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The Water Resources Coalition was established in 2007 to promote the development, implementation and funding of a comprehensive national water resources policy. With member organizations representing state and local governments, conservation, engineering and construction, ports, waterways and transportation services, the Coalition works to ensure that a comprehensive, national water resources policy is developed, implemented and funded to provide a sustainable, productive economy; a healthy aquatic ecology; and public health and safety. For more information, visit the Water Resources Coalition Web site at www.waterresourcescoalition.org. |
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WRC Testifies Before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
The Obama administration should open up the process for developing planning requirements for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to greater public input, the Water Resources Coalition (WRC) told Congress this week.
Brian Pallasch, Managing Director of Government Relations and Infrastructure Initiatives for ASCE, said the process followed by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in revising the "Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water And Related Land Resources Implementation Studies," commonly referred to as the "P&G," has not been an open process.
The Corps held several public meetings on the P&G revisions in 2008, he added. Once the CEQ assumed control of the process in 2009, the process became a paperwork exercise," Pallasch said in testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The Committee was examining the implementation of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007. One provision of the Act required the Corps of Engineers to update the 1983 P&G project planning manual to reflect modern environmental concepts.
In addition, Pallasch's testimony criticized the CEQ's draft P&G for not placing a higher priority on public safety and resilience. In the WRC's view, Pallasch pointed out, safety concerns should be considered on equal footing with economic and environmental concerns.
The WRC praised the Corps in the testimony for its efforts to develop an inventory of the nation's levees and update inspection and safety standards. Pallasch encouraged Congress to augment the Corps' significant work with the creation of a National Levee Safety Program modeled on the successful Dam Safety Program.
The Committee released a report at the hearing that was critical of the Corps' efforts to carry out the Act. "Since WRDA 2007 was enacted, the Corps has been slow to implement the programmatic reforms and projects in the law, and the results often have been inadequate and inconsistent with the statute and Congressional intent," the report said.
The hearing testimony can be found on the T&I Committee website. For more information on the WRC, visit the coalition website. |
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CEQ Extends Principles and Guidelines Deadline
The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has extended the comment period of the Principles and Guidelines until April 5, 2010.
On December 3, CEQ submitted a proposal for review to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) that would significantly change the principles and guidelines that govern federal water-resource planning. The proposal would require that all projects improve the economic well-being of the nation, better protect communities from the effects of floods and storms, help communities and individuals make better choices about where to build based on an understanding of the risk, and protect and restore the environment.
The proposal calls for the development of water-resources projects to be based on the best available science, increased consideration of monetary and non-monetary benefits to justify and select a project, improved transparency, and consideration of nonstructural approaches that can solve the flooding problem without harming floodplain functions. The proposal would also expand the scope of the Principals and Guidelines to cover all federal agencies that undertake water-resource projects.
The proposed revisions can be viewed here. |
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Interior Launches WaterSMART Initiative
The Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed the order establishing a new water sustainability strategy for the United States on February 22nd. The program is designed to improve water conservation and help water and resource managers make wise decisions about water use.
President Obama's proposed 2011 budget for the Department of the Interior doubles the current enacted 2010 appropriations for water programs to move the initiative forward. The budget includes $72.9 million for the WaterSMART program, which is an increase of $36.4 million over 2010.
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Assistant Army Secretary Defends Corps Budget for 2011
Jo-Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, told a congressional subcommittee this week that the administration's proposed $4.94 billion budget for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Fiscal Year 2011 will "revitalize [the nation's] economy and provide for restoration and stewardship of the environment."
But Rep. Ed Pastor (D-AZ), chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water development, was less enthusiastic about the proposed cut in the Corps' budget from FY 2010, when the Corps received $5.4 billion.
"This [2011] budget continues to disappoint us," Pastor said.
The Corps also received $4.6 billion in FY 2009 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. To date, the Corps has obligated $3 billion of that total, or 65 percent, Darcy said.
Eighty percent of the $4.6 billion will be obligated by the end of March, and all of it will be obligated by the end of this fiscal year on September 30, she added. The Corps spending under the Recovery Act created more than 6,000 jobs in the last quarter of 2009, Darcy said. |
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House Subcommittee Critical of Budget Cuts for Corps
In February, the Obama administration proposed a reduction in funding for the Corps of Engineers to $4.94 billion, an overall decrease of $506 million (9.3 percent) for federal water resources projects from fiscal year 2010. The Corps' construction budget would be cut by $341 million (almost 17 percent), and its Mississippi River programs would be down by nearly 30 percent in 2011.
A memo released by the Water Resources and Environment subcommittee staff criticized the proposed budget cuts.
"The water infrastructure projects and programs of the Corps support vital economic and environmental needs of this nation," the staff memo said. "These projects provide for continued economic growth, job creation, and economic stability while protecting human lives and property, ensuring reliable waterborne transportation of goods, and restoring valuable natural resources."
At a budget hearing before the subcommittee, Lt. Gen. Robert Van Antwerp, Chief of Engineers, said the budget would support funding for 99 water resources projects. He said only two of the projects would be "new starts" in 2011, however.
