» Update Archive

This edition of NACWA’s Legislative Update, current through August 9, provides information on the activities of the 111th Congress of interest to the nation’s public clean water agencies.  For more detailed information regarding NACWA activities related to specific legislation, click on the web links in selected news items, visit NACWA’s website, or contact Pat Sinicropi at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or John Krohn at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

During July, NACWA continued to make progress on key legislative items important to our members, including items related to issues of affordability, funding, energy production, water quality improvement and chemical security.

Affordability

House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Debates Affordability of Overflow Control Projects

The affordability of combined sewer overflow (CSO) correction projects and the impact on municipalities of financial capability determinations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was a key focus of the House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee during consideration of their Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 appropriations bill in July.  The discussion was prompted by an amendment, offered by Ohio Representative Steven LaTourette (R), which sought to require EPA to update its 1997 guidance document Combined Sewer Overflow - Guidance for Financial Capability Assessment and Schedule Determinations.  NACWA worked with Mr. LaTourette to move the issue forward and reached out to several Members on the Subcommittee, as well as on the full Appropriations Committee, to identify support for the effort.

After lengthy discussion among Subcommittee Members, the subcommittee rejected the amendment on a party line vote due to concerns raised by Representative James Oberstar (D-Minn.), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, who objected to this issue being raised in the context of an appropriations bill.  While Chairman Oberstar is not a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Committee members deferred to him because of his position as Chair of the authorizing committee for Clean Water Act issues.  Chairman Oberstar is supportive of the general policy objective and requested that Subcommittee Members who had “affordability” concerns bring those concerns to him directly so that he can have the opportunity to address them within his committee.  NACWA plans to continue our efforts to raise the affordability issue in Congress and will work with individual Members to raise the issue directly with Chairman Oberstar.  If you believe your Member of Congress could be helpful, please let us know.  That this issue is being raised with this level of intensity in Congress demonstrates the timeliness of NACWA’s Money Matters affordability campaign, which is seeking to ensure as one of its objectives that Congress act to require EPA to revise its affordability approach.

Funding

Trust Fund Briefing Garners Significant Attention in House of Representatives

On July 26th, The Water Protection and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 3202) was the focus of a congressional briefing sponsored by NACWA, the Associated General Contractors (AGC), the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) coalition, and United Rentals.  The briefing attracted over 100 attendees and helped gain additional co-sponsors for the legislation.

The event featured a diverse group of panelists who discussed the potential benefits a trust fund would have on municipal budgets, water quality economic activity and job creation.  Panelists included NACWA member George Hawkins, General Manager, DC Water; Shirley Franklin, former Mayor of Atlanta (2002-2010); Tom McCauley, Mayor Buhl, Idaho; Ken Simonson, Chief Economist, AGC; Paul I. McDonnell, Senior Vice President, United Rentals; and Malia Hale, Director of National Restoration and Water Resources Campaigns at the National Wildlife Federation.   NACWA will continue its congressional outreach efforts to identify additional co-sponsors for the bill.  We urge you to contact your Representative and encourage them to add their name to the list of 40 co-sponsors of H.R. 3202.  Should you need assistance in contacting your elected representatives, please contact John Krohn, NACWA’s Manager of Legislative Affairs, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

At the same time, WIN member organization Food & Water Watch (FWW) is pursuing the introduction of a water trust fund bill in the Senate as part of the group’s “Renew America’s Water” campaign.  FWW has been targeting Senators in New Mexico, Rhode Island, Oregon and Ohio, to introduce legislation that would raise $25 billion annually by levying a one-cent per ounce tax on water-based beverages such as bottled water and soft drinks.  In line with its campaign, FWW may be reaching out to NACWA utility members for input into their effort, helping to advance NACWA’s goal of raising Senate support for such legislation.

