Provided by the Water Environment Federation,
Alexandria, VA

House Appropriators Approve $8.2 Billion for EPA in FY2003
On October 9, the House Appropriations Committee approved a funding bill providing $8.2 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency in fiscal year 2003. The House bill is $95 million less than the version approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee in July. The Committee restored $10.4 million in cuts to EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance that was part of Bush's proposed budget, restoring 88 of the 95 positions eliminated under the president's proposal. The bill did not include $15 million for an EPA grants program to improve enforcement at the state level. The bill also includes $1.3 billion for the clean water state revolving fund and specifies that $75 million be used for interest-free loans to communities or nonprofit groups that "provide treatment for or that minimize sewage or stormwater discharges using one or more approaches, which include ... decentralized or distributed stormwater controls, decentralized wastewater treatment, low-impact development practices, conservation easements, stream buffers, or wetlands restoration." The bill provides $850,000 for the drinking water state revolving fund, $6 million for state water quality monitoring programs, and $2 million for state source water protection programs. (SRT)

Senate Hearing Marks 30th Anniversary of Clean Water Act
On October 8 the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act (CWA). "On this, the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, America again asks - is this the best we can do? The answer is "no." Our nation still faces many important challenges," stated Chairman Jim Jeffords (I-VT). Witnesses included former Senators Stafford and Mitchell, who played key roles in the passage of the 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act. Tracy Mehan, EPA Assistant Administrator for Water, also testified. Mehan discussed remaining water quality challenges such as nonpoint source pollution, and stated that "traditional regulatory tools" are not well suited for addressing "numerous and widespread" sources. Mehan also discussed the recently released Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis and said that addressing our nation's infrastructure needs will "require a shared commitment on the part of the federal, State, and local governments, private business, and consumers."

Other witnesses included Thomas Weber, Associate Chief Natural Resource Conservation Service, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Senior Counsel, Natural Resources Defense Council and Paul Pinault, Executive Director, Narragansett Bay Commission. Kennedy testified that the Bush Administration has weakened requirements in several areas, including the treatment of raw sewage, cleaning impaired waters, and protecting wetlands. "It is ironic that we are celebrating the successes of the Clean Water Act today because at the same time we are trumpeting its environmental achievements, the Bush administration is taking away the tools that made it successful," said Kennedy. Testimony from the hearing is available at http://www.senate.gov/~epw/stm1_107.htm. (SRT)

EPA Sponsors Two (Free) Total Asset Management Workshops for Utilities
Funded by USEPA's Office of Wastewater Management, these training sessions are limited to 100 attendees. It provides great opportunity to explore best practice approaches to Asset Management. The presenters are utility managers who are world-class experts on the particular subject matter, and have been working on refining and improving the state of practice for the last fifteen years. Please consider this opportunity. Information on the sessions is available on EPA's website: Western Workshop Announcement (PDF file); Eastern Workshop Announcement (PDF file); http://www.epa.gov/owmitnet/featinfo.htm.

Senator Introduces Wastewater Security Bill
Last week, Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT), chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, introduced S. 3037. The bill would require wastewater systems to conduct vulnerability assessments and prepare emergency response plans and would also require EPA to review possible terrorist threats to wastewater system. The reviews would be distributed through the Water ISAC or other means. The Senate bill has been referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and is not yet scheduled for action. The House has its own wastewater security bill, H.R. 5169, but it only addresses vulnerability assessments and makes conducting them voluntary. Copies of both bills are available at http://thomas.loc.gov. (JSR)

Quote of the Week:
"As I prepared my testimony for this hearing, I was struck by the similarities in the debates over the Clean Water Act in 1972, 1987, and today. . . In 1972 and 1987 the nation and the Congress rose to meet the challenge. I hope they will do so again."--- Statement of Senator (ret.) George Mitchell (D-ME) before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Oversight Hearing commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act on October 8, 2002.

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; JSR - Jill Raynor, (703) 684-2416, jraynor@wef.org: SRT - Sharon Thomas, (703) 684-2423, sthomas@wef.org; SJH - Sam Hadeed (703) 684-2418, shadeed@wef.org. This Week in Washington is available on-line at www.wef.org/GovtAffairs