By Maureen Lorenzetti
The mid-term elections returned the Senate to Republican control, albeit by a narrow enough margin that any controversial proposal stands to be blocked by Democrats through parliamentary measures, including filibusters designed to stall legislation.
At presstime, the political makeup of the new 108th Congress convening in January reflected a closely divided nation. And neither Republicans nor Democrats have a clear hold over governors: statewide the election netted 24 Democrats, 25 Republicans, with one race still undeclared.
The new Senate will include 47 Democrats, 52 Republicans, 1 independent, with one race undeclared. In the House, Republicans retained controlled and picked up a few seats in the process: Democrats will number 203, Republicans 228, with one independent and 3 undeclared races.
With the elections over, attention is now being paid to lawmakers tapped to run key committees that oversee funding and regulation impacting the water infrastructure industry.
An expected dramatic change will occur in the Environment and Public Works Committee where Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) will replace James Jeffords (I-VT) as chairman.
Last spring Inhofe opposed what he considered to be the "partisan" Water Investment Act of 2002 (S.1961) for several reasons. He said the bill's original intent to streamline and improve the loan application and review process for local water utilities instead makes the process more complicated.
"This new complexity discourages the application of small community water works because they cannot afford to spend resources on the paperwork necessary to participate and compete," Inhofe said last May.
He also said that the bill did not provide funds to communities that need them most, including his own state of Oklahoma which he said stood to lose about $1.5 million in federal clean water funds. He, along with other conservative Republicans, also took issue with a portion of the bill that required the Davis-Bacon labor law be used in all water works contracts; it requires states and localities to pay a base amount of money for labor.
"This would add up to 39% of additional cost for construction," he said. "States and localities should be able to find the best labor at the best price."
Over on the funding side, Ted Stevens (R-AK) resumes control over the Appropriations Committee previously held by Robert Bryd of West Virginia. Both men are considered moderates although given the growing fiscal pressures surrounding the federal budget Stevens may be under more pressure to rein in spending than his predecessor was.
Democrats Blast Bush Over Environmental Policies
Marking the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, US House Democrats issued a report warning that Bush administration policies may undermine the legislation's past successes.
"In 1972, only one-third of the nation's waters met water quality goals. Today, two-thirds of those waters meet water quality goals. The nation has doubled the waters that meet water quality goals, but it is only one-half of the way there," the report said.
"The actions and lack of action of the Bush administration on water quality are slowly and steadily undermining the successes of the Clean Water Act."
Democrats said that in the first two years of his administration, President Bush has attempted "repeatedly" to undercut EPA enforcement actions. One key example to Democrats is the decision by the White House to suspend implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency's rule on Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL). Bush's opponents argue that the rule would have given states an additional tool in addressing the more than 20,000 rivers, lakes, streams, and other waterbody segments that remain dangerously polluted.
Democrats also said Bush "provided no leadership" on additional efforts needed to control nonpoint source pollution.
Especially disturbing, Democrats said, is President Bush's opposition to bipartisan congressional efforts to increase federal investment in the nation's wastewater and drinking water infrastructure.
"As our population grows, we must substantially increase our wastewater and drinking water infrastructure, to maintain and improve the quality of our water," said the report. "Failure to make the necessary infrastructure investments will lead to a serious deterioration in water quality."
EPA Funding
An ongoing congressional budget stalemate is likely to mildly hurt EPA funding, according to Debra Coy, a water and environment analyst for Schwab Capital Markets L.P. Coy said in an Oct. 17 industry overview that EPA along with other government agencies is captive to the congressional delays in completing annual spending bills for fiscal year 2003, which technically began Oct. 1. Until new spending levels are agreed to, EPA and other parts of the federal government must continue to rely on the old FY 02 numbers.
When the FY 03 budget is finally decided, Coy anticipates a "modest" budget increase. But on the state level, Coy expects to see some belt tightening.
"Cuts in environmental budgets are likely for the second year in a row, as state government deal with declining tax revenues," Coy said.
She cites a survey released in July by the Environmental Council of the States which determined that 30 of the 40 state agencies that responded to the survey faced budget reductions in FY 03 "after nearly a decade of dependable annual increases the ended in fiscal 2001," Coy said.
Oil Producers Oppose EPA Stormwater Rules
Oil producers are urging the White House to retool a pending proposal by the US Environmental Protection Agency requiring oil and gas drillers to follow storm water regulations now in place for general construction companies.
"It's unworkable the way the agency is suggesting now and we have asked the [White House's] Office of Management and Budget to take a closer look at this proposal," one oil industry group said.
State and regional independent oil associations say 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act gave oil and gas producers an exemption to storm water run off rules. But even if EPA feels it is still within its authority to remove that exemption, regulators should consider a blanket waiver for industry, the groups say.
Producers maintain storm water runoff from oil and gas sites has minimal to no impact to surface waters compared to commercial construction because activities covered by their general permits only last a few days to two weeks. The rule if finalized may also cause serious delays to existing leases and discourage domestic production.
The Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association predicts that the average permitting time will be "at least" six months to obtain a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit. That timeframe also includes paperwork needed for an endangered species act determination, a historical preservation act determination, and a site specific storm water prevention plan, TIPRO said in a July 30 newsletter to members.
Industry officials say EPA is considering waivers for specific situations in which a new water permit may be redundant or unnecessary: these include areas that are unlikely to have rainfall erosion problems or where it has already been shown that the water pollution potential is small.
But producer groups fear the current waiver proposal is too narrow and are threatening litigation unless EPA or the White House offers another proposal. The dispute over storm water comes at a time when industry is also expecting new agency effluent guidelines for drilling sites.
A final resolution of the issue is not expected until late fall at the earliest, according to industry groups.
