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February 6, 2015 NACWA Meets with Top White House Officials to Discuss Smarter RegulationsNACWA, along with representatives from a number of state organizations including the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Environmental Council of States (ECOS), met with the head of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Shaun Donovan, on Friday to discuss the Administration’s ongoing regulatory review efforts. Howard Shelanski, head of OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which reviews all major regulations developed by EPA and other federal agencies, and Jerry Abramson, White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, also participated in the roundtable discussion – the kickoff meeting of a new effort to accelerate the reform initiative. The regulatory review was initiated several years ago via Executive Order, but the Administration is hoping to intensify its efforts to cut wasteful and duplicative regulations over its final two years. While specific regulatory provisions were not the focus of the meeting, NACWA highlighted the importance of the federal and state governments working in partnership with their local and regional equivalents to prioritize investments – acknowledging EPA’s efforts to develop and implement the Integrated Planning Framework – and the need to better consider the financial capability of local governments to meet the growing list of regulatory requirements. These comments echoed the discussion that NACWA’s Board of Directors and Legislative and Regulatory Policy Committee engaged in this week in Charleston during NACWA’s Winter Conference. NACWA will remain engaged with OMB on the high-level policy discussion, but will also engage directly with EPA, which is responsible for reviewing its regulations and reporting on its progress to OMB. Administration Releases FY2016 Budget RequestOn Monday, the Obama Administration released its FY 2016 Budget Request. Overall spending for EPA would increase by $460 million to $8.6 billion and spending levels on investments in water and wastewater infrastructure would be maintained near FY 2015 levels at $2.3 billion. The budget does, however, propose some shifts in this spending including a $333 million cut to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and a $279 million increase to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), dedicating $1.118 billion and $1.186 billion respectively to these programs. NACWA has learned that this shift is largely due to the fact that the DWSRF has not enjoyed the levels of funding that the CWSRF has, coupled with the concern over the events in Toledo and the need to better protect drinking water sources. The Administration is also requesting $50 million for technical assistance, training, and other efforts to enhance the capacity of communities and states to plan and finance drinking water and wastewater infrastructure improvements, of which $5 million would be used to administer the Water Infrastructure Finance & Innovation Act (WIFIA). Geographic programs overall suffered cuts of $57.3 million as most programs faced lower funding requests with the Great Lakes facing the biggest cut of $50 million. Funding requests for both Section 319 and Section 106 grants were increased by $5.7 million and $18.4 million respectively to $164,915,000 and $249,164,000. Of the funds set aside for Sec. 106 program, $18.5 million is to be used for collecting statistically valid water monitoring data and improve water monitoring programs — a move supported by NACWA. The following provides a comparison of FY 2016 proposed discretionary spending levels for EPA's water programs to FY 2015 levels.
This year’s budget request again includes a proposal to limit the amount of tax liability wealthy individuals can claim on interest income received from investments in municipal bonds to 28%. At the same time, the budget proposes a new bond program called America Fast Forward Bonds, similar to the Build America Bonds, which would provide state and local governments with an optional taxable bond alternative to traditional tax-exempt bonds. The Federal Government will share in the cost of these bonds so they are as affordable to issuers as tax-exempt bonds, and the proceeds can be used to further finance governmental capital projects. The Administration is also proposing a new Qualified Public Infrastructure Bond (QPIB) program that is intended to incentivize public-private partnerships and would effectively lift the caps currently in place on the Private Activity Bond program. These programs require Congressional approval and NACWA will be following developments on this as they unfold. Included here is a more detailed look at the EPA FY2016 budget EAB Denies Review in Satellite System Co-Permittee AppealEPA’s Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) denied The EAB’s decision in In Re Charles River Pollution Control District found that the satellite systems were part of the definition of a “publicly owned treatment works” (POTW) under the Clean Water Act (CWA), and EPA accordingly had the authority to include the satellites as part of the POTW permit. The EAB also determined that the satellites were not required to individually apply for inclusion in the permit, since the CWA’s “duty to apply” obligation was met when the POTW itself applied for the permit. The EAB reasoned that the information provided by the POTW in its own permit application was enough to waive the requirement for separate applications from the satellites. NACWA submitted a brief House-Senate Hearing Shows Majority’s Opposition to Proposed Waters of the U.S. RuleRepublicans and Democrats are no closer to agreeing on the proposed Waters of the U.S. rule (WOTUS) after the lengthy joint House-Senate Hearing over the rule on Wednesday, Feb. 4. The hearing’s purpose was to examine WOTUS’s impacts on state and local governments. At the hearing, EPA Administrator McCarthy explained that the purpose of the proposed rule is to “clarify the jurisdictional scope of the Clean Water Act (CWA), simplifying and improving the process for determining waters that are, and are not, covered by the Act”. Throughout the hearing, Administrator McCarthy and U.S. Army Corps Assistant Secretary Jo-Ellen Darcy tried to clear up many misunderstandings and concerns regarding the proposed rule. Administrator McCarthy repeatedly stated that all current exemptions would remain in place under the proposed rule and jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act is not expanded. She also stated that groundwater; green infrastructure; isolated ponds and puddles; artificially irrigated areas; and, water-filled depressions incidental to construction would not be jurisdictional under the final rule. She emphasized that the proposed rule would actually expand exemptions to include some features that currently require permits – a development supported by NACWA in its comments on the proposal. Despite the efforts to clarify, many Republicans remain dissatisfied. Many lamented EPA’s lack of communication and collaboration with the states and pointed to the absence of trust between local stakeholders and the agency. Following the hearing, Rep. Bill Shuster, Chair of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, and Sen. James Inhofe, Chair of the Environment & Public Works Committee, released a joint statement calling for the withdrawal of the WOTUS proposal arguing that it “would make it difficult to build anything” and that it would “cause greater confusion and increased costs”. Included here are a video recording of the hearing and all written testimony. NACWA Releases White Paper on Key Collaborative Initiatives |
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