UMRBA Update

June 19, 2001

Washington News

• National Research Council Assessment of the TMDL Approach---On June 15, the National Academies of Sciences' National Research Council (NRC) released the results of its evaluation of the scientific basis of the TMDL program, a study that Congress had requested following EPA's issuance of revised TMDL regulations last year.  The report, entitled Assessing the TMDL Approach to Water Quality Management, calls for a more science-based approach and changes to the TMDL process.  In particular, the NRC recommends that states develop appropriate use designations for waterbodies and conduct use attainability analysis prior to developing TMDLs.  It is also recommended that, instead of using a single 303(d) list to guide TMDL development, EPA approve the use of both a "preliminary list" and an "action list."  NRC notes that many waters on 303(d) lists were placed there without the benefit of adequate standards, data, or assessments.  "These potentially erroneous listings contribute to a very large backlog of TMDL segments and foster the perception of a problem that is larger than it may actually be."  Allowing states to move those waters that have inadequate data to a "preliminary list" would provide "assurance that listed waters are indeed legitimate and merit the resources required to complete a TMDL."  The NRC also recommends that TMDL plans employ adaptive implementation; recommends improvements to water quality standards, including the use of biological measurements; promotes greater use of statistical approaches for the design of monitoring programs and for data analysis; and urges that scientific uncertainty be explicitly acknowledged and taken into account. 

The report will be the subject of a hearing in the House Water Resources Subcommittee on June 28 and is available at http://books.nap.edu/books/0309075793/html/index.html.

New Bills

• H.R. 2112 "Safe Drinking Water and Arsenic Removal Act"---Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to authorize use of money from the drinking water state revolving funds to assist communities in meeting any new maximum contaminant level (MCL) for arsenic.  Also amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize the use of loans and grants under that law for meeting new arsenic MCL.  Introduced 6/7/01 by Mike Rogers (R-MI).

• H.R. 2183 Modifies Filtration Requirements---Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act's provisions related to the national primary drinking water regulations governing filtration by public water systems that rely on surface water.  The amendment would permit a public water system operator to apply to the state for determination that the system is not required to use filtration.  States would have 120 days to respond to such applications and would base their determination on the filtration criteria established by EPA.  Introduced 6/14/02 by Eliot Engel (D-NY).

• S. 990 "American Wildlife Enhancement Act"---Amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to authorize $350 million annually over five years for a new Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Account.  These funds would be kept separate from the existing Pittman-Robertson program and would be subject to annual appropriation.  The money would be allocated among the states based on land area and population, with no state receiving less than one percent of the available funding.  Money from the account could be used to fund up to 75 percent of project costs for a range of projects, including habitat acquisition and improvement, recreation, wildlife population surveys, and public access.  The bill also amends the Endangered Species Act to establish a competitive matching grant fund that would pay private landowners to implement recovery agreements to protect threatened and endangered species.  Appropriations for the landowner assistance would be authorized at $75 million per year for five years.  In introducing S. 990, Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) emphasized that this provision "should not be interpreted as a vehicle for comprehensive [Endangered Species Act] reform, but as a great opportunity to get dollars to those land owners who want to protect species today."  Finally, the bill would amend the Partnerships for Wildlife Act to establish a Non-Federal Land Conservation Grant Program, which would be authorized at $50 million annually for five years.  The money would be used to provide cost-share assistance to individual states and groups of states to protect areas of regional or national significance through land acquisition and/or easements.  Introduced 6/6/01 by Bob Smith.

• S. 1034 "Great Lakes Ecology Protection Act"---Amends the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act to require the Department of Transportation to promulgate and review regulations designed to prevent vessels entering the Great Lakes from spreading nonindigenous aquatic species.  The bill directs that the new regulations include ballast water treatment requirements.  It also authorizes NOAA to make grants to universities to study the impact of exotic species on the Great Lakes and to develop technologies and treatment methods designed to destroy or remove invasive species.  Authorizes appropriations of $100 million per year for five years for the grants.  Introduced 6/13/01 by Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and 12 others, including Mark Dayton (D-MN), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Russell Feingold (D-WI), Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL), Herb Kohl (D-WI), and Paul Wellstone (D-MN).

