The Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturer's Association recently held its 94th Annual Meeting, with the theme of Global Leadership. Kim Arnold, 2002 WWEMA Chairman, highlighted the association's accomplishments for the year. Following is a sampling of topics of specific interest to the municipal water/wastewater market.
Water Infrastructure Financing
WWEMA and other members of the "How to Optimize Water" Coalition – otherwise known as the H2O Coalition, held numerous strategy sessions, met on many occasions with House and Senate staff members, and testified before several House and Senate committees.
Thanks to those efforts, the Republican-controlled House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure passed H.R. 3930, the "Water Quality Financing Act of 2002" on April 17. The Democratic-controlled Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works passed S. 1961, the "Water Infrastructure Act of 2002" on May 17. Both bills would provide up to $35 billion for the SRF programs over five years and incorporate the principles WWEMA has espoused.
These bills will serve as the starting point for debate in next year's Congress. WWEMA will continue to work on Capitol Hill to ensure that the final bill incorporates its views and ensures a long-term, sustainable source of finance for future water infrastructure projects.
SRF Funding
WWEMA is working in partnership with the Clean Water Coalition – comprised of construction-related organizations – to increase funding this fiscal year for the SRF programs. Through letter-writing campaigns and visits with key Congressional offices, it has succeeded in getting the Senate Appropriations Committee to increase the Clean Water SRF program from $1.35 billion to $1.45 billion in FY '03, and to increase the Drinking Water SRF program from $850 million to $875 million. Final action on the SRF budgets for FY '03 is expected when Congress returns for a lame-duck session.
Value-Based Procurement
In 2001, WWEMA published the report "Optimizing Public Agency Procurement Power" in cooperation with the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies. In 2002, the organization focused on getting the report distributed widely. Nearly 5,000 copies were sent to public works officials, consulting engineers, manufacturers and their reps. Through a special arrangement with the Water Environment Federation, WWEMA was able to offer another publication, "Engineered Equipment Procurement Options," at a discount rate to recipients of the report and many took advantage of this savings.
WWEMA Defeats "Or Equal" Requirements
WWEMA worked to defend the use of value-based procurement methods. Even during the debate on water infrastructure financing, a campaign was underway to mandate use of the two-brand name "or equal" specifications for SRF-financed projects. WWEMA led the opposition to this requirement, meeting with House and Senate committee staffers to explain the impact such a rule would have on stifling innovation and encouraging substandard equipment offerings. The proposal was ultimately removed from the Senate bill. The House went a step further and actually specified consideration of value-based procurement options in its bill.
Security Initiatives
In the wake of the September 11 tragedies, national attention has shifted to securing critical infrastructure, including that of water and wastewater. WWEMA responded by forming a Water Security Task Force and established a position statement identifying critical areas where WWEMA member expertise could be employed.
WWEMA became a member organization of "The Infrastructure Security Partnership" (TISP), comprised of public and private organizations representing the design and construction industry whose primary aim is to facilitate dialogue on domestic infrastructure security. WWEMA recently applied for a seat on the Water Infrastructure Security Enhancements (WISE) Standards Committee, which is being administered by the American Society of Civil Engineers, a founding member of TISP.
Also, WWEMA is part of a select group of water-related organizations that comprise the "EPA Water Protection Task Force." Bi-weekly conference calls are initiated by EPA headquarters to discuss national security developments and security-related activities being pursued by each of the participating organizations.
Tracking Regulations
On the regulatory front, WWEMA's drinking water and wastewater regulatory committees were active this year tracking and reporting on numerous regulatory developments, beyond the high profile infrastructure finance and water security issues.
Drinking water issues being tracked by the organization include the status of rules on analytical methods, arsenic, the contaminant candidate list, filter backwash recycling, ground water, microbial-disinfection byproducts, and small systems affordability criteria, among others.
Wastewater issues monitored by WWEMA include combined sewer overflows, confined animal feeding operations effluent guidelines, sanitary sewer overflows, storm water, total maximum daily loads and urban runoff, among others.
WWEMA will remain vigilant in its oversight role and will submit comments to EPA as appropriate to ensure that these regulations reflect the capabilities of today's technologies offered by its member companies.
