NACWA Legislative Update October 2006

This edition of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies’ (NACWA) Legislative Update, current through October 4, 2006, 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 in selected news items, or contact NACWA’s Lee Garrigan at 202/833-4655 or lgarrigan@nacwa.org.

NACWA advocates on behalf of its members before Congress. You can find individual bills through 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).

CLEAN WATER FUNDING

NACWA Meets with Top Three Candidates for Chair of House Infrastructure Committee
NACWA staff recently met with the three House members considered the front runners to become the next chairman of the powerful House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee. The current chair, Alaska’s Don Young (R), is term-limited, making him ineligible to lead the committee next year. His departure, and the outcome of the November elections, provides an opportunity for one of three leading candidates to become the next chairman. NACWA has had breakfast meetings during the past two months with Republicans Tom Petri (WI), Jimmy Duncan (TN) and Democrat Jim Oberstar (MN). Mr. Petri is the current chair of the Highways, Transit and Pipelines Subcommittee, Mr. Duncan is Chair of the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee and Mr. Oberstar is Ranking Member of the full T&I Committee. Mr. Duncan, who sponsored the NACWA-supported Clean Water Trust Act of 2005 (HR 4560) and Mr. Petri, a cosponsor of the bill, have indicated a willingness to reintroduce a trust fund bill in 2007. Mr. Oberstar, a strong advocate for clean water funding, stated he would consider introducing clean water trust fund legislation if it includes a fair and equitable source of revenue as well as Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage provisions. NACWA member utility leaders also have met with the Representatives in their home districts to discuss clean water issues. Congress will return from its election recess for a “lame-duck” session on November 9, just two days after voters decide whether the Republicans will hold the House majority. Democrats and Republicans are expected to hold their leadership elections for the 110th Congress the following week, at which time the next T&I committee chair will emerge.

NACWA Efforts on Trust Fund Bill Move Forward
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 also met with their Representatives during the September Fall Strategic Leadership Retreat in Washington, D.C. and requested their support for H.R. 4560. NACWA, along with the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN), will host a second briefing on the trust fund bill this month. The first briefing, held August 16, attracted House staff members from over 25 offices of U.S. Representatives. After Congress completes its lame-duck session in November, NACWA will convene a meeting of selected congressional staff, stakeholder groups, and WIN members to come to an agreement on a source of revenue for a new clean water trust fund. The current bill then will be revised and readied for reintroduction next year.

Congress Leaves Town Without Passing EPA Budget
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 in the new fiscal year. Congress completed only two appropriations bills – Defense and Homeland Security – leaving nine additional spending bills to act on when Members of Congress reconvene for a lame duck session in November. With the change to the new federal fiscal year on October 1, Congress was forced to pass a two-month Continuing Resolution that will keep EPA’s doors open until November 17.

The House earlier this year passed 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) that included a cut of $200 million to EPA’s 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 fiscal year (FY) 2011. NACWA and other national, state and local groups continue to oppose the cuts.

NACWA Helps to Secure NBP Funding in FY 2007 House Bill
Due in large part to the advocacy efforts of NACWA and its members, the House did include 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) $1 million to continue the National Biosolids Partnership (NBP) environmental management system (EMS) for biosolids program. The Senate, however, as in years past, did not include funding for the EMS program. NACWA does anticipate, however, that the Senate will accede to the House request and keep the NBP funding in the final conferenced version of the bill. Other programs receiving funding in EPA’s budget include $841.5 million for EPA’s drinking water state revolving fund (DWSRF) and $2 million for the Water ISAC. The House bill contains $200 million for 146 targeted infrastructure grants that primarily fund individual water infrastructure projects in members’ districts. The Senate Appropriations Committee measure contains $210 million for 195 individual projects. Although the House bill eliminated a $1.182 million line item for wastewater operator training grants, the Senate Appropriations Committee added $1 million to EPA’s budget to continue the program. The full Senate must still vote on the spending bill in November, before it can go to a conference committee where differences between the House and Senate versions will be resolved.

SECURITY

NACWA Gains Exemption for Members from Chemical Security Rules
House and Senate appropriators voted September 29 to give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority it has long sought to regulate security at the nation’s chemical facilities in the fiscal year 2007 spending bill, capping weeks of negotiations between the White House, industry and lawmakers. NACWA successfully launched a major effort in the House and Senate to include in the language an exemption from the costly new rules for POTWs, arguing that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has jurisdiction over wastewater security. The language (http://www.nacwa.org/private/leg_outreach.cfm) could spare up to one-third of NACWA member utilities from having to expend resources on and comply with new security mandates to be developed and enforced by DHS. The agreement came as lawmakers realized that chemical security bills in the House and the Senate had little chance of passing before the end of this congressional session. NACWA, along with the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), drafted a letter (http://www.nacwa.org/private/leg_outreach.cfm) to congressional leaders that urged them to support the compromise. Several NACWA member utilities also aided the effort by contacting their delegations in support of the exemption. As written, the section will expire in three years, at which time DHS should have a fully functional chemical security program in place. During that time, NACWA will continue to work with Congress to pass appropriate legislation to aid POTWs in their efforts to secure treatment plants and conveyance systems. Members of Congress that opposed the consensus provision have vowed to pass more extensive chemical security legislation in the 110th Congress.