Committee Action

• FY 01 Supplemental Appropriations---On June 14, the House Appropriations Committee approved a supplemental appropriations bill for FY 01.  Most of the $6.5 billion spending bill addresses Defense Department needs.  However $389 million is included for emergency natural disaster assistance.  Within that amount, $116 million is provided for the Corps of Engineers "to address emergency needs resulting from recent Midwestern floods and natural disasters."  In addition, the bill includes $50 million for federal and nonfederal facilities damaged by natural disasters; $17.7 million to repair damages to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service facilities caused by floods, ice storms, and earthquakes; and $18 million for the Corps of Engineers to make infrastructure repairs caused by recent spring flooding. (The Corps' St. Paul District has requested FY 01 supplemental funding for repairs to locks and dams embankments in the District.  See article in "River Basin News" section of this Update.)  Among the other miscellaneous funding provisions in the supplemental appropriations bill is $92 million for Coast Guard operational expenses.  The FY 01 supplemental bill, as yet unnumbered, is scheduled for House floor action on June 20.

• Interior FY 02 Appropriations---The House Appropriations Committee approved an $18.9 billion FY 02 Interior Appropriations bill by voice vote on June 13.  The total is an $88 million increase from FY 01 and an $800 million increase over President Bush's request.  The highlight of the bill is $1.32 billion, the maximum amount available, for the Title VIII conservation initiative started in last year's Interior Appropriations Act.  Within that amount is $154 million for state grants for recreation purposes through the National Park Service and $100 million for state wildlife grants through the Fish and Wildlife Service.  The wildlife grants will be distributed to states through a formula based 30 percent on land area and 70 percent on population.  The Committee also approved $50 million for a new landowner incentive program and $10 million for a new stewardship grant program, as proposed by the Administration.  However, the House appropriators chose to fund these new programs under the Fish and Wildlife Service rather than through the National Park Service land acquisition account. 

The bill also includes $900 million for the U.S. Geological Survey, restoring a $90 million cut proposed by the President and providing $18 million more than the FY 01 level.  Funding for the Fish and Wildlife Service was also increased to $1.34 billion, higher than both the FY 01 level of $1.26 billion and the President's request of $1.09 billion.  The Committee increased funding for National Wildlife Refuges and wildlife programs by $23 million over last year, bringing FY 02 funding to $399 million.

Details of the Interior bill have not yet been released, but highlights are available on the House Appropriations Committee web site at http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/2002/02intfull.htm. 

• Agriculture FY 02 Appropriations---On June 13, the House Appropriations Committee approved an FY 02 agriculture spending bill, calling it "an excellent budget that both sides of the aisle can agree upon."  However, the bill's funding levels for conservation programs have been sharply criticized by conservation groups and Senate Democrats. The Committee increased spending for USDA conservation operations to $782.8 million, $70.2 million over last year and $9.3 million above the President's request.  But no funds were authorized for several popular conservation programs, including the Wetlands Reserve Program, Farmland Protection Program, and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program.  These programs have reached their authorized spending or acreage limits under the 1996 Farm Bill and appropriators have reportedly decided to hold off on funding until the Farm Bill is reauthorized.  They did, however, increase funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which the President had recommended be funded at $174 million, $26 million below the authorized level.  Since the House Committee did not include language specifically limiting spending for the program, the funding reportedly reverts to the $200 million that Congress previously authorized.  The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is expected to reach its acreage cap by December 2002.  The House Committee approved $132 million for CRP enrollments to reach that cap, as requested by President Bush.  The Agriculture Appropriations bill is expected to come to the House floor for consideration later this week.

• Transportation FY 02 Appropriations---On June 12, the House Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee marked up the FY 02 transportation spending bill.  In addition to funding for highways, transit programs, Amtrak, and airports, the bill includes $5 billion for the U.S. Coast Guard, an increase of 11 percent over FY 01, but $59 million below the President's budget request.  The subcommittee provided $3.382 billion for Coast Guard operating expenses, an increase of $191 million over last year.  A total of $15.5 million was provided for bridge alterations.  The full committee is scheduled to consider the bill on June 20.

