Provided by the Water Environment Federation,
Alexandria, VA

Utility Leaders Present WIN Views to Senate EPW Staff
Representatives from 10 water and wastewater utilities met with staff from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on January 3. The utility leaders provided firsthand information on water and wastewater capital needs in their communities, and answered questions relating to potential water infrastructure legislation. Topics covered in the wide-ranging discussion included local rate structures, the need for grants in addition to the existing safe drinking water and clean water revolving loan funds, SRF streamlining, and methods for targeting assistance to disadvantaged communities. Senate staff indicated they would be drafting legislation this month and hope to hold hearings during February. It is not clear at this time if the draft legislation will incorporate a grants component or what funding level will be proposed. Utility leaders attending the January 3 meeting included: Bill Brant and Bonnie Wells, Miami Dade (FL) Water and Sewer District; Howard Neukrug and Bernie Brunwasser, Philadelphia (PA) Water Department; Carrie Lewis, Milwaukee (WI) Water Works; Jerry Johnson, Washington, DC Water and Sewer Authority; Jim Canaday, Alexandria (VA) Sanitation Authority; Bill Schatz, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District; Sheila Cohen, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (MD); Joe Gehin, Wausau (WI) Water Works; Paul Pinault, Naragansett Bay Commission (RI); and Rick Seymour, Nashua (NH) Wastewater Treatment Facility. Staff from the Water Environment Federation, American Water Works Association, Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies, and Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies also participated in the meeting. (TSW)

GAO Reports on Water Infrastructure Funding Programs
The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) has released a report on federal assistance for water infrastructure that was requested by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The GAO study provides information on federal and state spending from 1991 through 2000. Based on information from 46 states, the GAO reports that revolving loan funds made about $25 billion available during this period, with about $10.1 billion coming from state sources. GAO also found 56 different state-sponsored grant programs for drinking water and/or wastewater infrastructure. The report, Water Infrastructure: Information on Federal and State Financial Assistance, GAO-02-134 (November 30, 2001) is available in PDF format at the GAO web site: http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?gao-02-134.(TSW)

Congress Approves Brownfields Bill As Congress Adjourns
Before adjourning the first session of the 107th Congress, the House and Senate passed the first and only major environment piece of legislation for 2001. H.R. 2869, the "Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act" would promote redevelopment of polluted properties, or brownfields, by authorizing $250 million annually over the next five years. The legislation has the support of EPA and President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law. After passage EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman stated, "this important action addresses many areas that were of significant importance to the President as we move forward with the assessment and cleanup of what are environmental eyesores. It recognizes the importance of our state and local partners by increasing funding and granting them more flexibility." More significant to many supporters of the legislation, including small business owners, is what the regulatory relief the bill is designed to provide. By amending the current Superfund law, H.R. 2869 would exempt businesses that disposed less than 100 gallons of liquid or less than 200 pounds of solid hazardous waste on sites from liability. In addition, businesses with less than 100 workers who dispose only municipal solid waste at a superfund site are also exempted. The bill received strong bipartisan support early in the congressional session but stalled due to a debate over whether the Davis-Bacon act, which requires prevailing wages to workers at federally funded construction sites would apply. Language was ultimately added to ensure prevailing wages would apply, over objections from several House and Senate republicans. (JKS)

Water Security Funds Still Up in the Air
When Congress reconvenes later this month for the second session of the 107th Congress, a joint House-Senate conference committee will work out differences between two versions of legislation to fund water and wastewater security, according to sources on Capitol Hill. Prior to adjourning for the year on December 20, 2001 the Senate passed (S. 1608), which would authorize $50 million over six years for drinking water and wastewater utilities to assist with current and planned security measures. The House passed its version (H.R. 3178) on December 12, 2001, which would authorize $60 million over five years. Other sources of funding for water and wastewater security may come from a $175.6 million allocation to EPA for counter terrorism measures as part of the fiscal 2002 defense appropriations bill (H.R. 3338) and a separate bioterrorism bill (H.R. 3448). It is not clear how much of the EPA allocation in the defense appropriations bill will be spent on water and wastewater security since most of the money is to be allocated to the Agency's superfund program, its science and technology program, and its state and tribal assistance program. EPA, with congressional oversight, will determine how the remaining allocation is to be spent. (H.R. 3448), the bioterrorism bill, which passed the House on December 12, 2001 contains $120 million for drinking water vulnerability assessments and emergency response plans. However, a senate version of the bioterrorism bill (S. 1765) does not contain money for drinking water or wastewater security projects. (JKS)

