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The Water Resources Coalition was established in 2007 to promote the development, implementation and funding of a comprehensive national water resources policy. With member organizations representing state and local governments, conservation, engineering and construction, ports, waterways and transportation services, the Coalition works to ensure that a comprehensive, national water resources policy is developed, implemented and funded to provide a sustainable, productive economy; a healthy aquatic ecology; and public health and safety. For more information, visit the Water Resources Coalition Web site at www.waterresourcescoalition.org. | |
WRC Meets with CEQ on Principles and Guidelines
The Water Resources Coalition (WRC) met with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to discuss revisions to the Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies, commonly referred to as the Principles and Guidelines or P&G, which inform U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project decision-making on April 7th. The WRC again expressed concerns that the CEQ's revisions to the P&G are too narrowly focused.
Under the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, the Corps was tasked with updating the P&G, but the CEQ has since taken over the process. The WRC has expressed concern in congressional testimony and public comments that the proposed P&G would base project development on primarily environmental and economic development factors with not enough emphasis on public safety.
The proposal calls for the development of water resources projects to be based on the best available science, greater consideration of non-monetary benefits to select a project, and other societal goals. But nothing in the proposal identifies the unequivocal need for resiliency in the design and construction of federal civil engineering projects to ensure public safety. Engineering resilience ensures that infrastructure systems designed to protect and improve the natural environment can carry on even after natural or man-made disasters.
The WRC has urged the CEQ to put public safety, environmental concerns, and economic benefit on equal footing in the revised P&G.
The WRC will continue to press the CEQ to take a wider viewpoint in future drafts of the P&G. Public comments on the P&G were due April 5. The National Academy of Sciences' Water Science and Technology Board is currently reviewing the document, as required by law, and is slated to be finished in November 2010.
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Clean Estuaries Bill Passes House
The House passed H.R. 4715, the Clean Estuaries Act of 2010, by a vote of 235 - 171 on April 15. The bill reauthorizes appropriations for the National Estuary Program (NEP) through fiscal year 2016 and makes certain programmatic changes.
Under current law, $35 million is authorized to be appropriated each year through 2010, and by enacting H.R. 4715 funding would increase the authorized funding level to $50 million on an annual basis for the next 5 years. This increase in funding would enable the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to add 12 new nationally significant estuaries into NEP, in order to protect them from pollution, development, and overuse. Additionally, the legislation would provide accountability and transparency, require greater federal coordination and consistency to implement federally approved comprehensive conservation and management plans, and require these plans to be more responsive to real time changing conditions in the external environment.
The Water Resources Coalition, urged Congress to support the legislation and sent a letter to the bill's sponsors. The coalition is pleased with the House passage of this crucial legislation that has already proven itself effective and will continue to advocate for speedy Senate passage. |
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Oberstar Introduces Bill Establishing Federal Oversight of U.S. Waters
Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN) introduced legislation this week that would amend the Clean Water Act to clarify federal jurisdiction over "waters of the United States."
The bill, H.R. 5088, America's Commitment to Clean Water Act, would overturn two Supreme Court decisions in recent years that narrowed the scope of federal authority over wetlands and other waters not hydrologically connected to navigable waters. It would delete the phrase "navigable waters" from the Act to prevent courts from interpreting the phrase as a limitation on the reach of the law over isolated wetlands and non-navigable water bodies.
By reversing the Court's decisions, Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, said his legislation would merely codify U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulations in effect from 1975 to 2001. Therefore, the bill would simply restore federal jurisdiction as it was enforced for 26 years, he added.
"[The bill] is not an expansion of the Act," he said. "If [waters] were not regulated before 2001, [they] will not be regulated under this legislation."
Adversaries of the bill, however, allege that it would protect every drop of water in the U.S. down to small backyard puddles. Opponents also point out that it would erase the historical line between federal and state control over land use planning, giving the federal government the ability to control development in local areas that Congress never intended to oversee. Oberstar said that critics exaggerate the problem. "Opponents argue that the federal government should not require a permit for everything you do that might affect a wet area. I agree," he said. "The Clean Water Act never required such permits and I do not offer legislation that would do so."
For more details of the legislation visit the T&I Committee website. |
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Boxer, Inhofe Seek New Water Resources Bill
Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and James Inhofe (R-OK) have asked members of the Senate to submit proposals for new water resources projects that would be authorized in a Water Resources Development Act for 2010.
Boxer and Inhofe set a May 18 deadline for Senate colleagues to submit "priority" project requests. "Water infrastructure investment is a proven job creator," said Boxer, chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. Inhofe is the senior Republican on the committee.