House Interior Subcommittee Approves FY11 Spending Bill with $10 billion for EPA

During the last week of July the House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee approved its FY 2011 appropriations bill.  The legislation provides $10 billion for the EPA including $1.89 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving and $1.2 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.  These funding levels represent a decrease of approximately $100 million for the SRFs from the President’s FY 2011 budget request and a $210 million decrease from FY10 enacted levels.  The legislation also includes $473 million for restoration of the nation’s great water bodies.  The legislation now must be approved by the full House Appropriations Committee.  The Senate Appropriations Committee still needs to consider its FY 11 EPA spending bill, which will occur in September at the earliest. Congress is likely to enact a Continuing Resolution to fund most federal agencies at the end of the FY10 Fiscal Year on September 30.  NACWA will continue to keep members informed of developments as they occur.

GAO Issues Report on Wastewater Infrastructure Financing with Focus on National Infrastructure Bank and Private Financing

During July, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its report “Wastewater Infrastructure Financing - Stakeholder Views on a National Infrastructure Bank and Public-Private Partnerships”. The report was requested by Representative John Mica (R-Fla.) and focuses on the creation of a national infrastructure bank (NIB) and the availability and implementation challenges of public-private partnerships as potential means to address the water infrastructure funding gap.  The report surveyed organizations and individual stakeholders with knowledge of wastewater infrastructure issues, the financial sector and federal, state and local governments.  NACWA was one of 28 stakeholders who participated in the survey and formulation of the report.  Additional members of the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) taking part in the report include the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), the American Public Works Association (APWA), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Rivers, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), Clean Water Action and Food and Water Watch.  The report found that nearly three quarters of those surveyed supported the creation of a NIB but had varied views on its mission, administrative structure, types of funding it should provide and eligible projects.  NACWA believes the funding gap demands that more money be on the table from a variety of sources and we will continue to review the merits of different proposals as they develop.  It remains clear, however, that as clean water agencies struggle to meet CWA obligations, it is critical that a strong grant component will be needed.  A full copy and executive summary of the report can be found on the GAO website for review.

Energy/Climate

Comprehensive Energy and Climate Legislation Stalls in 111th Congress–NACWA to Push for Water Systems Adaptation and Renewable Electricity Standard in 112th

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) released proposed energy legislation for the Senate to consider before adjourning for the August recess however consideration was postponed until September.  The package introduced by Reid does not include measures to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to address global warming, nor does it contain measures to begin adapting to climate change.

Under a previous climate package introduced by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.), and passed by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, a new program entitled the Water Systems Mitigation and Adaptation Partnership (WSMAP) designed to provide water, wastewater and stormwater utilities with assistance to mitigate GHG emissions and undertake adaptation measures, would have been authorized and funded through auction proceeds resulting from a cap and trade system established under the bill.  While WSMAP was not included in a later compromise package offered by Senators Kerry and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), NACWA and a coalition of water associations and environmental advocacy organizations worked with Senator Reid’s office to include the program in whatever climate-related package the Senate would eventually consider.  Now that no climate-related provisions will be included in the Senate package, the WSMAP will also not be considered.  NACWA led the coalition effort to include WSMAP in the Senate package and will continue to pursue support among Members of Congress to position the program for inclusion in any climate legislation considered by the 112th Congress.

As part of our advocacy effort for the program, NACWA and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) contracted with the engineering consulting firm, CH2MHill, to provide a preliminary analysis of cost estimates associated with adaptation measures that would be necessary to deal with the impacts of climate change.  The report, entitled Confronting Climate Change: An Early Analysis of Water and Wastewater Adaptation Costs , is available to NACWA members and will likely be the subject of a future Congressional briefing that our coalition will plan for next Congress.

