) ergonomics standard. Several Members of Congress have introduced bills to reinstate the ergonomics rules–no action has been taken on the bills to date.
DC Representatives Discuss AMSA’s Legislative Agenda
AMSA staff and the Washington, DC representatives of AMSA's member agencies met last month to review AMSA's key legislative priorities. Topics included water infrastructure funding and associated Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) activities, funding for the National Biosolids Partnership (NBP), EPA water program budgets in Congressional appropriations bills, and total maximum daily loads. The group also discussed plans for AMSA’s May National Environmental Policy Forum.
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