The Week Ending May 5, 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:
Science and Education Bills Need Your Help
Congressman Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) is seeking the help of the science and engineering community in his efforts to improve SMET (science, math, engineering and technology) education. Ehlers has introduced three bills that seek to improve the quality of math and science teaching in the U.S.
- H.R. 4271 "The National Science Act" directs the National Science Foundation to set programs to enhance training K-12 science and math teachers. The bill also sets up a new working group to recommend improvements in SMET education.
- H.R. 4272 "The National Science Education Enhancement Act" sets up meaningful professional development for science and math teachers through summer institutes.
- H.R. 4273 "The National Science Education Incentive Act" provides tax credits to beginning science and math teachers as well as tax incentives to local businesses that provide assistance to local schools to help math and science programs.
The legislation is structured in three bills to facilitate its passage through the House committee system. Each is structured to ensure that it is referred to only one committee. The first bill to move will be H.R. 4271, which has been referred to the Science Committee, where it will receive a sympathetic hearing. The other bills are being referred to the Education Committee (H.R. 4172) and the Ways and Means Committee (H.R. 4173), where they each have an uphill battle.
On Tuesday, May 2, Representative Ehlers met with representatives of the science and engineering community, including ASCE, seeking help for his legislation. He asked that the community make every effort to inform members of Congress about the importance of this legislation.
Action Needed:
Please contact your members of the House of Representatives and ask them to become co-sponsors of H.R. 4271, H.R. 4272 and H.R. 4273. Let them know that in an increasingly technological society, math and science education is of greater importance than ever. Furthermore, if the nation is to maintain a steady supply of science and engineering professionals, high quality math and science education is critical.
If you have any questions, please contact Martin Hight, Senior Manager, Government Relations at govwash@asce.org or (202) 789-2200.
Contacting Your Representative:
Information about who your Representative is and how to contact her/him can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.house.gov. If you send e-mail, please be sure to include your full postal address and contact information so that the offices will know where to send a response and, most importantly, identify you as a constituent. Most offices currently will not respond by e-mail but, if you include your address, will respond by postal mail. If you prefer, you can call the main U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202/224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Representative's office. If the Representative is not available, ask to speak to the staff person who handles education issues. However, a written or personal letter continues to be one of the most effective methods of communication. Address your letters in the following manner:
The Honorable ____________
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Follow-up with ASCE:
Please be sure to send us a copy of your correspondence or let us know if you made a phone call. ASCE's Government Relations Department e-mail address is govwash@asce.org, fax number is 202/289-6797, and phone number is (202) 789-2200. We appreciate your involvement in the public policy process and look forward to receiving your responses.
Senator McCain Seeks Cap on Boston "BIG DIG"
At a May 3 Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing to discuss the Boston Central Artery Tunnel, Committee Chair John McCain (R-AZ) said he would aim for legislation to formally enact a funding cap on the project. "This project has suffered from gross mismanagement and what appears to have been a complete lack of critical federal oversight," Sen. McCain said at the hearing. "As such, it has experienced billions of dollars in cost overruns... If there had been a legislative cap, we might not have these overruns." However, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) argued that federal spending is already effectively capped on the "Big Dig," the costliest project in federal history, because of previous funding decisions made by Congress in the project authorization and appropriations process.
At the hearing, Committee members examined reports by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the DOT Inspector General concerning cost overruns and actions needed to ensure greater fiscal oversight and responsibility for the Central Artery and all transportation funding projects receiving federal funding. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater told the Senate panel that the department's investigation had uncovered a "failed management system" on the project. Slater said the DOT will now use a "trust but verify" approach to guarantee better oversight of all federal transportation spending. "No one is blameless for this failure," Slater said. "The state [of Massachusetts] failed to fully disclose material facts about cost overruns, and we at the U.S. Department of Transportation failed to exercise independent and critical oversight."
