Click here for previous updates
To: Members, Affiliates & Legal Affairs Committee From: National Office Date: March 1999 (current to April 23, 1999) The National Office is pleased to provide you with the March 1999 Legislative Update. In 1999, the Legislative Update will be forwarded to you monthly and will, as has been the case in the past, feature key legislation during the coming session of Congress. The AMSA Legislative Radar, attached to the key legislation section, will assist you by providing a quick glimpse at the status of bills you may be tracking.
AMSA Mobilizes for Major Hill Presence During May Meeting
During AMSA's Annual Meeting & National Environmental Policy Forum on May 22-26 in Washington, DC, members will have numerous opportunities to take part in high profile legislative activities. On May 23, from 10:00 to 12:00 am, the Legislative Policy Committee will meet to discuss AMSA's major lobbying efforts. The Committee will specifically address AMSA's progress and strategy on the Urban Wet Weather Water Quality Act of 1999, clean water infrastructure funding issues and nonpoint source pollution control. Later in the day, from 2:45 to 4:15 pm, the Association will hold a Regulatory & Legislative Strategy Briefing to focus the membership on the critical AMSA initiatives and to provide context for discussions with members of Congress and EPA later in the week. The briefing will cover AMSA's major legislative objectives, including infrastructure funding, urban wet weather control and nonpoint source pollution, as well as cross-cutting regulatory issues such as total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), mercury reduction requirements, pretreatment streamlining, and biosolids management. During the briefing, members will receive targeted legislative talking points for assistance in their Capitol Hill visits on May 25.Legislative issues will dominate the agenda on May 25. At a Legislative Breakfast from 7:30 to 9:00 am, a panel of Congressional staff on the key environment committees will discuss the current priorities of the 106th Congress, the prospects for passage of environmental legislation and other Capitol Hill news. AMSA staff will also conduct an interactive demonstration of Congressional Connection, AMSA's latest lobbying tool on the Internet. In the afternoon, members will have the opportunity to individually meet with their Congressional delegation to discuss matters of concern to AMSA and their agency. In order to coordinate this meeting, members are encouraged to start contacting their members of Congress as soon as possible. Please refer to Legislative Alert LA 99-6 for helpful hints on contacting your delegation.
The day's activities will conclude with AMSA's Capitol Hill Reception from 6:00 to 7:30 in the House of Representatives' Rayburn Building. Members are encouraged to invite their Congressional delegations by using the invitations contained in Legislative Alert LA 99-6.
AMSA-WEF Release “Cost of Clean” Report
At a March 31 press conference in Washington, DC, AMSA and WEF released the results of The Cost of Clean, a report detailing the financial outlook for clean water needs over the next 20 years. Highlighted in the report is a finding that the total cost of providing wastewater treatment will be about $330 billion, including the cost to construct new systems and replace aging systems. This estimate could increase by an average of 3.8% annually if operation and maintenance costs are included, and could expand immeasurably by the implementation of EPA's total maximum daily load program. The Cost of Clean, which was distributed to the membership via Congressional Connection, available through the Member Pipeline on the website at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org. The objective of the lobbying campaign is to restore the SRF and to heighten Congress' focus on the desperate need for an expansion of federal funding help in the area of clean water. The letter will also encourage members to arrange and coordinate their individual Capitol Hill visits during the May meeting.Congress Appropriators Hold Oversight Hearings on EPA's FY 2000 Budget
Despite the growing evidence of a bleak financial future for clean water, EPA has proposed an FY 2000 budget of $800 million in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF), which is a cut of $550 million (nearly 40%), the only consistent source of federal wastewater treatment funding. The proposed cut is vociferously opposed by key leaders in Congress including Senator John Chafee (R-RI), Chairman of the Environment & Public Works Committee, Congressman Bud Shuster (R-PA), Chairman of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, and Congressman Sherwood L. Boehlert (R-NY), Chairman of the Water Resources Subcommittee.The House VA, HUD and Independent Agencies Subcommittee held a series of hearings on EPA's proposed FY 2000 budget on April 13-14 in which Administrator Carol Browner was questioned on key items in the Agency's budget. Members from both parties found the proposed $550 million cut in the SRF to be out of step with the estimated $332 billion 20-year price tag for wastewater treatment (as compared to AMSA's projection of $330 billion in The Cost of Clean). During the hearing, Chairman James Walsh (R-NY) of the VA, HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee posed the following question to Administrator Browner: “If resources are finite and you reduce them by a third, what is that telling states in terms of meeting higher standards and tougher regulations?” Administrator Browner's response was that the SRF will be fully revolving at the $2 billion level by 2002, three years before they had expected. Browner advocates a broader discussion on funding issues, telling the Subcommittee “Let's rewrite the Clean Water Act and strengthen it, and then rework the funding issues. Lots of issues sit outside the traditional SRF funding — let's have the discussion.”
