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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 Urges CEQ to Submit Principles & Standards
for New Comment
The Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) should put the proposed
Principles and Standards portion of the Economic and Environmental
Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources
Implementation Studies (P&G) out for public comment
again, in light of the comments from the National
Research Council, the Water Resources
Coalition said this week.
The Coalition said a 2010 review of the original
P&S document by the National Research Council (NRC) revealed
that the CEQ proposal is inadequate to directing the planning of
water resources projects by the federal government.
"The NRC has raised substantive issues with the
CEQ's initial draft of the P&S-issues of such significance, in
fact, that any revisions to the P&S that would accommodate the
NRC's findings would make the CEQ proposal a substantially
different document from the one released in 2009," the WRC
said. "This would raise serious questions about the
adequacy of the CEQ's procedures in issuing a final document that
differs substantially from its earlier proposal. Our primary
concern is that the new document might fail to give interested
parties adequate notice of the scope and substance of the final
P&S requirements."
To ensure the proces is transparent, the CEQ should
adopt all of the NRC's substantive recommendations and republish
the revised P&S for another round of public comment, the
Coalition added.
"Because the NRC revisions would render the
P&S to a large extent a new rule, the CEQ must publish the
revised document for further public comment. Only in this
manner can the CEQ assure itself of a fair and transparent process
for establishing essential requirements for the planning of water
resources projects.," the WRC said.
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President
Releases FY 12 Budget Request
The Obama Administration released a FY 2012 budget
request that includes significant investments in infrastructure
programs even as it leaves some critical funding questions
unanswered. The $3.7 trillion budget seeks to complement
recent surges in economic productivity and business profits with a
platform for job creation. Among the sectors targeted for its
job-creating abilities is infrastructure.
U.S ARMY CORPS OF
ENGINEERS
The administration's budget for FY12 includes $4.63
billion in funding for the Civil Works program of the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers. This represents a cut
of $770 million from the FY 2010 enacted level of $5.4 billion.
The reduction
is to be offset in part by a proposal to cancel $57 million of
prior year funding, of which $35 million was provided through an
emergency supplemental appropriation.
The FY 2012
funding would go toward:
·
$2.314 billion for operation and maintenance;
·
$1.48 billion for construction;
·
$210 million for Mississippi River and tributaries;
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$104 million for investigations in support of new projects;
·
$50 million for a Levee Safety Program; and
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$27 million for flood control and coastal emergencies.
The proposal
would fund capital investments in the inland waterways based on the
estimated revenues to the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF).
In addition, the administration proposes to continue working on
legislation to shift the financing of the IWTF from the fuel tax to
a user fee. "The administration will work with Congress
to reform the laws governing the Inland Waterways Trust Fund to
support increased investments in safe, reliable, highly
cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable inland waterways,
while ensuring that commercial navigation users meet their share of
the costs of activities financed from this trust fund," the
Corps said in a statement on the budget release.
The budget
would pay for 92 construction projects, including 10 dam safety
assurance, seepage control, and static instability correction
projects (includes one project completion); 20 projects ranked on
the basis of life-saving benefits; two additional project
completions; two new starts; and 58 other continuing projects.
The FY12
budget includes funding for both initial construction of projects
to reduce storm damage along the coast and periodic renourishment
of beaches. The request would fund 10 coastal projects, of
which three are new construction and seven are periodic
renourishment.
The FY 2012
request includes $104 million for four new studies.
BUREAU OF RECLAMATION
The 2012 request for the Bureau of Reclamation and the Central Utah Project Completion Act is $1.1
billion, $88.3 million or eight percent below the 2010 enacted
level.
The administration's $805.2 million for the Water and
Related Resources account, including $398.5 million for water
and energy, land, and fish and wildlife resource management and
development activities. This funding provides for planning,
construction, water conservation activities, management of
Reclamation lands including recreation and actions to address the
impacts of Reclamation projects on fish and wildlife. The
request also emphasizes reliable water delivery and power
generation by requesting $406.7 million to fund operation,
maintenance and rehabilitation activities at Reclamation
facilities, including dam safety.
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House
Subcommittee Holds Hearing on EPA Budget
A hearing before the House Water Resources and
Environment subcommittee on the Fiscal Year 2012 budget for the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week quickly became an
examination of agency regulatory plans that allegedly threaten the
American economy.
