» Update Archive

This edition of NACWA’s Legislative Update, current through August 14, 2012, provides information on the activities of the 112th Congress of interest to the nation’s public clean water agencies.  For more detailed information regarding NACWA activities, click on the web links in selected news items or visit NACWA’s website.  Please contact NACWA’s Pat Sinicropi at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Hannah Mellman at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions or information on the Update topics.

ISSUE AREAS

Captiol Hill Update

With the August Recess and Upcoming Elections, NACWA Gears Up for 113th Congress

For the month of August and first week in September, Congress will be out of session as Members return to their home states and districts to meet with constituents and campaign.  With one-third of the Senate and all 435 members of the House up for election in less than three months, Members have been slow to address the array of bills still awaiting action.  NACWA is taking advantage of this time to enhance its effective presence on the Hill and to carry key messages to Congressional staff who will help advance clean water legislation in the next Congress.  NACWA will also be following the elections closely, and will provide members with in-depth analysis on how the elections are likely to affect the clean water community.

Water Infrastructure Funding

Rep. Blumenauer Introduces Clean Water Trust Fund Bill

Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) recently introduced The Water Protection and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 6249), a bill to establish a federal trust fund for investments in clean water infrastructure. The bill would provide $9 billion annually for clean water investments, much of it going toward the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program and a number of new grant programs including Clean Water Act Compliance, Energy and Water Efficiency, and Sewer Overflow Control to name a few.  This legislation would assess small fees on a broad base of those who use water and contribute to water pollution.  These revenue sources include:

• 3 cent per container excise tax on water-based beverages.
  
• 3% excise tax on items disposed of in wastewater, such as toothpaste, cosmetics, toilet paper and cooking oil.
  
• 0.5% excise tax on pharmaceutical products.

NACWA has long supported a national Clean Water Trust Fund and is pleased to see this legislation introduced.  It represents an important step toward addressing the water infrastructure problems that face the nation today.  While this bill is unlikely to move this Congress, it provides the basis for action next Congress and NACWA will be encouraging Members of Congress to cosponsor the legislation and will keep members informed of relevant developments.

Chairman Gibbs, Senator Merkley Consider WIFIA Legislation

Congressman Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), Chairman of the House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, met with NACWA to express interest in introducing legislation to establish a new water and wastewater infrastructure financing program at EPA, known as the Infrastructure Financing Innovations Authority (WIFIA), to provide federally backed loan guarantees for large wastewater infrastructure projects of national and regional significance.  NACWA representatives expressed support for new financing tool but cautioned that funding for a WIFIA should not come at the expense of the State Revolving Fund program.

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) is also interested in introducing WIFIA legislation, and in a meeting with NACWA, the Association communicated the same message.  NACWA will keep members informed should either of these bills be introduced this Congress.

House Slashes Funding for Clean Water SRF

The House Appropriations Committee released its FY 2013 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill that would cut EPA’s budget by $1.4 billion to $7 billion.  EPA’s State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) programs, used to finance wastewater and drinking water projects, were hit especially hard by these cuts.  The House bill allocates only $689 million for the Clean Water SRF, which would be a cut of more than $710 million from the FY 2012 funding level.  The Safe Drinking Water SRF would receive $829 million, $89 million less than in FY 2012.  The cuts to the Drinking Water SRF are less severe because that fund has not been around as long the Clean Water SRF and so it is playing “catch-up” with the Clean Water SRF.

While the Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet released its funding bills, it is anticipated that the Senate SRF figures will maintain higher levels more comparable to FY 2012.  Should this be true, SRF funding stands a greater chance of remaining at Senate levels when the two bills go to conference at the end of the year.  In the meantime, NACWA is urging members on the Senate Appropriations Committee to maintain funding for these vital programs, and will keep members informed of any funding updates.

Integrated Planning

NACWA Testifies at House Hearing on Integrated Planning Implementation

The House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a hearing on July 25 to explore the benefits of, and potential obstacles to implementing, EPA’s recently finalized integrated planning framework.  On the first panel, George Hawkins, General Manager of DC Water and a NACWA Board Member and Chair of the Association’s Money Matters Task Force, testified on behalf of the Association.  Hawkins’ testimony discussed the problems posed by EPA’s expensive and numerous mandates on DC Water’s ability to address its most urgent infrastructure needs.  Hawkins applauded EPA’s integrated planning framework as a step in the right direction but pointed out that some communities lack the resources to even get to the negotiating table.  NACWA proposed that Congress provide some initial funding for pilot communities to develop integrated plans pursuant to EPA’s framework and noted that Congress extend permit terms to 25 years where this would help communities sequence their Clean Water Act projects more effectively.

