UMRBA Update

April 20, 2001

Washington News

• Wetlands---On April 16, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman announced that EPA and the Corps of Engineers will allow a new wetlands regulation promulgated late in the Clinton Administration to take effect.  The rule clarifies the definition of dredged material in response to a 1998 federal appeals court decision striking down what was known as the "Tulloch Rule."  Published in the January 17 Federal Register, the new rule was one of many subject to a 60-day postponement under the Bush Administration's "regulatory review plan" (see the January 30 UMRBA Update).  In announcing that the rule will be implemented as published, Administrator Whitman emphasized that "the Bush Administration is committed to keeping our waterways clean and safe.  The protection of America's vanishing wetlands is a vital step toward ensuring cleaner water for everyone.  In addition to serving as habitat for wildlife, wetlands help filter and protect our country's water supply."  Under the Tulloch Rule, incidental fallback during wetlands drainage was equated with wetlands filling and thus subject to Section 404 regulation.  According to EPA and the Corps, the new rule protects wetlands and provides predictability for the regulated community while allowing "for case-by-case evaluations as to whether a regulable discharge of dredged material results from a particular activity, thus retaining necessary program flexibility to address the various fact-specific situations that are presented."  Details regarding EPA's action and the new rule are available at http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/dredgedmat/dredmat.html.

New Bills

• H.R. 1413 "Get Arsenic Out of Our Drinking Water Act"---Reinstates the final arsenic rule promulgated by EPA on January 22, 2001.  That rule established a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for arsenic in drinking water of 10 micrograms per liter.  In addition, annual authorized funding for the Safe Drinking Water state revolving fund is increased from $1 billion to $2 billion.  Introduced April 4, 2001 by 160 members including 23 from the five UMR states.
• H.R. 1428 "Two Floods and You are Out of the Taxpayers' Pocket Act"---Requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in awarding grants for mitigation activities, to give priority to properties for which repetitive flood insurance claim payments have been made.  Increases the annual amounts credited to the National Flood Mitigation Fund from the National Flood Insurance Fund, with provisions for those increased amounts to be used only for repetitive claim properties.  Provides chargeable national flood insurance premium rates for repetitive claim properties and certain coastal and river properties leased from the federal government.  Authorizes annual premium increases with respect to those properties.  Prohibits federal disaster relief assistance from being used for repair, replacement, or restoration of any property in the area for which repetitive claim payments have been made and federal mitigation assistance has been offered to, but refused by, the property owner.  Authorizes FEMA to provide funding for mitigation actions that reduce flood damages to repetitive claim properties that are not otherwise eligible for funding from the Flood Mitigation Fund because the state or community cannot comply with its requirements.  Introduced April 4, 2001 by Doug Bereuter (R-NE), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), and Jerry Costello (D-IL).  Similar to legislation they introduced in 1999 that never received a hearing.
• H.R. 1474 "American Wetland Restoration Act"---Authorizes the Secretary of the Army, in consultation with a mitigation bank review team, to issue charters for wetland mitigation banks.  Sets forth criteria for issuing the charters, including requirements that there be assurances of project success, adequate water supply, legal control and protections, adequate financial resources, and an adequate operations and maintenance plan to ensure continued viability of the project.  Upon receipt of a charter, a bank is authorized to offer mitigation credits for sale, subject to specified criteria.  Authorizes the Secretary to provide additional guidance on the size and use of the service area and to resolve interstate disagreements.  Authorizes an approved mitigation bank to provide compensatory mitigation for activities required under the Clean Water Act or provide required injunctive relief in an enforcement action by the Corps or EPA.  States a preference for in-kind compensation of wetland impacts.  Directs the Corps and EPA to establish standards and criteria, similar to those applicable to a mitigation bank, for the use of on-site mitigation, in lieu fees, and other off-site mitigation as compensatory mitigation.  Introduced April 4, 2001 by Walter Jones (R-NC) and 16 others, including Gil Gutknecht (R-MN).  Similar to legislation introduced in 1999 that never received a hearing.
• H.R. 1506 Wetlands Reserve Program Authorization---Extends the authorization for the Wetlands Reserve Program through calendar year 2005 and caps annual enrollment at 250,000 acres for 2001 through 2005.  Introduced April 4, 2001 by Charles Pickering (R-MS) and 37 others, including Jim Leach (R-IA), Gil Gutknecht (R-MN), David Phelps (D-IL), and Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO).
• S. 678 "Fishable Waters Act"---Amends the Clean Water Act to establish a program for fisheries habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement.  Under the bill, voluntary watershed councils develop comprehensive fisheries protection plans, which identify specific projects that can be implemented in cooperation with consenting landowners.  These councils are overseen by the states, which approve council plans and administer Fisheries Habitat Accounts.  Annual appropriations of $250 million are authorized, through the USDA, to plan and implement projects in approved plans.  Money can be used to provide up to 15 percent of the nonfederal cost share for a wide range of conservation programs, including the Conservation Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, UMRS Environmental Management Program, and Missouri and Middle Mississippi Enhancement Project.  However, the funds are not limited to use under these programs.  Additional funds are authorized through Interior for an urban waters revitalization program, measures to restrict livestock access to streams, and measures to maintain instream flows.  A national planning program is also established to protect and restore fish habitat on major waterways through improved floodplain management practices.  S. 678, which is similar to legislation introduced last session that never received a hearing, was introduced April 3, 2001 by Christopher Bond (R-MO).  The House companion bill is H. 325.
• S. 751 Sense of the Senate Regarding Drinking Water Standard for Arsenic---Expresses the sense of the Senate that EPA should promulgate a national primary drinking water regulation for arsenic by June 22, 2001.  Introduced April 6, 2001 by Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

