Clean Water Current Archive

January 25, 2008

Subcommittee Includes Water, Wastewater Treatment Plants in Chemical Security Bill

A House subcommittee approved legislation Jan. 23 that would make permanent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations aimed at boosting security at chemical facilities and would extend those requirements to water and wastewater treatment plants.  The Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection approved a committee “print” (PDF) that has not been formally introduced as a bill and reported it to the full committee for consideration.  The full committee is expected to have another hearing in the coming weeks and anticipates completing work on the bill by the end of February.  A summary of the language and other information is available on the committee’s website.

In her opening statement during the mark-up, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), chair of the subcommittee, said the bill would make permanent DHS’s Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), which are set to expire in October 2009.  She pointed out changes that would be made to the existing CFATS regulations, including the removal of provisions exempting wastewater treatment facilities.

The legislation is modeled on the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 (H.R. 5695) and would direct DHS to maintain a list of “significant chemical facilities,” defined as those that store specified quantities of certain chemicals of concern onsite and other factors, including proximity to population centers.  DHS, not EPA, would have jurisdiction over security requirements at NACWA member agencies under the bill, and high-risk facilities would have to adhere to stringent set of rules.

The committee print also includes requirements that a facility security plan assess methods for reducing consequences of an attack, which can include “substitution of chemicals, changes in processes, storage or use of less of a chemical of concern on site, changes to safer practices, reducing consequences of equipment failure or human error, improvements in inventory control, and reduction or elimination of storage, transportation, handling, disposal, or discharge of substances of concern.”  Furthermore, DHS would have broad discretion to require utilities to make security enhancements in line with these considerations.

NACWA and a coalition of key water sector groups have met on several occasions with congressional staff to explain that water and wastewater utilities should not be regulated under the rules intended for private-sector chemical manufacturers.  The Association is continuing to work with congressional staff to push for the water and wastewater treatment exemption at the committee level and is contacting members in key congressional districts to have them notify their representatives about the clean water community’s concerns with this bill.  Congressional staff also indicated they may be open to the possibility of incorporating a separate title in the bill that would only address water and wastewater facilities.  No action has been taken yet in the Senate.

NACWA Survey for Economic Stimulus Yields More Than $2.7 Billion in Ready Projects

NACWA’s Jan. 18 Legislative Alert (LA 08-01) seeking member input on the type and cost of infrastructure projects for which work can begin within three to six months generated a lengthy list from 37 utilities totaling $2.787 billion.  Congress and the White House agreed to an initial stimulus package to bolster the sagging economy that involved tax rebate checks to individuals.  Now some congressional members are looking to the possibility of a second package that could incorporate infrastructure spending as a way to further boost the economy and could include as much as $5 billion for water and wastewater projects.  NACWA and the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) continue to work with congressional staff and member agencies to hammer home the importance of including funding for water and wastewater projects that will create jobs, stimulate the economy, and benefit the environment.  This issue will be discussed in greater detail at the Feb. 8 meeting of NACWA’s Legislative Policy Committee from 7:30-8:45 am in Courtoom K/L during the Association’s Winter Conference at The Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs in Phoenix.

NACWA, WIN Efforts on Trust Fund Garner Momentum

Discussions this week with House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee staff yielded significant results in terms of its plans to ramp up efforts toward a clean water trust fund approach as part of bridging the growing clean water infrastructure funding gap.  T&I staff stated that Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the T&I Committee, has agreed to send a request to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for a study to evaluate viable revenue sources for a clean water trust fund, a critical step toward introducing trust fund legislation.  T&I staff, in the wake of the fiscal year 2008 budget cuts to the clean water state revolving fund (CWSRF), have also expressed their desire to begin working on a trust fund bill, with a goal of having legislation ready for introduction next year.  Similarly positive discussions took place this week between NACWA, several other WIN members, and the staff of Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D- Ore.). NACWA learned today that Rep. Blumenauer has since agreed to join in Chairman Oberstar’s GAO study request.  Staff with Rep. Blumenauer’s office also indicated their intent to use the NACWA/Water Infrastructure Network 2005 proposed trust fund legislation to create a draft trust fund bill in the coming months that can be circulated to key Congressional members and stakeholders as a means of gathering input and preparing a bill for introduction next year.  NACWA will provide members with updates on both the GAO study request and legislative efforts as developments unfold.  A more detailed discussion of these issues will occur at the Clean Water Funding Task Force meeting, which will take place February 6 from 3:45-4:45 pm in Sunrise C/D at The Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs during NACWA’s winter conference in Phoenix.