Carter Strickland Jr., Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environment Protection and a NACWA Board member also testified. Strickland’s testimony focused on affordability concerns and the mounting difficulties low income communities are having with rising water and sewer bills.

In response, Chairman Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio) of the Subcommittee focused his remarks on the need  to reduce the regulatory burden on the Nation’s communities while Congressman Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, discussed the importance of increasing federal funding for water infrastructure improvements and discussed his bill, The Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2011 (H.R. 3145), which seeks to increase funding for the state revolving fund and establish a clean water trust fund as well as federal loan guaranty program.

Other groups testifying on this panel included the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the Association of Clean Water Administrators, and the Water Environment Federation. Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), and Nancy Stoner, EPA’s Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water, testified on the second and final panel.  They noted that the framework was already making a difference, pointing to enforcement-related flexibility in cities such as Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Seattle and expressed the Agency’s plans to continue its efforts to build awareness regarding the integrated planning option.

NACWA will continue to work with Congress and EPA on advancing the integrated planning framework as well as the overarching goals of the Money Matters . . . Smarter Investment to Advance Clean Water™ campaign.

Nutrient Issues/Farm Bill Reauthorization

Healthy Waters Coalition Secures Nutrient Management Provisions in the Senate Farm Bill

The Healthy Waters Coalition (HWC), a NACWA-led coalition of municipal and state water and wastewater organizations, conservation organizations, and sustainable agricultural organizations, scored an important victory on addressing nutrient run-off from agricultural lands in the Senate Farm Bill. The victory came with the newly-established Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), which incentivizes non-agricultural entities (e.g. municipalities, drinking water or wastewater utilities, or NGOs) to partner with local agricultural producers to implement conservation practices on their land.  By using funds from three programs —  the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Agricultural Easement Program — the Coalition was able to secure language that ensures that nutrient management is an eligible activity and, more importantly, allows farmers that are part of a partnership agreement to receive five year contracts and special payments for nutrient management-related activities. This is a large step forward and reflects recognition on the part of Senate Agriculture Committee leadership that nutrient management activities warrant targeted resources.  The Senate Farm Bill passed by a vote of 63 to 36.

It appears passage of the House Farm Bill will be a more difficult task because there is no agreement yet between the House and Senate on how to move forward on a final package before the existing Farm Bill expires on September 30, 2012.  Despite this, NACWA, along with several members of the HWC, met with both the majority and minority offices of the House Agriculture Committee to urge the Committee to include the language contained in the Senate’s package that provides stable funding to farmers who engage in nutrient management activities in the House bill.  The Committee staff indicated their support overall for measures to address nutrient management but did not commit to including the Senate language in the House package prior to conferencing the bill with the Senate.  As a result, and in order to ensure support for maintaining the language when a final bill is negotiated,  the HWC will be reaching out to Members’ offices in critical need areas and encouraging them to weigh in with the Agriculture Committee.  NACWA will be scheduling many of these meetings and will provide members with updates on how this effort is progressing.

NACWA Urges Congress to Fund USGS National Water Quality Assessment Program

NACWA and nearly 30 other water industry, environmental and conservation organizations signed onto a letter led by the Water Environment Federation (WEF), urging Congress to fully fund the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program.  The letter states that the NAWQA program “provides critical scientific information to guide governmental and private actions to protect the nation’s water resources.”  It urges Congress to restore funding to the fiscal year (FY) 2010 appropriations level of $62.6 million.  The President’s proposed FY2013 budget calls for $56.3 million for the program – a cut of $10.2 million, or over 15 percent, compared to the FY2010 level.  The impacts of these cuts on stream, river, and drinking water supply monitoring efforts, as well as other vital initiatives the program supports, are detailed in the letter.

RECENTLY INTRODUCED CONGRESSIONAL LEGISLATION

• Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) introduced The Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know-Act (S. 3388) on July 16 to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to ensure that sewage treatment plants monitor for and report discharges of raw sewage, and for other purposes.  The legislation currently has the three following cosponsors: Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
• Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) introduced The Water Protection and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 6249) on July 31st to establish a federal trust fund for investments in clean water infrastructure. The bill would provide $9 billion annually for clean water investments, much of it going toward the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program.  There are currently no cosponsors (see related story above).

CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS

• The House of Representatives Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a hearing entitled Integrated Planning and Permitting, Part 2: An Opportunity for EPA to Provide Communities with Flexibility to Make Smart Investments in Water Quality on July 25 (see story above for more details). The testimony for all the witnesses is available on the Committee’s website .