The Week Ending March 17, 2000
This weekly report is written by ASCE's Government Relations staff. If you have questions or comments about any items in this report, please contact Brian Pallasch, Michael Charles, Martin Hight, Austin Fulk, or Liz Hermsen at 202/789-2200.
Inside This Week:
House Passes AIR-21, Bill Sent to President
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed with a vote of 319-101 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill (H.R. 1000) known as AIR-21. The Senate passed the legislation, with a vote of 82-17, last week. President Clinton is expected to sign the bill when it reaches his desk.
The bill comes just in time to provide funds for the spring construction season. Roughly $2.4 billion in federal money for airport construction had been in limbo for the past six months because the House and Senate previously could not agree on certain provisions in the bill.
The final conference report authorizes $40 billion over the next three years for the FAA, of which $33 billion would be guaranteed from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. The bill compels lawmakers to spend on aviation each year all the annual Airport and Airway Trust Fund receipts and interest. A stipulation in the report would allow any legislator to raise a point of order against an appropriations bill that did not fully fund capital improvement programs for aviation. ASCE supports spending all funds in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund and providing general funds for FAA operations so that all the Trust Fund money is used for its intended purpose - capital improvements to the nation's airports. The legislation also included a provision to allow airports to increase the Passenger Facility Charge from $3 to $4.50 per flight segment, which is expected to raise approximately $700 million per year for safety, security, noise mitigation, and capacity projects that are not funded through other programs.
Congress, President Consider Measures to Lower Gas Prices
Several members of Congress have recently introduced bills to help lower current prices at the pump by cutting the 4.3 cent federal tax on gasoline. Some Senate leaders last week endorsed the proposal to cut or decrease the 4.3-cent tax. However, some House leaders are opposed to the idea. "We agree on the need to address the problem of rising fuel prices," House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Bud Shuster (R-PA) said, "but repeal of the fuel tax is the wrong way to do it."
Since the gas tax revenues are directly deposited into the Highway Trust Fund under the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century (TEA-21), any cut in those taxes would reduce highway funding to all states. The 4.3-cent tax on gasoline and diesel generates $7.2 billion annually for the Highway Trust Fund while the same tax on aviation fuel provides about $700 million per year for the Aviation Trust Fund. Under TEA-21, all highway programs are decreased proportionally if tax revenues fall short. If a 4.3 cent gas tax repeal were to take effect on July 1 of this year, highway funding through fiscal year 2003 would be cut by $20.5 billion, including $18.9 billion for state formula funds.
"I think the repeal of the federal gas tax was made a dead letter by Republican leaders on Capitol Hill," White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said yesterday. "I think any time [House] Speaker [Denny] Hastert, [House Ways and Means Committee] Chairman [Bill] Archer and Chairman Shuster come out solidly against something, it ain't going to happen." The Administration is considering options such as increasing oil production and promoting energy efficiency as solutions to the rise in fuel costs. Department of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said the President has not ruled out suspension of the gas tax but said the focus should be on negotiating with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase oil production and increasing research into alternative energy sources.
Rep. Kelly Speaks about SRF at ASCE Policy Forum
At a joint meeting of members of key ASCE national policy committees this week, Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY) spoke about her bill to authorize funding for the Clean Water Act State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF). Kelly is sponsoring with Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) H.R. 2720, a bill that would reauthorize the Clean Water Act SRF program at $15 billion over five years. ASCE is strongly supportive of the Kelly-Tauscher bill.
Members of the ASCE National Environmental Systems Policy Committee, the National Water Policy Committee and the Environment and Water Resources Institute Policy Committee were on Capitol Hill to meet with their Members of Congress. The committees were attending the ASCE Water and Environment Policy Forum.
Kelly said the federal government's $17 billion investment in the SRF program since 1987 has resulted in more than $30 billion in funds being loaned out by local communities for wastewater treatment plant construction and improvements. "The EPA says we need $300 billion over the next 20 years. That's staggering," she added. "We're going to fight and try to get [the money]. This is starting to get politicized and we've got to stop that."
Currently wastewater treatment plant construction is funded through SRF loan program of the Clean Water Act. A similar program under the Safe Drinking Water Act provides federal money for drinking-water plants. A water trust fund would combine the programs, as well as provide money for nonpoint source pollution controls and other water-quality programs.
Rep. Kelly also said that Congress should act as soon as possible to create a new "water trust fund" to finance improvements to wastewater and drinking-water treatment plants. "I think [the water trust fund] is an idea whose time has come," said Kelly, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's subcommittee on water and environment. "I think it's a great idea, and it's something we've got to do now in this Congress. We should make it an off-budget trust fund."
Corps Corrects Effective Date for New Wetlands Permits
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has corrected the compliance date for the new Nationwide Permit 26 (NWP 26) that was issued on March 9, 2000. The new compliance date will be June 7, 2000, not June 5 as stated in the original notice.
"NWP 26 will expire on June 7, 2000. The new and modified NWPs, including the new and modified NWP general conditions, will become effective on June 7, 2000. States and tribes must make their Section 401 Water Quality Certification and Coastal Zone Management Act consistency determinations by June 7, 2000," the Corps said on March 16.
On March 9, the Corps of Engineers (Corps) issued five new NWPs and modified six existing NWPs to replace NWP 26. In the March 9 rule, the Corps also modified nine NWP general conditions and added two new NWP general conditions.
The new NWP general conditions will restrict development in designated critical resource waters and waters of the United States within 100-year floodplains. In December 1996, the Corps decided to replace NWP 26, which authorizes discharges of dredged or fill material into headwaters and isolated waters of the United States, with activity-specific NWPs. The new and modified NWPs authorize many of the same activities that NWP 26 authorized, but the new and modified NWPs are activity-specific, with terms and conditions to ensure that these activities result in minimal adverse effects on the aquatic environment.