Subcommittee Republicans contended that rules under
the Clean Water Act burden U.S. businesses and eliminate jobs.
"I note the exponential increase in regulations
coming out of EPA in recent months or planned for the near future
related to this subcommittee's jurisdiction," said Rep. Bob
Gibbs (R-OH), chair of the subcommittee. "Many of these
regulatory efforts are based on questionable science at best and
stand to substantially increase the regulatory burdens for states,
local governments, and businesses, especially small
businesses."
Gibbs said he is especially concerned about agency
efforts to issue new guidelines on the scope of the government's
jurisdiction over U.S. waters under the Clean Water Act and on
surface coal mining operations.
He also said he questions the need for new stormwater
runoff controls for new construction and major reconstruction
projects under the EPA's municipal separate storm sewer systems
(MS4) program.
Nancy Stoner, acting
assistant administrator for water at EPA, said her office is
carrying out its fundamental duty. "Protecting public
health and the environment are central to the mission of the EPA
water program. Clean and adequate water is also vital to the
U.S. economy," Stoner said. "A wide range of
businesses depend on clean and adequate water supply including
manufacturing, energy generation, tourism, farming, development,
fishing and shell-fishing, food processing and beverage
production."
The administration has proposed a decrease in EPA's
budget of $1.357 billion to $8.97 billion. The president has
proposed to cut $550 million from the Clean Water State Revolving
Fund, which is used to make wastewater infrastructure improvements
and address water quality issues. The FY 2012 budget also
seeks to reduce Superfund's budget to $1.236 billion, down from
$1.307 billion.
Stoner pointed to the tourism, farming, food
processing and beverage production industries as benefitting from
strong Clean Water Act enforcement. Manufacturing companies, she
said, used 9 trillion gallons of fresh water every year.
Subcommittee Republicans held firm against EPA
rulemakings.
"I hear from small employers all over my district
that they cannot hire more people because of these
restrictions," Rep. Jaime Herrera (R-WA), a first-term member.
"We're to the point where we are beside ourselves with
these regulations."
But Rep. Timothy Bishop (D-N.Y.) criticized
Republicans for seeking deep and "destructive" cuts to
EPA's budget. "Unfortunately," Bishop said,
"the Republicans have responded to the nation's economic
situation with an ax when a scalpel would seem more
appropriate."
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Senate
Requests WRDA Projects
The Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee has sent a letter to
Senators requesting projects for a new Water Resources
and Development Act (WRDA). The Committee has begun drafting a new
WRDA bill, however the legislation could run into some roadblocks
due to the moritorium on earmarks that Republicans have imposed.
Due to the project authorizations, which are not earmarks, that are
in a WRDA bill the prospect of passing such legislation at this
time could be daunting.
The WRC will keep all
members up to date with a new WRDA bill as Congress moves forward.
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House
Subcommittee Focuses on Army Corps of Engineers Budget
The House
Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources
and Environment will be holding a hearing next Tuesday, March 8th,
to review the fiscal year 2012 budget and priorities of the Army
Corps of Engineers. The hearing will focus on how the agency can
"do more with less".
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EPA Draft
Guidance on Wetlands Developed
EPA has developed a
draft guidnace intended to clarify the scope of Clean Water Act
(CWA) coverage of isolated wetlands. The internal
draft, sent to the White House office of Management and Budget in
late December, is expected to substantially increase the number of
waterbodies subject to general EPA regulatory authority, while
shifting the burden of proof in contested cases to the private
sector. But it will not clarify when waters not classified as
tributaries, or adjacent to jurisdictional wetlands or interstate
waters, would be covered under the Act, according to sources,
leaving such decisions to a case-by-case determination.
The guidance is in
response to two U.S. Supreme Court ruling that circumscribed the
federal government's authority to issue CWA Section 404
dredge-and-fill permits for isolated wetlands and other intrastate
waters that are not in proximity to wetlands or navigable
waters. The cases -- Solid Waste Agency of Northern
Cook County (SWANCC) v. Army Corps of Engineers and Rapanos
v. United States -- resulted in competing tests to determine
federal jurisdiction.
