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Republicans, Democrats and the independent chairman serving on the
Senate Environment Committee said during an Oct. 8 hearing that they
were concerned about a lack of federal funding for maintaining and
improving the nation's wastewater treatment systems.

The committee hearing, which commemorated the 30th anniversary of the
Clean Water Act, also included testimony from retired Sens. Robert
Stafford, R-Vt., and George Mitchell, D-Maine, who played key roles in
passing several 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act.

A recurring theme during the testimony was the need for bipartisan
cooperation to address problems raised in two recently released reports
from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. One of the reports
concluded that about 40 percent of the nation's waters do not meet
standards for safe swimming and fishing, and the other report found a
potential funding shortfall by 2019 of $270 billion for maintaining and
upgrading the nation's wastewater systems.

"Our waters are cleaner than they have been in years, but we have
lingering problems that prevent us from reaching the fishable, swimmable
goal," Stafford told the committee. "You have the opportunity to address
these lingering issues."

Congress is considering increasing the amount of federal money going
into a state revolving loan fund to assist local districts with
wastewater improvements. The present debate over funding is reminiscent
of what took place in 1987, Mitchell said.

"The conclusion is clear, although to act on it will, as always, be
difficult," he said. "There must be an increase in funding for the clean
water state revolving loan fund if our nation is to continue its
progress in implementing the Clean Water Act."

However, an assistant administrator of the EPA said the Bush
administration was not prepared to ask for more federal dollars to fill
the funding gap.

The EPA report, while pointing out the pending shortfall, did not
specify how to solve the problem, said G. Tracy Mehan III, the EPA
assistant administrator for water. "At this point, the administration
has not revisited its position, so there is no change, especially in
light of the present exigencies dealing with the war on terrorism and,
of course, the current economic challenges we face," Mehan said.

The administration's 2003 budget request includes $2.1 billion total
for state drinking water and clean water revolving loan funds.

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said the administration's position
concerned him.

"What are you going to come back with in terms of a recommendation on
how to deal with the problem?" Voinovich said. "There's a problem there,
and I think it's a responsibility to figure out a way to deal with it."

Mehan said the EPA plans to hold a stakeholders forum to look into
possible solutions.

The Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies, which represents
publicly owned wastewater treatment systems, said the federal government
needs to act.

"The measurable gap between projected clean water investment needs and
current levels of spending continues to grow, and local ratepayers will
be unable to foot the bill for the costs associated with increasingly
stringent requirements of the Clean Water Act," association President
Paul Pinault said.

Contact Waste News government affairs editor Bruce Geiselman at (330)
865-6172 or bgeiselman@crain.com.