• Agricultural Conservation Programs---On June 6, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development, and Research continued its series of hearings on the conservation portions of the Farm Bill.  Witnesses included representatives of state agriculture departments, fish and wildlife agencies, conservation districts, and environmental and sportsman groups, most of whom urged increases in programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program, Wetland Reserve Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, and the Farmland Protection Program.  Speaking on behalf of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), the Secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture recommended that a new "state working fund for agricultural environmental stewardship" be established.  As described by NASDA, funding would be provided by USDA to state departments of agriculture, similar to the way EPA provides grants for state revolving funds to meet water quality and drinking water needs.  Under the proposal, states would have the flexibility to allocate funding between payments to producers and/or technical assistance for activities designed to protect "land, water, air and wildlife in the broadest terms possible."  The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) also promoted a new approach that would focus on the producer's conservation plan, saying "conservation plans should drive programs, not the reverse....The concept is very straightforward: the more conservation a producer puts on the land, the higher the incentive payment the producer receives."  NACD also recommended that "rather than implementing this concept exclusively through the traditional federal approach, states that have the capacity and the interest should be given a greater role and have the option of implementing it themselves."  Testimony from the June 6 hearing is available on the House Agriculture Committee web site at http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/testimony.htm.

Floor Action

• Coast Guard Authorization---On June 7, the House voted 411 to 3 in favor of H.R. 1699, the Coast Guard Authorization Act.  The bill would authorize $5.4 billion in FY 02 appropriations for the Coast Guard, including $3.7 billion for operating expenses; $659.3 million for acquisition, construction, and improvements; $21.7 million for research and development; $15.5 million for bridge alteration, including funds to initiate construction of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad bridge at Burlington, Iowa; and $16.9 million for environmental compliance.  The bill would also authorize an active duty personnel level of 44,000 for FY 02.

Committee Schedules

• Corps FY 02 Appropriations---The House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee will mark-up its FY 02 appropriations bill on June 19.

• Transportation FY 02 Appropriations---On June 20, the House Appropriations Committee will mark-up the FY 02 transportation spending measure, which the Transportation Subcommittee approved on June 12.

• CARA---The House Resources Committee will hold a hearing on H.R. 701, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, on June 20.  The committee will also hear testimony on H.R. 1592, which would amend the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act to add private property rights protections.

• TMDLs---The House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee has scheduled a June 28 hearing to consider the National Research Council's recent report, Assessing the TMDL Approach to Water Quality Management.  

River Basin News

• St. Paul District Embankment Repairs---The Corps of Engineers' St. Paul District has requested emergency supplemental funds to repair earthen embankments at nine of its locks and dams.  Repair of these embankments was previously planned as the final stage of the district's multi-year major rehabilitation of its navigation infrastructure.  However, according to the district, "the schedule for the proposed work has been substantially shortened" as a result of damages from this spring's flooding, "which revealed how susceptible [the embankments are] to erosion and how quickly these embankments could fail."  The FY 01 emergency supplemental appropriations bill is pending in Congress, so it is not yet clear how much, if any, funding the St. Paul District will receive for the embankment repairs.  In the interim, the district has invited contractors to bid on the potential work.  The district emphasizes that the proposed work would simply restore the embankments to their original level of protection and "the resulting structures would have the same footprint, height and composition as the existing structure[s]."  However, state and federal resource agencies and several environmental groups have voiced concern with the St. Paul District's efforts to expedite the embankment work.  In particular, they caution that the fast track approach does not provide for adequate agency and public review and does not allow for consideration of opportunities to modify the embankments for the benefit of the environment.

• Minnesota Legislative Resolution on Waterways Improvements---On May 17, following approval by the Minnesota State Legislature,  Governor Jesse Ventura signed Resolution 4 (H.F. 208) "urging authorization of funding for improvement and rehabilitation of waterways."  The resolution formally recognizes the Upper Mississippi River as "a river of statewide significance for natural, navigational, and recreational benefits" and "urges Congress to authorize funding to improve transportation efficiency and restore the ecological values of the Upper Mississippi River System."  The resolution also supports state funding for the Sault Ste. Marie Lock on the Great Lakes and the Port Development Assistance Program, which helps rehabilitate Minnesota's public ports on the Mississippi River and Lake Superior.  The resolution is available on the Minnesota House of Representatives web site at  http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/cgi-bin/getbill.pl?session=ls82&version=latest&number=H208.

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.