NACWA Legislative Update November 2006

Although Congress has been in recess for the month of October, this edition of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies’ (NACWA) Legislative Update, current through November 2, 2006, provides a brief update of remaining issues as well as some of the Association’s activities in preparation for next year’s 110th Congress. For more detailed information regarding NACWA activities related to specific legislation, click on the web links in selected news items, or contact NACWA’s Lee Garrigan at 202/833-4655 or lgarrigan@nacwa.org.

You can read bills on NACWA’s Bill Tracker (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm), which provides a direct link to congressional websites where bill texts and summaries are posted. You can find NACWA letters, statements, alerts, updates and related documents under Legislative in the Member Pipeline section of the NACWA website (http://www.nacwa.org/private/leg_index.cfm).

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

NACWA Farm Bill Issue Paper Available to Members on Website
NACWA members, during the September Fall Strategic Leadership Retreat in Washington, DC, agreed to four primary strategic goals that the Association will pursue during the debate on the reauthorization of the nation’s farm subsidy and land conservation programs. Discussions centered on a background paper that summarized the conservation programs in the 2002 farm bill and four strategic advocacy goals that were identified by NACWA members in previous meetings. The goals have been incorporated into a shorter issue paper that NACWA members and staff can share with public policy officials and use in legislative discussions with stakeholder groups and congressional staff. The paper is titled 2007 Farm Bill Reauthorization and Potential Clean Water Benefits at (http://www.nacwa.org/private/leg_outreach.cfm) and can be found in Legislative Correspondence and Outreach in the Member Pipeline section of the Association’s website. NACWA will take an active role in the reauthorization of the 2002 farm bill over the next two years to ensure that the billions of dollars paid annually to farmers and ranchers under the legislation’s conservation programs achieve real water quality benefits that accrue to urban, suburban, and rural waterways.

The House Agriculture (Ag) Committee got an early start on its review of farm policies in September with a series of hearings to gather additional information in advance of the farm bill rewrite. Witnesses at the hearings included three former Secretaries of Agriculture who called for a greater investment in energy and environment programs. Meantime, a group of House members introduced a reauthorization bill, the Healthy Farms, Foods, and Fuels Act of 2006 (H.R. 6064), that would significantly increase funding for the farm bill’s conservation programs. Bill sponsor Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) and 39 cosponsors stated that the bill was introduced as a way to highlight their interests in advance of the drafting of an Ag Committee bill next year. Because the current authorization for the farm bill expires at the end of 2007, Congress may have to pass an extension of the deadline before a new, six-year bill can be approved by Congress and signed into law.

Agreement on Final Water Resources Development Act Delayed Until November
Prior to leaving the nation’s capital for the November election recess, key members in the House and Senate made statements indicating that they will pass the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2005 (S. 728) this year, which was last renewed by Congress six years ago. The legislation funds Army Corps of Engineers projects and was approved in July by the Senate nearly a year after the House passed its version of the bill (H.R. 2864). Both of the bills and their accompanying reports can be found on the NACWA Bill Tracker (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm). In addition to funding a significant backlog of Corps projects, the WRDA bills include grants for some NACWA members for specific water resource and infrastructure projects. During debate on the $12 billion Senate bill, a new provision was approved that would require an independent review of all water construction projects over $40 million. The House bill does not include such a provision. A conference committee comprised of House and Senate members was appointed before the recess and their staff have been working through October to address the differences between the two bills.

CLEAN WATER FUNDING

NACWA Prepares Trust Fund Bill for 110th Congress
Since Congress has not yet adjourned for the year, NACWA continues to recruit cosponsors for the Clean Water Trust Act of 2005 (H.R. 4560) (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm), with efforts to date yielding 25 Representatives who have signed on to H.R. 4560. Members of NACWA’s leadership met with their Representatives during the September Fall Strategic Leadership Retreat in Washington, D.C. and requested their support for H.R. 4560. For the remainder of the year, NACWA will restore language to the bill that was agreed to by NACWA and WIN members in the original draft but omitted by congressional staff prior to introduction of the bill in December 2005. The revised bill also will include sources of revenue to finance the clean water trust fund. NACWA has consulted congressional staff on several issues, including a revenue source, and will continue to keep them apprised of progress on the bill. NACWA and members of the Water Infrastructure Network intend to have the legislation ready for introduction when the new, 110th Congress convenes in January 2007.

Congress Must Pass EPA Budget in Lame Duck Session
When Congress reconvenes for a lame duck session on November 9, it will have to act quickly before year’s end to enact nine appropriations bills that fund dozens of government agencies. September’s brief congressional session left little time for lawmakers to pass the slew of spending bills needed to keep government agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), up and running until mid-November. With the change to the new federal fiscal year on October 1, Congress was forced to pass a two-month Continuing Resolution (CR) that will keep EPA’s doors open only until November 17. Pending the outcome of the mid-term elections, and a possible change in the majority party in the House, legislators likely will have to pass another CR and may resort to rolling all of the remaining spending measures into an omnibus budget bill for a vote before the end of December.

The House earlier this year passed its version of EPA’s budget in the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2007 (H.R. 5386) (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm#3) and included a cut of $200 million to the clean water state revolving fund (CWSRF). The Senate Appropriations Committee then agreed to the House cut, which would drop funding for the CWSRF to $688 million. Federal funding for the CWSRF has been slashed nearly 50 percent from $1.35 billion in FY 2004 to the current, proposed level and is part of a long-term plan to end federal capitalization of the program in FY 2015. NACWA staff have been advised that further cuts to the CWSRF will be included in the EPA’s proposed FY 2008 budget which will be presented by the President to Congress in early February 2008.