Monday Morning Briefing is being published early in advance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday. The AMWA office will be closed on January 21.

A long-awaited Hurricane Sandy relief bill approved by House lawmakers last week includes a $600 million infusion into the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) to help water systems in New York and New Jersey build resiliency to future floods and natural disasters.

The SRF funds were included in an amendment offered by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) to the base relief bill. The amendment allocates $500 million to the CWSRF and $100 million to the DWSRF and stipulates that the dollars shall be provided to New York and New Jersey for projects at water and wastewater facilities “impacted by Hurricane Sandy.” The funds would not necessarily have to be used to repair damage caused by the storm, but instead could be spent on projects “to reduce flood damage risk and vulnerability or to enhance resiliency to rapid hydrologic change or a natural disaster.” The states would be required to use between 20 and 30 percent of these funds to deliver principal forgiveness, negative interest loans or grants to recipients.

AMWA had called on the House to approve the resiliency dollars, noting similarities to AMWA-backed legislation from Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) that would establish a new water infrastructure resiliency and sustainability program at EPA. However, the House-approved $600 million for water infrastructure resiliency is less than the $810 million the Senate’s original Sandy relief bill proposed for that purpose. The original Senate proposal also would have entitled each state covered by a federal disaster declaration related to Sandy – totaling 12 states and the District of Columbia – to at least two percent of the total SRF funds in the bill, instead of limiting recipients to New York and New Jersey. Despite these differences, the Senate is expected to quickly vote on the House version without further amendments and send it to the president as early as this week.

Other sections of the House-passed bill would provide the Army Corps of Engineers’ construction account with just under $3.5 billion to repair and rehabilitate Corps projects and protect projects along the Atlantic Coast from future large-scale flood and storm events. The Corps would also receive additional funding to support emergency operations and complete studies on the flood risks of vulnerable coastal populations.
 

AMWA’s 2013 Water Policy Conference will take place March 17-20 in Washington, D.C. A number of key policy makers are slated to speak and others are invited.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) will discuss plans to enact his Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA), which AMWA supports. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) will speak about cybersecurity legislation, and Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, will outline his committee’s plans to boost infrastructure funding.

Peter Grevatt, EPA’s new Director of the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, will discuss his priorities and upcoming regulatory efforts. Kathy Jacobs, Director of the National Climate Assessment at the U.S. Global Change Research Program, has tentatively agreed to speak about the assessment and what it says about water resource management challenges. 

Susan Collet of the Bond Dealers of America will speak on the prospects of tax reform impacting the municipal bond tax exemption and advocacy efforts underway to protect it. AMWA General Counsel Robert Saner will discuss the status and possible outcomes of water conveyance and Clean Water Act permitting cases involving New York City, South Florida Water Management District and Los Angeles County Sanitation District.

To learn about other speakers and get conference details, visit www.amwa.net.

In its new report on infrastructure investment, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) says current trends indicate $126 billion will be needed for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure by 2020, resulting in an anticipated funding gap of $84 billion. If the problem is not addressed in coming years, capital investment required for water infrastructure is expected to rise to $195 billion by 2040, with a funding gap of $144 billion.

The report, Failure to Act: The Impact of Current Infrastructure Investment on America’s Economic Future, covers the gamut of transportation and electricity infrastructure, in addition to water and wastewater needs. ASCE found that between now and 2020, the projected $84 billion deficit for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure could lead to $206 billion in increased costs for businesses and nearly 700,000 in lost U.S. jobs. By 2040, water infrastructure underinvestment could put 1.4 million jobs at risk due to unreliable water delivery and wastewater treatment services, the report said. This is the fifth and final report in the ASCE Failure to Act series.

Following a June 2012 Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Planning Approach Framework, a new memorandum to EPA regional administrators and Water and Enforcement Division directors from EPA’s Office of Water and Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance attempts to further clarify the types of considerations that municipalities can use when evaluating affordability of projects undertaken to comply with Clean Water Act (CWA) requirements. The three-page “Financial Capability Framework” memorandum is the latest product stemming from ongoing discussions with local communities and other stakeholders and reflects the real funding challenges faced when implementing CWA requirements.

Despite the flexibility advocated by EPA Headquarters within its integrated planning framework, many municipalities have found the message has not adequately filtered down to the regional and state levels. Though it does not offer concrete solutions, the memorandum represents the next step in a continuing dialogue between all government sectors. The framework encourages further dialogue on issues such as more appropriate indicators of community affordability, prioritization of projects, innovative financing and consideration of other community obligations (such as those under the Safe Drinking Water Act).

EPA’s Office of Water joined with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey in signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in late December to “improve and sustain federal coordination and collaboration on issues related to pharmaceuticals in drinking water.” The MOU, prompted by a 2011 General Accounting Office report critical of the lack of coordination on the issue, sets the parameters for an interagency workgroup to facilitate information sharing and additional research to fill existing data gaps on the occurrence, toxicity, health effects and other scientific questions pertaining to trace pharmaceuticals found in drinking water supplies. A copy of the MOU, along with other resources related to pharmaceuticals in drinking water, are available at EPA’s Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in Water web page.

On January 14, EPA finalized new amendments to its 2010 National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE NESHAP). Under the new amendments, large internal combustion engines are subject to run-time restrictions, fuel specifications and other technical requirements when used as part of emergency electrical demand response (i.e., supplementing peak loads or preventing brownouts/blackouts). The rule emphasizes that control or emissions limits do not apply to engines of any size when used during power outages caused by storm events.

The applicability of the RICE NESHAP amendments are very specific to local circumstances, and any entity using a large reciprocating internal combustion engine is encouraged to look closer at how the new requirements may impact their specific situation. Additional information on the amendments, including specific rule language and fact sheets, is available at EPA’s RICE NESHAP web page.

For up-to-the-minute water developments, follow AMWA on Twitter at @AMWA_water.