The guidance directs
that jurisdictional decisions be based on entire
watersheds. It also says that the cumulative effects of
filling or discharging into similar streams or wetlands within a
watershed should determine whether the waters are jurisdictional. A
hyrdologic connection between streams or wetlands and traditional
navigable waters is not necessary to assert jurisdiction, according
to the guidance. Jurisdiction could be applied
based on "a predictable or observable chemical, physical or
biological functional relationship" between marginal and
traditional waters, for example, wetlands that provide flood
control to navigable waters or tributaries that serve as breeding
grounds for species in downstream waters.
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Dam Safety
Profiled in the New York Times
The New York Times recently profiled the state of the
nation's aging dams in an article entitled "Danger Pent Up
Behind Aging Dams." The story
examines what is at risk if the nation's 4,400 high hazard dams
continue to be underfunded and profiles the Lake Isabella Dam near
Bakersfield, CA.
The Lake
Isabella Dam is 57 years old and according to the US Army Corps of
Engineers is in danger of eroding internally, water could overtop
the structure in an extreme flood season , and a fault line
underneath the dam that was originally thought to be inactive is
not after further inspection. Due to the extreme problems with the
Lake Isabella Dam costs to make the necessary repairs will reach
$500 million.
While the Lake
Isabella Dam is a more extreme case of the nation's dam needs it
does highlight the critical state of the nation's dam safety.
Without appropriate funding public safety will continue to be at
risk.
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Reclamation
Seeking WaterSMART Partners
The Bureau of Reclamation is seeking eligible
non-federal entities interested in participating in a Basin Study
under the WaterSMART Program. Those
entities interested in proposing a Basin Study to Reclamation must
submit a letter of interest to their respective Reclamation
regional office by March 16, 2011.
Basin Studies
are comprehensive studies that define options for meeting future
water demands in river basins in the western United States where
imbalances in supply and demand exist or are projected. Reclamation
will work cooperatively with state and local partners to conduct
the study.
A Basin Study
is comprised of four main elements:
- Projections
of water supply and demand, including the risks of climate
change
To learn more
about proposing a Basin Study or to learn more about the WaterSMART
Program, visit www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/. To
determine the Reclamation region in which your specific basin is
located, visit www.usbr.gov/main/regions.html.
- Analysis
of how existing water and power infrastructure and operations
will perform in response to changing water realities
- Development
of options and mitigation strategies to improve operations and
infrastructure to supply adequate water in the future
- Trade-off
analysis of the options identified, findings and
recommendations as appropriate
Information regarding the risks and impacts of climate change may
be developed as part of the Basin Studies, or may include baseline
analyses developed through the West-Wide Climate Risk Assessments,
another activity under the WaterSMART Program.
The non-federal entities interested in participating in a Basin
Study must contribute at least 50 percent of the total study cost
as cash or in-kind services. Basin Studies are not a financial
assistance program; therefore Reclamation's share of the study
costs may only be used to support work done by Reclamation or its
contractors.
Proposed letters of interest for Basin Studies will be reviewed by
Reclamation regional office staff. Those selected for further
consideration will work with Reclamation technical experts to
develop a joint study proposal for evaluation and prioritization by
a Reclamation-wide review committee. The committee will develop a
group of final recommendations to be considered for funding within
existing budget parameters.
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This
week, ASBPA members from around the country flew in to Washington,
DC to attend the 2011 Coastal Summit, held March 1st to
3rd at the Ronald Reagan Building and International
Trade Center. This year's summit featured officials from many
federal agencies including: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA,
the National Park Service, BOEMRE, and FEMA, among others.
The officials spoke about the importance and difficulty of finding
funding for our nation's water resources in these bleak budget
times. In addition, the panelists attempted to set out a long
range vision for our nation's water resources that includes
sustainable funding mechanisms for important projects, and
upgrading our nation's water infrastructure for the challenges of
the 21st Century. The ASBPA's large contingent of
coastal engineers, researchers, scientists, and regulators
benefitted greatly from the chance to speak directly with their
federal counter-parts.
In addition, ASBPA
summit attendees set aside time to go speak directly with their
Representatives on Capitol Hill to advocate for America's water
resources and coastal infrastructure. With such a unsettled
and sparse budget year before us, the voices advocating for America's
water resources are more important than ever. In
particular, ASBPA President Harry Simmons was able to meet with
influential Members on committees that are crucial to the health of
our nation's water infrastructure and coastline. By speaking
directly with these Representatives, ASBPA is working to give a
voice in Congress to America's coastline and to all of our precious
water resources.
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Brian Pallasch and Marco Giamberardino
Water Resources Coalition
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