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CEQ Issues Draft NEPA Guidance on the Effects of Climate Change
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) recently announced draft guidance for federal agencies to use to improve their consideration of the effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change in their evaluation of proposals for Federal actions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The guidance is intended to help explain how federal agencies should analyze the environmental effects of GHG emissions and climate change when they describe the environmental effects of a proposed agency action. The CEQ guidance advises Federal agencies that they should consider opportunities to reduce GHG emissions caused by proposed Federal actions and adapt their actions to climate change impacts throughout the NEPA process. All Federal agency actions requiring NEPA review, except federal land and resource management activities, are covered by the guidance. CEQ's guidance lays out a framework for identifying those instances where potential GHG emissions or climate change impacts rise to a level of significance requiring "meaningful" consideration in the NEPA analysis. In those cases where detailed consideration is necessary, the guidance directs that such consideration should include the quantification and disclosure of GHG emissions over the life of the project. In addition, the NEPA review must assess the climate change impacts on the proposed project as well as how the proposed action might add to, modify or mitigate those climate change impacts. CEQ also advises federal agencies to consider opportunities to reduce GHG emissions caused by a proposed Federal action and adapt the action to the potential climate change impacts. Finally, the draft guidance includes a caution to Federal agencies that a "rule of reason" should continue to govern the identification and review of environmental effects so that any analysis of GHG emissions and climate change impacts is useful, relevant to the action under review and limited to the consequences of actions over which the federal agency has control or authority.
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Interior Supports More Than 1.4 Million Jobs
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar released a first-of-its-kind report showing that the Department of the Interior programs and activities support more than 1.4 million jobs in ths country and more that $370 billion in economic activity.
The report, Economic Impact of the Department of the Interior's Programs and Activities, is the departments first analysis of the job creation and economic benefits related to the agency through activities like tourism and hydroelectric projects. Activities in the Bureau of Reclamation are accredited with supporting more than 260,000 jobs and $39 billion in economic impact.
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CEQ Focusing on Coastal Wetlands
Yesterday the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released a plan for coordinating federal, state, and local responses for restoring the coastal wetlands of Mississippi and Louisiana. The Administration hopes the initiative will act as both a vision on how to restore the region's coastlines and as a governance structure that can implement that vision.
CEQ stressed that while coastal restoration is necessary to protect the region the need to maintain or build levees is still crucial.
The US Army Corps of Engineers will still be a principle agent in the process and even was assigned $19 million in the administration's 2011 budget to begin restoring the rapidly deteriorating wetlands in the region. At this time the states will be asked to select an official to collaborate with the President's Louisiana - Mississippi Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Working Group to begin the process. | |
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Agencies Comply With Open Government Directive
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior have both launched new wesites that encourage public participation and increased transparency.
The new website launches comes as a direct result of President Obama's Open Government directive, which came out in December. Under the directive each federal agency is required to develop an "Open Government Plan" that includes public access to "high value" information in a downloadable format by April 7.
EPA's new Web site includes links to databases on the Chesapeake Bay water quality program, toxicological information on more than 300 chemicals, the Toxics Release Inventory, and a new mapping tool that shows facilities where EPA concluded enforcement actions between 2008 and 2009.
Site users can search by neighborhood for information on air and water
quality, brownfields and other environmental factors. The public has until March 19 to comment on the Web site and offer suggestions EPA also discusses its ongoing efforts to give the public the ability to search priority rules by rule phase, topic, and effect on institutions and communities.
The Interior Department's Web site offers similar data, including data sets on seven types of information, such as federal national recreation sites, and human- and lightning-caused fires. |
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ASBPA Holding Annual Conference
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Coalition Member Tweaks Senator as "No Show"
With 100 coastal advocates coming into Washington, DC next week, the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association has chided Senator Tom Coburn for failing to accept its invitation to speak at the group's Annual Coastal Summit. The Oklahoma Republican has been an outspoken critic of coastal restoration projects, saying he doesn't want taxpayer money spent to help children build sandcastles. "We find it puzzling that Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has chosen not to accept our invitation to be a featured speaker at the annual Coastal Summit in Washington, D.C. next month. Considering that the Senator had his staff devote enough time to come up with "Washed Out to Sea: How Congress Prioritizes Beach Pork over National Needs" (a 43-page document that parades as a Congressional Oversight & Investigations Report), we thought that he would have jumped at the chance to join us in March. Our invitation to the Senator and his staff, however, has fallen on deaf ears."
You can read ASBPA's entire message by clicking here... |
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Seventh National Monitoring Conference
The National Water Quality Monitoring Council will be holding the Seventh National Monitoring Conference in Denver, CO from April 25 - 29, 2010.
The conference will focus on the many facets of water quality and water quantity monitoring for improved understanding, protection, and restoration of our natural resources and communities. It will also provide a unique forum for water practitioners from all backgrounds - including governmental organizations, volunteers, academia, watershed and environmental groups and the private sector - to exchange information, develop skills, and foster collaboration and coordination.
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Sincerely,
Brian Pallasch and Marco Giamberardino
Co-Chairs
Water Resources Coalition |
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