Earlier this year, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Economic Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Cybersecurity, passed the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 (H.R.5695) (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm). The bill would have covered all facilities that report to EPA under Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act and would have required high-risk facilities, including some NACWA member POTWs, to complete and submit to the federal government vulnerability assessments and new emergency response plans including the consideration of using inherently safer technologies (IST). NACWA had a series of meetings with Committee staff to express concern with the bill’s impact on local government-owned facilities and urged that wastewater treatment works be removed from the bill’s coverage.

In the Senate, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGA) Committee unanimously passed the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act (S. 2145) (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm#2). NACWA and other municipal, water and wastewater organizations argued in a July 6 letter (http://www.nacwa.org/private/leg_outreach.cfm) to the full Senate that water and wastewater facilities should not be covered by the bill and asked Senators to withhold their support for S. 2145 until the issues surrounding the inclusion of water and wastewater facilities had been satisfactorily addressed. NACWA also engaged in extensive discussions with Senate staff following up on a letter (http://www.nacwa.org/private/leg_outreach.cfm) to the leaders of the HSGA Committee — Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Member Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) — alerting them to the clean water community’s concerns with the legislation. As with the House bill, S. 2145 would have applied to POTWs covered under section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act, subjecting them to extensive security planning and reporting requirements intended to address private sector chemical plant security. NACWA urged Senators Collins and Lieberman to modify S. 2145 to remove clean water utilities from the definition of covered facilities after seeking comments on the bill from NACWA member utilities via Legislative Alert 06-02 (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/legalrts/la06-2.cfm).

EPW Committee Chairman Inhofe also objected to the inclusion of wastewater facilities in the bill in a letter (http://www.nacwa.org/private/leg_outreach.cfm) to the bill’s sponsors stating that his committee should retain jurisdiction over wastewater security. As a result, Sen. Inhofe placed a ‘hold’ on the bill which prevented S. 2145 from being placed on the Senate calendar for a floor vote. With time running out in the 109th Congress, the White House, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, and House and Senate homeland security authorizers and appropriators turned to the DHS spending bill as a vehicle to pass legislation that would give DHS the authority to regulate security at the nation’s chemical facilities.

NACWA-Supported Wastewater Security Legislation Blocked on Senate Floor
Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Chairman James Inhofe brought the NACWA-supported Wastewater Treatment Works Security Act of 2005 (S. 2781) (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm) to the Senate floor for a vote September 28th but was turned back for the second straight year by retiring EPW Ranking Member James Jeffords (I-VT). The EPW Committee filed a bill report earlier in the week, making S. 2781 eligible for the floor vote. Chairman Inhofe made a floor statement (http://www.nacwa.org/private/leg_outreach.cfm) after the failed vote expressing his disappointment while providing an overview of the state of security at the nation’s POTWs.

NACWA had provided input into the drafting of the bill, which would have authorized $200 million in grants to conduct vulnerability assessments and make security enhancements, $15 million for technical assistance for small POTWs, $5 million over five years to non-profit organizations to improve vulnerability self-assessment methodologies and tools, and $25 million over five years for research and review of collection systems and treatment works.

Chairman Inhofe introduced S. 2781 to address the findings of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on wastewater treatment plant security entitled, Securing Wastewater Facilities: Utilities Have Made Important Upgrades, Though Further Improvements to Key System Components May Be Limited by Costs and Other Constraints (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06390.pdf). The study reported that while no federal law requires wastewater facilities to conduct vulnerability assessments, most facilities have completed, have underway, or plan to complete some type of security assessment. Chairman Inhofe requested the study to assess the state of security at the nation’s clean water utilities and gather data on how they have assessed and addressed potential vulnerabilities since September 11, 2001. NACWA supported S. 2781 in a letter (http://www.nacwa.org/private/leg_outreach.cfm) to Chairman Inhofe and will continue to work with the EPW Committee to pass reasonable security legislation in the 110th Congress.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

NACWA Farm Bill Paper Finalized at 2006 Fall Leadership Retreat
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 upcoming debate on the 2007 farm bill. Discussions centered on a NACWA options paper entitled 2007 Farm Bill Reauthorization and Potential Benefits for NACWA Members which summarizes the conservation programs in the 2002 legislation and the four strategic advocacy goals that are most important to NACWA members. 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. Comments received on the recommendations at a July NACWA Legislative Policy Committee meeting were incorporated into the paper, which was sent in early August to all NACWA members via Legislative Alert 06-05 (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/legalrts/la06-5.cfm). The paper’s four strategic goals will be highlighted in a convenient one-page issue sheet that NACWA members and staff will be able to give to public policy officials and use in legislative discussions with stakeholder groups and congressional staff.

The House Agriculture (Ag) Committee intensified its farm bill effort 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 41 cosponsors stated that the bill was introduced as a way to highlight their interests before Ag Committee staff sit down to write next year’s legislation. Because the current authorization for the farm bill expires at the end of 2007, Congress may have 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), which was last renewed by Congress six years ago. The legislation, which funds Army Corps of Engineers projects, was approved in July by the Senate, nearly a year after the House passed its versions of the Army Corps of Engineers bill (H.R. 2864) in July 2005. 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 to address the differences between the two bills.