The 114th Congress formally convened in Washington on January 6, with Republicans taking control of both the House and Senate for the first time in eight years and potentially setting the stage for a series of protracted policy battles with the Obama Administration.
As the session began the chairmen of congressional panels with oversight of drinking water policy articulated their goals for the year ahead, which included a strong focus on government oversight and pushback against burdensome regulations. New Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) highlighted these topics in a discussion with the media this month, where he pledged to block EPA proposals Republicans believe could harm the economy – starting with the agency’s controversial “Waters of the U.S.” rule on the scope of federal authority under the Clean Water Act. The proposal will go under the microscope at a joint EPW hearing with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that Inhofe said is planned for early February, and that event will likely be followed early this year with congressional votes to block the rule’s implementation. President Obama, however, would be expected to veto any such bill, and at this point Congress appears short of the two-thirds majority to carry an override.
Keeping close tabs on EPA was also a common theme throughout a 2015 oversight plan released this month by the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Republican majority. The plan’s “energy and environment” priorities include reviews of EPA’s proposal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act as well as other climate change initiatives. The committee also plans to “review [EPA’s] funding decisions, resource allocation, grants, research activities, enforcement actions, relations with State and local governments, public transparency, and respect for economic, procedural, public health, and environmental standards in regulatory actions.” New legislative efforts related to the Safe Drinking Water Act, over which the panel holds jurisdiction, are not cited in the plan.
Energy and Commerce will take a new look at cybersecurity issues this year, with the goal of ensuring protection while “avoiding one-size-fits all approaches.” The panel also plans to review the Department of Homeland Security’s newly reauthorized CFATS chemical facility security program. Meanwhile, additional priorities of Senate EPW include passage of a multi-year highway funding bill, a review of the Endangered Species Act and a reauthorization of the Toxic Substances Control Act.
From AMWA’s perspective, securing FY16 appropriations for the new “Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act” (WIFIA), as well as removing a provision that bars the use of tax-exempt financing on projects that receive WIFIA loans, will be a top 2015 priority. The association also plans to defend tax-exempt municipal bonds against proposals that would impose new taxes on muni bond interest (thus raising borrowing costs for communities), and will be active in helping shape legislation intended to prevent chemical spills into drinking water sources.