A Resolve for Clean Water Goals
Second session of 110th Congress may prove even more fruitful
- By L. K. Williams
- Dec 03, 2007
October 18, the day the Clean
Water Act (CWA) became law
35 years ago, came and went
without any significant water
laws being enacted. But just 19
days later, Congress overrode
President Bush’s veto of the Water Resources
Development Act. The new law authorizes $23
billion for projects that affect waterborne commerce
on rivers and coastlines, habitat restoration,
and the environment. The money still
must be appropriated, however.
The House of Representatives passed Resolution
725 two days before the anniversary.
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) introduced
the resolution, which had 36 co-sponsors.
It passed by voice vote and resolved that
the House would:
• recognize the 35th anniversary;
• recommit itself to restoring and maintaining
the chemical, physical, and biological
integrity of the nation’s waters in accordance
with CWA goals and objectives;
• dedicate itself to
working toward a sustainable,
long-term solution to
address decaying water
infrastructure; and
nencourage the public
and all levels of government
to recognize and celebrate
the nation’s accomplishments
and renew
their commitment to restoring and protecting
the rivers, lakes, streams, marine waters, and
wetlands for future generations.
Resolutions do sound good, but what do
they really do?
In its defense, the House did initiate many
of the water-sector bills that are pending in the
110th Congress.
The following examples provide a glimpse
of authorized appropriations:
The financing (HR 720) and investment
(HR 569) bills have not gone as far through
the legislative process. Both were referred to
Senate subcommittees in March. But the
Water Quality Financing Act authorizes $14
billion for fiscal year (FY) 2008 through FY
2011 to the state water pollution control
revolving funds. The Water Quality Investment
Act authorizes about $1.7 billion for FY
2008 to FY 2012 for sewer overflow assistance.
From the bills reviewed here, Congress
tried to represent many of its needful constituents,
sustain good old programs, and
address critical needs. Two of the bills—
Healthy Communities Water Supply Act and
Small Community Drinking Water Funding
Act—target small systems that often do not
have the service base to leverage higher rates
and more funding. The Great Lakes Water
Protection Act gets serious about dumping
and proposes increased fines while the Water
Security Act provides $200 million to be
granted to water or wastewater facilities that
need to perform vulnerability assessments or
make security enhancements. The Farm Bill
goes a long way toward addressing nonpoint
source runoff from farming
operations through its
conservation and watershed
programs.
One forward-looking
bill—The Healthy Communities
Water Supply
Act—would revive an
expired pilot program for
alternative water source
projects. According to Rep. Dennis Cardoza
(D-Calif.), this bill would authorize
$125 million to finance pilot projects to recycle
or reuse water. “Given the scarcity and
challenges we face, this is just a start,” Cardoza
told his colleagues when he introduced
the measure. They apparently agreed, passing
the bill 368-59.
The heart of Congress appears to be in
the right place for the water sector. The new
hope is that this momentum will carry through
the second session and, as they should, many
of these bills will be enacted.
WATER-SECTOR BILLS |
Name of bill |
What it would do |
Status* |
Water Quality Financing Act
(HR 720) |
Authorize appropriations for state water pollution control revolving funds |
Passed March 9 in the House;
referred to Senate subcommittee |
Water Quality Investment Act
(HR 569) |
Require projects receiving sewer overflow control grant assistance be subject
to the requirements of projects receiving assistance from revolving funds |
Passed March 7,2007, in House, referred to Senate committee March 8 |
Healthy Communities Water Supply Act
(HR 700) |
Authorize appropriations for the pilot program for alternative water source projects
and would require EPA to consider whether a project seeking a grant is in an
area served by a public water system used by less than 10,000 people |
Passed March 8 in House, referred to Senate committee on March 9 |
The Beach Protection Act
(HR 2537 and S 1506) |
Include among eligible grant activities the development and implementation of programs for source tracking, sanitary surveys, and prevention efforts to address referred to respective committees
identified sources of beach water pollution and authorize appropriations for grants
through FY 2012 |
Bills introduced May 24 and referred to respective committees
|
Raw Sewage Overflow Community Right to Know Act
(HR 2452) |
Ensure that sewage treatment plants monitor for and report discharges of raw sewage |
Sent to House committee on May 25 |
Great Lakes Water Protection Act
(HR 2907) |
Establish a deadline for restricting sewage dumping into the Great Lakes and to fund
programs and activities for improving wastewater discharges into the Great Lakes |
Sent to House committeeJune 29 |
Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act
(HR 2419) |
Assist farmers using more than $5 billion in U.S. Department of Agriculture funding
to protect water, air, and soil quality as well as wildlife habitat through the Conservation Reserve,Wetlands Reserve, and Working Grasslands programs |
Passed July 27 in the House; sent to Senate committee Nov. 6 |
Small Community Drinking Water Funding Act
(S 1933) |
Provide grants to small public drinking water systems |
Sent to Senate committee Aug. 1 |
National Infrastructure Bank Act
(HR 3401 and S 1926) |
Establish a new system to finance infrastructure projects by leveraging private and public capital to fund large projects |
HR 3401 to House committee
Aug. 3; S 1926 to Senate
committee Aug. 1 |
National Infrastructure Improvement Act
(S 775,
HR 3398, and HR 3538) |
Establish a national commission on infrastructure to develop recommendations by February 2010 that would outline priorities for the next 5, 15, 30, 50 years |
S 775 and HR 3398 referred to House committee Aug. 3, HR 3538 referred to House committee Sept. 14 |
TCE Reduction Act
(S 1911)
|
Protect the health of susceptible populations by requiring a health advisory, drinking water standard, and reference concentration for trichloroethylene vapor intrusion, and for other purposes |
Sent to Senate committee
Aug. 1 |
Water Security Act
(S 1968)
|
Authorize EPA to provide grants for vulnerability assessments of publicly owned treatment works or community water systems, security enhancements, and emergency response, and site security plans |
Sent to Senate committee
Aug. 2 |
Water Resources Development Act
(HR 1495) |
Provide for the conservation and development of water and related resources, to authorize the Secretary of the U.S. Army to construct various projects for improvements to U.S. rivers and harbors |
Passed both houses, vetoed by Bush Nov. 2, Congress overrode veto Nov. 6 |
*To review current bill status, visit www.thomas.gov. For this article, information was current as of Nov. 6, 2007. |
This article originally appeared in the 12/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
About the Author
L.K. Williams is editor of Water and Wastewater News.