An energy-related legislative item NACWA aggressively pursued during the month was language to qualify biogas and solids produced by the wastewater treatment process as renewable biomass for the purposes of a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES).   Unfortunately, Senator Reid’s proposed energy legislation does not include an RES, though many organizations and Senators are pushing for its inclusion.  RES provisions would have established an overall goal for the percentage of the nation’s electricity to be generated from renewable sources, such as 15% or higher.  If such a standard were to be included in the legislation, and biogas and solids produced by the wastewater treatment process were included, then electric utilities would be required to purchase a certain percentage of their supply from renewable energy producers, such as wastewater treatment utilities.  A number of States already include biogas and solids produced by wastewater treatment utilities in their States’ RESs, including Massachusetts, Colorado, California and Oregon, among others.   NACWA worked with Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) to get language included in an energy bill passed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last year and were working to strengthen the language.  Senator Reid does not believe that there are 60 votes to pass the RES as part of his proposal, though many Democratic Senators believe there are.  Should the Senate consider the RES as part of its larger energy bill, NACWA will continue to work with Senator Stabenow, as well as others, to ensure biogas and solids qualify for renewable energy credits under the program.

Though the Senate package does not include two key legislative priorities for NACWA, it does include language establishing a Home Star program to provide rebates to homeowners who install energy efficient and water efficient appliances and equipment.  NACWA was part of a coalition of water-related product manufacturers and water conservation organizations advocating for a number of these provisions.  The legislation would establish several tiers of rebate programs including a Silver Star program that would award homeowners that purchase at least $300 in Water Sense products a $150 rebate for items such as showerheads, toilets, faucets, and outdoor irrigation systems. It would also establish a Gold Star program that would rebate up to $500 per homeowner for a 20% reduction in home water consumption and an additional $100 for each 5% reduction up to $1200. Grants would also be available to States for local water efficiency and conservation programs.  Up to $70 million is authorized under the Home Star program for water-efficiency rebates.  These measures will promote water conservation and efficiency in home appliances, thereby reducing stress on our utilities and the need for more treatment capacity.  NACWA is pleased that these measures are included in the package

Stormwater

Representative Norton Introduces Bill Requiring Federal Payment of Stormwater Fees

Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) introduced legislation (H.R. 5724) that seeks to clarify the federal government’s responsibility to pay reasonable fees for stormwater management services provided by local utilities.  The legislation, introduced at the urging of NACWA and its member agency DC Water, is a companion bill to S. 3481, introduced in June by Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.).  Both bills seek to clarify that fees charged for the control and abatement of water pollution, including stormwater management fees, shall not be considered a tax and, therefore, must be paid by federal agencies pursuant to their obligations under the Clean Water Act (CWA).  The issue gained attention in April when the General Services Administration (GSA) delivered a preliminary determination that federal facilities located in Washington, D.C. are not required to pay impervious area charges levied by the local sewer authority.  The GSA claimed that the fee amounts to a tax on the federal government and, as such, is unconstitutional.  To view the legislation and NACWA’s press release expressing its strong support, please visit NACWA’s stormwater management webpage. NACWA’s press release can be viewed here.

Security

Chemical Security Extension Approved by Senate Homeland Security Committee as EPW Holds Regulatory Oversight Hearing

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) on July 28 approved its version of the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009 (H.R. 2868).  The legislation approved by the Committee would extend the current Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program for three years and does not include provisions dealing with security at water facilities or controversial provisions requiring the implementation of “Inherently Safer Technologies” (IST).  The bill was approved by the Committee unanimously and it is expected that revisions could occur before it reaches the Senate floor, specifically closing the existing “security gap” caused by the ongoing exemption that is in place for water and wastewater utilities.

That same day the Senate EPW Committee also held an oversight hearing on water and wastewater security issues.  A focus of the hearing was the Secure Water Facilities Act (S. 3598) recently introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). Unlike the HSGAC bill discussed above, S. 3598 seeks to make changes to the CFATS program, including ending the exemption for wastewater and drinking water utilities and adding an IST provision.  NACWA sent a letter this week to the Committee that provides the Association’s position on water sector security generally, as well as on S. 3598.  NACWA will continue to track these efforts closely and provide members with updates as they occur.