The House Subcommittee will be holding a wider hearing on EPA's FY 2000 budget on April 28. AMSA and WEF will be submitting joint written testimony recording the Association's displeasure with the lack of clean water funding in the FY 2000 budget. The testimony will also provide an opportunity to highlight the AMSA-WEF request for $1.775 million in grant funding for the National Biosolids Partnership. The Senate VA, HUD and Independent Agencies Subcommittee is holding similar hearings on April 29, 1999.
In response to the Administration's proposed SRF cuts, Representatives Sue W. Kelly (R-NY) and Ellen O. Tauscher (D-CA) sent a general letter to all members of the House of Representatives on April 12 pleading the case for protecting the SRF. The letter emphasizes the historic importance of the SRF and the mounting pressures on local communities to keep pace with clean water demands. A similar letter was also sent to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the VA, HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee requesting their support.
AMSA-Led Bill on Urban Wet Weather Set to be Finalized
The National Office received numerous letters from members supporting the draft Urban Wet Weather Watershed Act of 1999 in late February and early March. Following the latest rewrite of the bill, the next step is to obtain final endorsement of the bill by the participating organizations. Following endorsement, the partners will initiate a targeted lobbying strategy with the objective of getting the bill introduced during this session. In the coming weeks, the National Office will distribute a final copy of the bill to the membership and request that member and affiliate agencies send letters of support to Congress.House Moves Swiftly to Approve Measure on Coastal Water Quality
The House on April 22 unanimously approved legislation to establish criteria for testing, monitoring and identifying public users for coastal recreation waters for the protection of public safety and improvement of environmental conditions. The Beaches Environmental Assessment, Cleanup, and Health Act of 1999 (H.R. 999), requires States to adopt water quality criteria for coastal recreation waters within three and one-half years. As part of the legislation, EPA is required to consult with States and local governments to conduct studies on potential health risks of coastal pollution, indicators for improving detection of pathogens and methods for detecting such pathogens. Within five years of completing the study, EPA is required to issue revised water quality criteria for pathogens that are harmful to human health, including a list of indicators and test methods. The Agency, in consultation with State and local officials, is also directed to establish methods for monitoring coastal waters. The legislation would authorize a grant program of $7.5 million annually for the next four years for States and local governments to implement the program.The bill was introduced by Representative Brian Bilbray (R-CA) and has 10 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle, including Representatives Sam Farr (D-CA), Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), Lois Capps (D-CA), Steven Kuykendall (R-CA), Jim Saxton (R-NJ), Sue Kelly (R-NY), Stephen Horn (R-CA), Stephanie Jones (D-OH), E. Clay Shaw (R-FL), and Frank LoBiondo (R-NY). Intended as an Earth Day public relations gesture, this legislation has broad support from environmentalists and EPA. The House Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee voted to approve H.R. 999 on April 15. The bill was referred to the Senate on April 22. AMSA will be sending the House and Senate bill to the membership via Legislative Alert to ascertain the impact on the Association's coastal members.
National Office Reorganizes Legislative Policy Committee to Encourage Wider Membership Involvement
In February, AMSA's Board of Directors revised its policy regarding the Association's Legislative Policy Committee. The Committee structure will now parallel that of the Regulatory Policy Committee, with Board members serving as Chair and Vice Chair, and the membership made up of interested public member agencies. AMSA distributed a Legislative Alert LA 99-4 on March 25 asking for volunteers to join the newly formatted Committee. The active and ongoing participation of all AMSA members has made AMSA a major player in the legislative arena. Participation in the Committee will enable motivated volunteers to have a direct role in AMSA's initiatives. AMSA's legislative agenda touches on all issues affecting the POTW industry. If you, or a member of your staff, are interested in or considering joining AMSA's Legislative Policy Committee, please contact Greg Schaner directly at 202/296-9836 or by e-mail at gschaner@amsa-cleanwater.org.The AMSA National Office will continue to provide members with monthly Legislative Updates and as- needed Legislative Alerts. If you have any questions about the legislation profiled in this Update or would like additional information on AMSA legislative issues, please contact Greg Schaner (202/296-9836) at the National Office.
ATTACHMENTS:
