AMSA Legislative Update November 2003

This edition of the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies’ (AMSA) Legislative Update, current through December 3, 2003, provides an overview of the disposition of bills of interest to the nation’s publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) in the 108th Congress. For more detailed information regarding AMSA activities related to specific legislation, click on the web links at the end of selected news items, or contact AMSA’s Lee Garrigan at 202/833-4655 or lgarrigan@amsa-cleanwater.org.

AMSA members can track congressional action on individual bills through AMSA’s Bill Tracker. The Tracker provides a direct link from AMSA’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.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm.

Budget and Appropriations

Congress has acted on only six of 13 appropriations bills that it is required to pass every year. The remaining seven funding measures have been bundled together into an omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 2673) that includes fiscal year (FY) 2004 funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The House-Senate conference report (H. Rpt. 108-401) on the bill was completed just days before the Thanksgiving holiday and must now be voted on by the two chambers. The House is expected to pass the bill when it returns to Washington, DC for one day on December 8. The report is available through AMSA’s Bill Tracker at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm.

The Senate returns for a one-day session December 9 but remains bitterly divided over a wide range of issues throughout the bill. Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), the Senate's top Democratic appropriator, has stated he will block attempts to approve the omnibus package next week. If the Senate fails to agree to a vote on the bill, a majority of federal government departments and agencies will continue to be funded at FY 2003 appropriations levels through January 31, when the current continuing resolution expires. Congress formally convenes the 2nd Session of the 108th Congress on January 20, 2004.

Omnibus Bill Includes $1 Million for the National Biosolids Partnership
The House-Senate conference report (H. Rpt. 108-401) to the omnibus bill (H.R. 2673) that contains the seven unfinished appropriations measures includes a line item in EPA’s budget to fund the activities of the National Biosolids Partnership (NBP) at $1 million in fiscal year 2004. AMSA members were instrumental in obtaining the funding through the letters they wrote urging their Members of Congress to support another $1 million for the NBP. AMSA will continue to work with Members of Congress and committee staff to secure future funding for the NBP’s programs.

Funding for EPA, Clean Water State Revolving Fund Hold Steady
The conference agreement to the fiscal year (FY) 2004 omnibus appropriations bill includes $8.4 billion for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The conference report (H. Rpt. 108-401) allocates $1.35 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, of which up to $75 million is to be made available for use by States that choose to make loans, including interest-free loans, to increase nonpoint and non-structural, decentralized alternatives to conventional treatment options.

Other funding includes $850 million for the safe drinking water revolving loan fund, $2 million for the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Water ISAC), which is run by the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) and which AMSA supported through letters to key congressional members, and $325 million for 510 special targeted grants to communities for the construction of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure and for water quality protection. Also included is language that directs EPA to contract with an independent research organization, within 60 days of enactment of the bill, to complete a study of jobs created by water infrastructure funding. Labor unions and others have reported in the past that up to 42,000 jobs are created for every $1 billion invested in infrastructure and AMSA believes EPA’s study will help bolster the fact that water infrastructure funding is a viable initiative to create solid jobs and stimulate the economy. To review the funding levels for EPA programs for FY 2004, please read the conference report, H. Rpt. 108-401. Again, members can access the report at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm.

Senators Take Up Increased Clean Water Funding via Floor Vote
During Senate floor debate of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act of 2004, S. 1584, Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Veteran's Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies, offered an amendment to boost funding for the two revolving loan funds to a total of $5.2 billion. AMSA sent a letter to Sen. Mikulski in support of her amendment to increase the Clean Water State Revolving Fund from its current funding level of $1.35 billion to $3.2 billion in fiscal year 2004.

During her floor statement, Mikulski read another letter of support signed by AMSA and all of the members of the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN). Senators James Jeffords (I-VT) and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) also spoke on behalf of the amendment and cited statistics from WIN’s two reports. Senator Mikulski’s effort to obtain a vote on a waiver that would have allowed the amendment’s consideration was defeated by a close vote of 49 – 44. AMSA’s letter is posted on its website at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/outreach/2003-10-24srf.pdf. WIN’s letter can be downloaded from the WIN website at http://www.win-water.org/win_legislative/win_cando/cando.html.

Wastewater Security

Senate Majority, Minority Differences on Wastewater Security Funding Stall Bill
AMSA continued to work throughout November with Senator James Inhofe, (R-OK), chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), to urge the Senate to pass the Wastewater Treatment Works Security Act of 2003 (S. 1039). Chairman Inhofe tried unsuccessfully in September to place the bill on the consent calendar for a vote. Committee Democrats, led by EPW Ranking Member James Jeffords (I-VT), refused to agree that the bill should be placed on the calendar for reasons outlined in the minority views of the committee report (Senate Report No. 108-149). AMSA responded with an October 1 letter to the Senators who opposed the bill and issued a ‘Call to Action’ to AMSA public agency members in these Senators’ states. A joint municipal letter urging a Senate vote was signed by the National League of Cities (NLC), the National Association of Counties (NACo), the National Association of Towns and Townships (NATaT), the American Public Works Association (APWA), the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), and AMSA, and was delivered to the full Senate.

AMSA has been working to pass the legislation into law for over two years and will continue to work with the Senate to secure passage next year. The Senate bill is nearly identical to H.R. 866, also titled the Wastewater Treatment Works Security Act of 2003, which cleared the House by a vote of 413 – 2 in early May. The two bills would authorize $200 million for POTWs to conduct vulnerability assessments and pay for enhanced security at their facilities. An additional $15 million would pay for technical assistance to small POTWs. Another $5 million would be made available to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make grants to nonprofit organizations for the improvement of vulnerability self-assessment methodologies and tools for POTWs. That provision could potentially fund upgrades to and training on AMSA’s Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool (VSAT™) software over the coming years. Before S. 1039 was approved by the EPW Committee, Senator Jeffords succeeded in adding an additional $15 million to the Senate bill for EPA to research new security technologies at wastewater treatment plants.