Congress generally enacts WRDA every two years, but none has been passed since November 2007, seven years after the previous WRDA legislation was enacted. WRDA authorizes funding for the federal share of projects such as rivers and harbors, levees, flood-control projects and other construction, but the actual budget authority (congressional permission to spend the money) comes in annual appropriations bills, and few projects are funded each year.
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House Subcommittee Hears WRDA 2010 Proposals
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a hearing to hear proposals for a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) in 2010. In her opening statement, subcommittee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) emphasized the need to produce a WRDA bill every other year, in order for the legislation to be effective and address new projects that develop over time. Currently, over 2,200 project requests have already been submitted to the committee for consideration, which expresses the overwhelming need for a new bill in the upcoming year.
Testifying before the subcommittee to share ideas for policy consideration were Theodore Brown, Chief of Planning, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps); Steve Fitzgerald, National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies; Barry Holliday, Dredging Contractors of America; Steve Little, Crounse Corp.; Bob Bendick, The Nature Conservancy; and Kirk Fordham, Everglades Foundation.
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Bond Bill for Water Infrastructure Introduced in Senate
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced a bill this week that would amend federal tax law to exempt from state volume caps those private activity bonds that are issued by state and local governments to raise money for the construction of sewer and drinking-water supply plants.
The bill, S. 3262, is identical to a bill sponsored in the House by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) that was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this spring as part of a larger job-creation measure.
The Menendez bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.
Under current law, the limit on the total private activity bond issue for water projects for each state is $90 per state resident or $273.77, whichever is greater.
The Menendez and Pascrell bills would eliminate that cap, thus allowing the states and local governments to issue bonds for water infrastructure projects without having to compete with other state or local bond issues. |
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GAO Reviews Corps' Budget Process
This month the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on the budgeting practices of the Army Corps of Engineers. Since FY06 when performance based budgeting was introduced, the Corps has focused on projects with the highest anticipated returns on investment for the economy, environment and the protection of human life. Since the adoption of performance based budgeting, the GAO found Corps headquarters are now more prominent players in the project selection and evaluation processes. The Corps watches the progression of ongoing projects through review boards at the headquarter, division and district levels. The movement over the past several years to a more centralized decision making process has resulted in more consistent choices that fall under Corps guidance and focus on agency wide priorities, as well as present the OMB with multiple funding options based on performance criteria.
The GAO gave the Corps several areas to work on in their budget process, including creating written instructions establishing a process for incorporating information on demonstrated performance, have a more transparent budget process, demonstrate how decisions are made, and include detailed information on all projects. The GAO feels these recommendations would result in more complete and consistent decision making.
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Draft of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to be Completed in 2010
On Monday, April 26, the Interior Deputy Labor Secretary David J. Hayes and CA Natural Resource Secretary Lester Snow announced that federal and state agencies will have a completed draft of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan in November of this year. This plan works to develop long term solutions to address California's serious water issues. The comprehensive plan aims to create a more reliable water supply system for the state and restore the Bay Delta ecosystem.
The plan is a joint effort between local, state and federal water and fish agencies, as well as, several environmental organizations. California's Departments of Water Resources and Fish and Game, Interior's Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Services and the Army Corps of Engineers are providing leadership for this project.
After this draft is completed an Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report draft will be completed in 2011. Both drafts will be made available for public comments. The final plan will eventually be considered by the Delta Stewardship Council. |
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WaterSMART Funding Opportunities Commence
The Bureau of Reclamation announced the availability of the Water and Energy Efficiency Grants funding opportunity, the first funding opportunity in 2010 under the WaterSMART program.
Reclamation is seeking proposals for projects that seek to conserve and use water more efficiently, increase the use of renewable energy in water management, protect endangered and threatened species, facilitate water markets, and carry out other activities to address climate-related impacts on water or prevent any water-related crisis or conflict.
Eligible applicants that may submit proposals for funding are State or Territory agencies or departments with water or power delivery authority, Federally recognized Indian Tribes with water or power delivery authority, irrigation and water districts, entities created under State or Territorial law with water management authority, municipal water or power delivery authorities, or other organizations with water or power delivery authority. Applicants must also be located in the Western United States or an authorized Territory. Projects will be selected for funding through a competitive process.
Proposals must be submitted as indicated on www.grants.gov by May 4, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. MDT. It is anticipated that awards will be made this summer.
For more information on the WaterSMART program visit www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/. | |
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Sincerely,
Brian Pallasch and Marco Giamberardino
Co-Chairs
Water Resources Coalition |
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