BNA

Municipal clean water and drinking water agencies plan to ask Senate leaders to revise draft climate change legislation to help utilities adapt their systems to changing climate conditions, agency officials told BNA May 13.

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies said they will send Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and other Senate leaders a letter the week of May 17 urging inclusion of an adaptation provision.

“We're disappointed that the American Power Act does not contain any relief for communities faced with the daunting challenges of managing their water resources in the face of climate change,” NACWA Executive Director Ken Kirk said in a statement.

The draft American Power Act, sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph Lieberman (I/D-Conn.), states only that the Environmental Protection Agency administrator “may” establish water system mitigation and adaptation partnerships, but the scope of the program is undefined.

The draft legislation, unveiled May 12, would provide a more generous distribution of free greenhouse gas emissions allowances to U.S. industries than in previous bills and would preempt states from running their own cap-and-trade programs. It would impose emissions limits on approximately 7,500 U.S. factories and power plants (91 DEN A-11, 5/13/10).

Kerry said at the draft's unveiling that he and other Senate committee chairmen will meet in coming weeks with Reid to determine how to move the legislation forward.

Reid Promoted Grants Bill
Reid introduced legislation (S. 1712) in September 2009 that would establish a Blue Bank for Water System Mitigation and Adaptation. The program would offer local water and wastewater utilities matching grants to fund climate adaptation efforts and studies. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) introduced similar legislation in the House.

Reid's bill, the Water Efficiency, Conservation, and Adaptation Act, would make grants to owners or operators of specified water systems to address any ongoing or forecasted climate-related impact on water quality or quantity of a region for mitigating or adapting to the impacts of climate change.
The legislation was co-sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife.

AMWA Legislative Director Dan Hartnett told BNA May 13 that water utility officials have spoken recently on several occasions with the Senate majority leadership staff who have said the adaptation provision “is a priority for Mr. Reid and he does want to see it in a final bill.”
Utility representatives also have met with Kerry staff members, Hartnett said.
“You can't wait until the tap runs dry to address the problem,” he said.

Water Systems on ‘Front Line' of Adaptation
“Sen. Reid's Blue Bank recognizes that water systems are on the front lines of climate change adaptation, and need to begin planning for the next several decades now,” said AMWA Executive Director Diane VanDe Hei in a statement. “AMWA urges the Senate to include this important program in any comprehensive climate legislation that goes to the floor.”

A similar climate change water adaptation provision was included in the stalled climate change legislation (S. 1733) approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in November 2009. The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act was sponsored by Kerry and Boxer (213 DEN A-1, 11/6/09).

The provision sought by the utilities would include funding for studies and projects to help utilities adapt to changing weather conditions, rising water, and other potential climate changes, Hartnett said. Projects could address water efficiency, conservation, development of new water supplies, coastal erosion, and melting snowpack.

It would not contain a specific funding level but would be financed from a percentage of the money raised from the sale of emissions credits.

Areas Addressed by Adaptation
Pat Sinicropi, NACWA director of legislative affairs, told BNA May 13 that adaptation could address a number of climate-related problems. For example, wastewater treatment plants in low-lying areas could be subject to floods. Adaptation could mean either relocating the plants or raising the pump stations, she said.
A study released in October 2009 by the two agencies estimated that the climate adaptation costs faced by water and wastewater systems in the United States could approach $1 trillion through 2050. Common impacts cited in the report include sea level rise and storm surge impacts, increased disrupted service from flooding, declining water quality, increased treatment requirements, and higher energy demand.

By Linda Roeder