Committee Action

• Transportation Congestion---On April 4, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing concerning congestion in the nation's transportation system.  Committee Chair Don Young (R-AK) termed congestion "a national crisis" and called for increased capacity.  Ranking Minority Member Jim Oberstar (D-MN) cautioned that "building more infrastructure is an important part of the answer, but it cannot be the only answer."  Oberstar urged that options to enhance efficiency, alternative modes such as mass transit, and short-term measures to relieve congestion all be explored.  Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, the only witness at the hearing, spent most of his time addressing highway and aviation congestion.  However, he also stressed the importance of intermodal connections and said "we need to step up to the challenges of addressing port congestion and improving our marine transportation system as well."   According to Mineta, "our marine transportation system is one of the nation's vital links -- with about 90 percent of our international trade and a significant portion of domestic trade carried by water."   Mineta said the Department of Transportation is "reviewing the available options and want[s] to work together in the spirit of partnership with state and local authorities that provide most of the funding in this area to ensure our marine system helps to provide American businesses with competitive access to markets in an increasingly global economy."  Mineta's testimony and related information are available at http://www.house.gov/transportation/ctisub6.html.

Future Committee Schedules

• Corps Budget---Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing concerning the Corps' FY 02 budget and priorities on May 2.

• Coast Guard Budget/Boating Safety---Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold hearings regarding the Coast Guard's FY 02 budget request (May 3) and recreational boating safety (May 15).

• Interior FY 2002 Appropriations---Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee will hear from Interior Secretary Gale Norton on April 24.  Norton will testify before the House subcommittee on April 25.

• EPA FY 2002 Appropriations---House VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee will take testimony on EPA's budget May 9 and 10.  The Senate subcommittee will hear from EPA on June 13.

• FEMA FY 2002 Appropriations---Senate VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee will have a hearing on FEMA's budget on May 16.  The House subcommittee will hear from FEMA on May 17.

• Coast Guard FY 2002 Appropriations---House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee will take testimony on the Coast Guard budget May 2.

• Corps of Engineers FY 2002 Appropriations---Senate Energy and Water Development Subcommittee will hold hearings on the Corps' budget on April 24.  The House subcommittee hears from the Corps on April 25.

• Agriculture FY 2002 Appropriations---Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee will hear from Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman on April 25.  The House subcommittee begins its overview of the USDA budget on April 25.