To view or download copies of S. 1039, H.R. 866, and the committee reports, go to AMSA’s Bill Tracker at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm. A copy of the October 1 AMSA letter and sample POTW letter are in the Legislative Correspondence and Outreach section at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/leg_outreach.cfm.

Clean Water Funding

Wastewater Funding Continues to Garner Attention on Hill, Davis-Bacon Remains Key Hurdle
Although the Water Quality Financing Act of 2003 (H.R. 1560) received unanimous approval by the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee in July, further action continues to be delayed due to Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage concerns. The bill, which was introduced by T&I Chairman Don Young (R-AK) and Subcommittee Chairman John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) and was scheduled a week after its July subcommittee approval for mark-up in the full T&I Committee, was pulled from the agenda after Chairman Young instructed staff to ask interested parties to work out their differences over a Davis-Bacon Act provision that was expected to be added to the bill during the markup. Committee staff say that Chairman Young does not want to mark up the measure until he has assurances from the House leadership that the bill will be moved to the floor for a final vote. Last year’s bill, H.R. 3930, was voted out of the T&I Committee with a Davis-Bacon Act amendment but the prevailing wage provision prevented it from reaching the House floor.

H.R. 1560 would, among other things: 1) authorize $20 billion over five years to capitalize the clean water state revolving funds, 2) authorize $1 billion over four years for sewer overflow control grants, 3) require states to use at least 15 percent of the state grants to provide assistance to communities with populations of less than 20,000, 4) require all loan applicants to certify to the state that they have analyzed the cost and effectiveness of alternative management and financing approaches, including rate structures, issuance of bonds, restructuring, regional alternatives, consolidation, and public-private partnerships, 5) develop and implement a fiscal sustainability plan that includes an inventory of critical assets, evaluation of the condition of assets, and a plan for maintaining and replacing assets, and 6) provide subsidization to disadvantaged communities through 30-year repayment periods, forgiveness of loan principal, and negative interest loans.

AMSA staff and members of the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) continue to meet with Representatives and their staff to remind them of the growing infrastructure funding gap and to reinforce the importance of the bill to the creation of jobs, the environment and the health and safety of the nation’s communities. AMSA remains hopeful that ongoing efforts in the T&I Committee to rally House Republicans around the bill because it would create jobs will be successful in 2004. Rep. Duncan is weighing support for combining H.R. 1560 with the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) that funds U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects and a railroad infrastructure bill into a single jobs creation package. H.R. 1560 can be found on AMSA’s Bill Tracker at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm.

In the Senate, EPW Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK) has directed his staff to begin to write a water and wastewater infrastructure funding bill to amend the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act state revolving fund programs. According to committee staff, the new bill will contain incentives instead of mandates and will be introduced next year. Although Chairman Inhofe is striving for a bi-partisan bill, Ranking Member James Jeffords (I-VT) is considering writing a bill of his own for introduction in 2004.

Highway Bill Clears Committee with Nearly $1 Billion for Stormwater
The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee approved in mid-November a new transportation funding bill, the Safe, Affordable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2003 (SAFETEA), S. 1072. Included in the $255 billion highway construction and repair package is an AMSA-supported amendment sponsored by Senators John Warner (R-VA) and Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) which would set-aside 2 percent – approximately $958 million over six years – for states to mitigate stormwater runoff from highways. The amendment received bipartisan support in the Committee and would provide funds for projects such as stormwater retrofits, the recharge of groundwater, natural filters, stream restoration, minimization of stream bank erosion, and innovative technologies. AMSA sent several letters to EPW Senators urging their support for the amendment and will continue to seek support for the stormwater provision in the House and in the full Senate. To view these letters, visit AMSA’s website at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/releases/2003-11-11-03cornyn.pdf. AMSA’s press release on the amendment can be found at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/releases/111203.cfm.

Environmental Protection

AMSA Calls for Mercury Removal Strategy at House Hearing
Norm LeBlanc, Chair of AMSA’s Water Quality Committee and Chief of Technical Services at Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia Beach, Va., testified October 8 before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Wellness and Human Rights on AMSA’s initiatives on mercury. In testimony that focused on mercury in dental amalgam, LeBlanc discussed the 2002 AMSA study, Mercury Source Control and Pollution Prevention Program Evaluation. The study found that 35 – 40 percent of mercury entering publicly owned treatment works (POTW) comes from dental offices – an estimate that also is bolstered by the American Dental Association’s (ADA) statistics.

LeBlanc noted that mercury entering POTWs is a de minimis part of the national mercury problem and urged Congress to develop a national mercury strategy that looks holistically at mercury sources, from coal-fired plants to abandoned mines. LeBlanc added that pollution control programs alone will not fully remove mercury entering POTWs because pretreatment programs apply only to commercial and industrial sources, not domestic mercury sources. LeBlanc also detailed AMSA’s Technical Action Fund project that will determine the effectiveness of amalgam separators in reducing the mercury loads to POTWs from dental offices.

The hearing received significant media attention, which can be viewed on AMSA’s Newsroom site at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/news.cfm. To read AMSA’s testimony, please visit http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/testimony/10-08-03wtestimony.cfm. To read the testimony of all witnesses, go to http://reform.house.gov/WHR/Hearings/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=494.