White House OMB Office Recommend TMDL, Arsenic Rules Be Reviewed
The Bush Administration should review several environmental regulations, including the proposed total maximum daily load (TMDL) and arsenic rules, to ensure they are based on sound science and the benefits outweigh the costs, according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In a report titled "Making Sense of Regulation" the OMB office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) list 23 federal regulations that are "high priority regulatory policy issues" and should be reviewed to ensure they are not "obsolete, outmoded, or could be updated." The TMDL rule is already under an 18-month EPA review, which began October 2001. The Arsenic rule is scheduled to become final on February 22 and will lower the current 50 parts per billion standard to 10 ppb. The OIRA is charged with analyzing whether the benefit of federal regulations outweigh the costs to states, local communities, and citizens. Other notable environmental regulations, which should receive cost-benefit analysis include new source review regulations under the Clean Air Act and energy conservation standards for central air conditioners and hear pumps. For the complete report go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/costbenefitreport.pdf (JKS)

EPA Extends Comment Period for the Proposed Establishment of Electronic Reporting/Electronic Records Rule
EPA announced in the Federal Register on January 3 that its is extending by an additional 30 days the comment period on its proposed rule for establishment of electronic reporting and electronic records (visit: frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=fr03ja02-10.pdf On August 31, 2001 (66 FR 46162), EPA proposed conditions under which the Agency would allow submission of electronic documents and maintenance of electronic records to satisfy federal environmental reporting and record keeping requirements in EPA's regulations. The comment period is being extended by 30 days until February 27 to provide the public with additional time to evaluate and comment upon the complex provisions of this proposed rule. Two additional public meetings on the proposed rule's record keeping provisions, to be held before the public comment period closes are: (1) January 17, 10:00 am - 5:30 p.m. at The Wyndham Washington, 1400 M Street, NW, Washington, DC; and (2) January 31, 2002, 10:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. (CST) at the Holiday Inn Select, 4440 W. Airport Freeway, Irving, TX. For further information contact: David Schwarz, Office of Environmental Information, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20460, (202) 260-2710 or Evi Huffer at (202) 260-8791. (SJH)

NBP Completes EMS Auditor's Guidance
The National Biosolids Partnership's (NBP) Management Committee approved on January 2 its final Environmental Management System (EMS) Blueprint document - EMS Auditor's Guidance. This document provides the guidance for the creation of an independent, third party EMS verification program. The goal of this Guidance is to ensure that the requirements and processes of the NBP EMS Third Party Verification are clearly established and communicated, and to ensure that the EMS's of participating biosolids organizations are evaluated in a fair and consistent manner that corresponds with the expectations of the NBP. The Auditor's Guidance and the other EMS Blueprint documents can be viewed in the EMS Guidance section (http://biosolids.policy.net/emsguide/) on the NBP web site - http://www.biosolids.org/. The Guidance summarizes the NBP EMS Third Party Verification approach and addresses the following objectives: (1) Introduces EMS auditors to the National Biosolids Partnership, the NBP EMS Program, and the NBP Third Party Verification; (2) Communicates the requirements for achieving NBP EMS Program Verification, including the specific requirements associated with the 17 elements of the NBP's Elements of an Environmental Management System for Biosolids (EMS Elements); (3) Outlines processes and procedures associated with the NBP EMS Third Party Verification; and (4) Presents the qualifications and requirements that NBP EMS auditors must meet.
The document emerges from a nine month concerted effort among a diverse group of members including WEF, of both an Auditor Guidance Development and EMS Program Advisory Groups to translate last year's Third Party Verification Recommendations into concrete and clear auditor guidance. The document also provides interpretations of certain key terms currently contained in the interim final draft of the EMS Elements document. There was full consensus among the members of both Groups that this document clearly reflects - and communicates - the intent, expectations, and requirements of the NBP's EMS Program, will provide the basis for consistent and fair independent third party audits, and will strongly support the NBP's goal of promoting environmentally sound and publicly accepted biosolids management practices. (SJH)

Quote of the Week:
"The degree to which scientific disputes have become important to federal policy has become greater. I think there is a real thirst for hearing from scientists now because so many issues deal with science." -- David Goldston, Chief of Staff, House Science Committee, as reported in The Hill newspaper, January 2.

This Week in Washington is provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA. To receive This Week in Washington by e-mail, contact Lisa Scott, (703) 684-2400 ext. 7741, lscott@wef.org. For more information on this week's stories, please contact the WEF Government Affairs staff member whose initials appear at the end of the item in which you are interested. TSW -Tim Williams (703) 684-2437, twilliams@wef.org; JKS - Jim Sullivan, (703) 684-2436, jsullivan@wef.org: SRT - Sharon Thomas, (703) 684-2423, sthomas@wef.org; SJH - Sam Hadeed (703) 684-2418, shadeed@wef.org; EDM - Eugene DeMichele, (703) 684-2438, edmichele@wef.org; AMWA - Michael Archeneaux, michael@amwa.net. This Week in Washington is available on-line at www.wef.org/GovtAffairs