River Basin News

• Chubs Won't Be Listed---On April 18, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the sicklefin chub and the sturgeon chub do not warrant listing as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.  The two chubs are minnow species native to the Missouri River basin and the Mississippi River downstream of St. Louis.  The Service's finding came in response to a petition to list the two species as endangered.  Petitioners included American Rivers, Environmental Defense Fund, Mini Sose Intertribal Water Rights Coalition, and National Audubon Society.  The Service agreed with the petitioners that the six mainstem dams on the Missouri are the primary factors negatively affecting the two species.  However, according to the Service, "the impacts associated with the dams have been in place for more than 35 years and the sicklefin and sturgeon chub remain present in substantial numbers where turbidity levels and flow regimes in the rivers still provide needed habitat conditions."  More specifically, the Service estimates that the sicklefin chub occupies 54 percent of its historic range in the Missouri River basin and the sturgeon chub occupies 55 percent of its historic range on the Missouri River.  In rendering its decision, the Service also cited recent Missouri DOC data showing viable populations of both species in the Middle Mississippi and in the Wolf Island area of the Lower Mississippi.  The Service emphasized its continuing concern with the chub populations and the Missouri River ecosystem.  "Because the chub populations do not warrant listing as either threatened or endangered at this time does not mean that they have not suffered serious decline.  We will continue to closely monitor the chub populations and will revisit possible listing if new information regarding the status of the chubs becomes available," according to the Service's Mountain-Prairie Regional Director, Ralph Morgenweck.  Further details are available at http://news.fws.gov/newsreleases/display.cfm?NewsID=407FCB9E-C0B6-4D60-8B80193768C121A7.

• Minnesotans Satisfied With Water-Related Recreation---According to a recent survey, Minnesotans are generally pleased with their water-related recreation experiences, but report some diminution in the quality of those experiences and in water quality over time.  Conducted for Minnesota Planning and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the survey asked 800 state residents about their boating, fishing, and shoreland-based recreation experiences.  Approximately 80 percent of respondents had participated in at least one of these activities in the past year.  Ninety-seven percent of boaters, 85 percent of anglers, and 97 percent of shoreland users were either satisfied or very satisfied with their experiences.  However, 47 percent of boaters, 38 percent of anglers, and 38 percent of shoreland users perceived that water quality had declined over the past 10 years, with 12 or 13 percent of each group reporting improved water quality.  The state plans to repeat the survey every two years to provide trend information.  Full survey results are available at http://www.mnplan.state.mn.us/press/watersurvey.html.

• Sewer Overflows---Wisconsin DNR has released a report assessing sewer overflows in the state and making recommendations "to prevent, to the maximum extent practicable, the discharge of untreated sewage to state waters."  According to the report, Wisconsin communities have invested $3.9 billion over the last 25 years to improve their sanitary sewage collection and treatment systems.  There are three combined sanitary/storm sewer systems remaining in the state.  In addition to overflows from these combined systems, overflows from the almost 900 sanitary sewer systems remain a concern.  Between 1996 and 2000, an average of 99 communities per year reported sewer system overflows (SSOs), with the annual number of such incidents statewide averaging 155.  Of this total, an average of 59 were attributable to sewer failure and an average of 96 were caused by groundwater infiltration and/or stormwater runoff inflow.  Wisconsin DNR's recommended statewide strategy for addressing overflows includes the following steps:  1) identify and inventory all SSOs, 2) reissue the general permit regulating discharges from sanitary sewer systems that are connected to another municipality's collection and treatment system, 3) review and revise SSO enforcement guidance, and 4) enhance communication and outreach efforts.  The report is available at http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/wm/ww/so/index.htm.

• Endangered Rivers---The Mississippi is once again listed on American Rivers' annual endangered rivers list.  Thirteen rivers including the Mississippi and the Missouri, made this year's list.  In ranking the Mississippi River sixth on its list, American Rivers cited two proposed flood control projects--the New Madrid levee project in Missouri and the Yazoo pumps project in Mississippi.  According to American Rivers, the two projects would destroy more than 200,000 acres of wetlands and would undermine efforts to address the Gulf of Mexico hypoxia problem.  Concerns over reservoir operation have again landed the Missouri River on the group's list.  This year, the Missouri is ranked as the nation's most endangered river.  The report is available at http://www..amrivers.org/pressrelease/pressmer2001.htm.

For more information regarding Congressional action and links to related sites, visit http://thomas.loc.gov/.

The UMRBA Update is produced by the staff of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, an organization formed by the Governors of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin to represent the states' common water resource interests.  Please direct questions and comments to bnaramore@umrba.org.