Watersheds

Chesapeake Bay Bills Move Forward

Senator Cardin (D-Md.) released a copy of S. 1816, the Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act, which the Senate EPW Committee ordered to be reported in June.  While the final Committee report is not available, text of the legislation that passed the Committee is available on the NACWA website.  During EPW consideration of the bill, an amendment offered by Senator Cardin and Senator Inhofe (R-Okla.) changed some key provisions in the legislation in order to garner broad bi-partisan support among committee members.  The key changes to the bill included removing a section of the bill describing required elements for the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan that EPA must issue by December 30th of this year, but did leave intact the legislative definition of what the Chesapeake Bay TMDL is (including that the TMDL can include temporal units of greater than daily- calculated loads).  The amended bill would remove the requirement that States submit Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) and allow them to voluntarily submit these plans; and, it authorizes a nutrient trading guarantee pilot program which would terminate five years after such time as a trading program is established under the terms of the proposed statute.   Though these changes are significant, States that do submit WIPs would still be required to meet water quality standards and pollutant loadings established by the TMDL and would be subject to enforcement measures if the WIPs do not comply with statutory requirements under the bill.  Enforcement measures that EPA could still pursue include withholding Federal Clean Water Act funds and federal take-over of a State program.

As the Senate EPW Committee completed its work on Chesapeake Bay legislation, the House Agriculture Committee took up its proposal for restoring the Bay.  The legislation, H.R. 5509, titled the Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization and Improvement Act, is sponsored by Congressman Tim Holden (D-Pa.) and Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and would do several things, including:  require Federal Agencies and States to submit detailed accounting reports on the amount of federal dollars being spent on Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts and make those reports available on a publicly accessible website; establish an advisory council at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to review and report on restoration efforts; establish a commission to oversee and administer a trading program for point and non-point source trades to meet water quality goals;  authorizes the Secretary of USDA to identify conservation practice standards for Chesapeake Bay States to incorporate in their State Implementation Plans to ensure that farmers and non-industrial private foresters are undertaking appropriate conservation activities to comply with State and Federal water quality standards;  and allows developers to off-set stormwater run-off impacts through mitigation efforts elsewhere in the Bay.  The legislation authorizes such sums as are necessary to implement Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts and to meet TMDL requirements under CWA Sec. 303(d) and provides that up to 30% of the funds made available for meeting the requirements under the 303(d) program be dedicated to wastewater treatment utilities and up to 35% be dedicated to municipal stormwater treatment utilities.

The legislative outlook for both these measures is somewhat murky.  Senator Cardin hopes to include S. 1816 in a larger legislative package that includes other regional watershed bills, such as for the Long Island Sound and Puget Sound, and bills reauthorizing public land programs with the goal of having the full Senate take up the “omnibus watershed” measure in September.  H.R. 5509 has been referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and it is unclear whether they will take up the measure before Congress adjourns in October.  Staff for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee indicated that they do not have plans to take up the measure anytime soon.

Recently Introduced Legislation of Interest

Each month the Legislative Update will include a brief list of legislation of interest that has been recently introduced and which is not referenced in the articles above.

• H.R. 5670 (introduced on July 1, 2010) would authorize a grants program worth up to $20 million through EPA to fund improvements of stormwater retention basins in the watershed of estuaries in the National Estuary Program.  The bill’s sponsor is Rep. John Adler (D-N.J.)

• The Long Island Sound Improvement Act Amendments of 2010 (H.R. 5876) (introduced on July 27, 2010) would require MS4s to obtain a permit for their stormwater discharges into the Long Island Sound watershed.  Furthermore, it would implement a voluntary nitrogen trading program.  It also amends existing law by requiring that the effects of climate change be taken into account when developing policy relating to the Sound.  The bill would provide grants to municipalities for construction of facilities in order to help maintain the quality of the watershed.  The bill was introduced by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) and has 14 cosponsors.

• The Water Resources Development Act of 2010 (H.R. 5892) (introduced on July 28, 2010) would provide funding for a variety of water-related projects including flood control, navigation, shoreline protection, estuary restoration, and many others.  The bill also addresses numerous individual water development projects.  Introduced by Rep. James Oberstar, it is cosponsored by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), Chair of the House Subcommittee on Water & the Environment.