The new and modified NWPs are intended to substantially increase protection of the aquatic environment, while improving the permitting process for projects that have minimal adverse effects on the aquatic environment. The maximum acreage limit of most of the new and modified NWPs is one-half acre. Most of the new and modified NWPs require notification to the district engineer for activities that result in the loss of greater than a tenth of an acre of waters of the United States.
OSHA Receives Over 4,300 Comments on Ergonomics Rule
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has received more than 4,300 comments on its proposed ergonomics rule. The comments represented a broad spectrum of interest including industry, labor, health care, academia, government and individuals. ASCE's comments on the proposed rule can be found here. The proposed rule would require employers in manual handling and manufacturing operations to implement ergonomics programs in their workplace. The proposed rule does not apply to agriculture, maritime operations, or construction.
Very generally, the proposed rule is supported by labor unions and opposed by industry. Several industries, including home health nurses and the motion picture and television industry, asked for exemption.
OSHA is also conducting informal hearings. The first hearing was held March 13th in Washington. Further hearings are scheduled for Chicago and Portland.
U.S. Greenhouse Gases Increase, says EPA
U.S. greenhouse gas emissions rose 0.5 percent from 1997 to 1998, according to a draft report released for public comment by EPA. Emissions rose from 1,827 to 1,834 million metric tons of total emissions, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexfluoride.
The study also shows the largest source of all greenhouse gases to be CO2 from fossil fuel combustion, accounting for 80 percent of emissions in 1998. Fossil fuel combustion was also responsible for 80 percent of total greenhouse emission growth from 1990 to 1998. "Another significant trend was that from 1990 to 1998 car, truck and other transportation emissions rose 14 percent while total highway miles traveled climbed 21 percent," the Agency said.
State Legislative Update
ASCE continues to provide updates on state legislation affecting civil engineers as state legislative sessions progress. For more information on the following bills, or any other state legislative matters, please contact Austin Fulk, ASCE's Manager of State Government Relations, at (202) 789-2200 or via email at govwash@asce.org.
Missouri
Landscape architects in Missouri are attempting to expand their practice area. Missouri's H.B. 2079 would allow landscape architects to design "structures and such features as are incidental and necessary" to the practice of landscape architecture. This bill has been expected since last fall, when a legislative committee held a hearing on the subject and seemed to favor expanding the practice of landscape architecture. Because of the vagueness of the bill's language, there is fear that the legislation could open up many areas of engineering practice to landscape architects.
Iowa
Interested in practicing in Iowa? Senate File (S.F.) 2262 provides for a $2,000 annual tax credit for recent graduates of engineering schools who fill new engineering positions in the state. The measure is seen as boosting economic development in the state, and contains similar, although smaller, tax credits for new teachers.
Mississippi
Timely performance will probably be even more important in Mississippi soon. H.B. 1538 requires any construction contracts entered into by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning contain a provision requiring monetary penalties for each day that the construction is late. The bill does not specify the actual penalty to be assessed. The bill has passed the Mississippi House and is now pending in the Senate.
New York
New York's S.B. 6783 would require continuing education for licensed land surveyors. Specifically, land surveyors will have to complete 36 hours of formal training every three years in order to keep their licenses.
Rhode Island
In addition to Pennsylvania, Rhode Island is considering an exemption from civil liability for engineers who volunteer their professional services during declared disaster emergencies. S.B. 2814 was introduced March 1, and is awaiting action in the state Senate. The law will not apply to acts of gross negligence or willful misconduct.
ASCE Congressional Fellow - Monthly Report, February 2000
During the month, there was a North Dakota summit meeting on the U.S. Forest Service's proposed new rule for land and resource planning for the National Forest System. Part of this plan involves communities in the Sheyenne Valley Grazing Association area. The economic impacts of the Revised Management Plans were discussed at the summit. As preparation for the meeting I prepared a background memorandum on the views of former Forest Service Employees who are calling for a rewriting of the rule by scientists, planners and resource specialists experienced in actual conditions facing the National Forests and Grasslands.
Also this month I attended the Senate Agriculture Committee's hearing on proposed new regulations by EPA on Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). These regulations were presented in the Federal Register in a draft form last August. Over 30,000 comment letters have been received. The rules call for states to prepare lists of "impaired waterbodies" and an implementation plan to eliminate nonpoint pollution to the extent that the waterbodies can support aquatic wildlife. It essentially moves regulatory power from a standards base to an analytical base. Each TMDL will be an analysis of the stream or lake and it's ability to support wildlife. Both silviculture and agriculture would lose their exempt status from nonpoint regulation. State and local governments are concerned that the delegated authority under the 1972 Clean Water Act is being taken back by EPA. Also, farmers and timber interests are concerned about the economic impact of the new proposed regulations.
As a staff member to one of the Committee members, I was required to review the background on the TMDL proposed rules and to prepare a briefing memorandum for Senator Conrad. Panelists who were invited to give testimony included the Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, EPA Administrator Carol Browner, the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators and others. The Committee Chairman, Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), held the hearing to air the issues and investigate what, if anything, the Senate should do to resolve the issues. The Senate could introduce legislation to address the issues, could withhold appropriated funds from EPA, or could work with the executive agencies to resolve their deficiencies.
At month's end, I was invited to participate in an Engineers Week Awards luncheon in Boston. As ASCE's Congressional Fellow I prepared a talk entitled, "Trends in Public Works Infrastructure Spending, an Engineers View from Capital Hill." Research included a review of the 2001 budget proposals along with a search of spending trends at the Congressional Research Service and the Congressional Budget Office. Using some language in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) there are some projections through the year 2003.
David Westerling