Sen. Kerry also emphasized that it was important to ensure that the "Big Dig" did not consume all of Massachusetts' federal highway and bridge money allocated under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. Secretary Slater said that federal approval of the state's transportation funding plan would be contingent upon "balanced statewide highway spending."
Supreme Court Allows Company Head to be Held Liable
The U.S. Supreme Court refused this week to review a decision of a federal appeals court in Chicago that ruled that president and principal shareholder of two corporate defendants could be held individually liable in a contribution action brought under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) if he personally operated the polluted landfill at issue.
The court of appeals had ordered the trial court to determine whether the shareholder personally operated the landfill, rather than merely directing the business of the corporations that operated the landfill. An individual cannot shield himself from liability for operating a hazardous-waste facility, stated the appeals court, merely by being an officer or shareholder of a corporation that also operates the facility.
In 1999, the court of appeals held that a shareholder could be individually liable under Superfund if s/he personally operated landfill. The appeals court also held that liability could be imposed jointly against multiple defendants; that the allocation of 40 percent of responsibility for cleanup costs to plaintiffs was not abuse of discretion; and that a shareholder and an affiliate would not be held derivatively liable for costs allocated to one defendant corporation under theory of piercing the corporate veil.
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.
Building Codes in Florida
As expected, building codes have become a hot issue in the Florida legislature this session. The Senate bill moved its bills, S.B. 4 and S.B. 380, to third reading yesterday with the elimination of exemptions for Dade, Broward and Palm Beach for local amendments. The House bill, H.B. 219, moved to third reading as well and has better provisions, including:
- Inclusion of ASCE 7-98 as a standard for wind load
- A July 1, 2001 implementation date
- Legislative consideration of a statewide product approval system during the 2001 session
- A local amendment process for variations to the code that applies to all counties.
A Victory Already in Florida
The Florida legislature has passed, and the governor is expected to sign, a bill banning "indemnification clauses" in state design contracts. These clauses have been used in the past to force design professionals to indemnify the public agency for acts of the agency that create liability. Under H.B. 1083, the only liability a design professional could be held responsible for would be his or her own.
Surplus Politics in California
California officials were planning on a budget surplus for next fiscal year of $5 to $6 billion-the largest ever. Instead, it looks like they will wind up with almost twice that amount. This has led to interesting politics in the state over how to spend it. Governor Gray Davis (D) tends to support one-time uses of state funds, rather than committing to projects that will likely require an ongoing dedication of state money. As a result, it is quite likely that Davis' proposed $5 billion infrastructure improvement package will grow.
Got a government affairs activity or success story from your state?
If so, it should be included in This Week in Washington so that other sections can know about it. If you have a government affairs accomplishment, you deserve credit and recognition. Send your stories to Austin Fulk, ASCE's Manager of State Government Relations at govwash@asce.org, or call (202) 789-2200 for more details.
ASCE Congressional Fellow Monthly Report, APRIL 2000
At the beginning of the month, I attended the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee oversight hearing on the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) as a gasoline additive. In recent months, in light of a changing regulatory environment, concern has arisen regarding the future prospects for ethanol as a additive in motor fuel. Ethanol is used as an oxygenate in blended fuel and is produced from biomass (mainly corn). It is mixed with gasoline to produce cleaner-burning fuel called "gasohol" or "E10".
The need for oxygenates in reformulated gasoline has recently been questioned. Although oxygenates lead to lower emissions of volatile organic compounds, and carbon monoxide, they may lead to higher emissions of nitrogen oxides. The National Research Council recently concluded that the oxygenate requirement in reformulated gasoline (RFG) may have little impact on ozone formation.
Because there is now evidence that the widely used oxygenate, MTBE, contaminates groundwater, there has been a push by some to eliminate the oxygen requirement in RFG. Some environmental groups, however, are fearful that the elimination of the oxygenate requirements would compromise air quality gains resulting from current standards.
On March 20, 2000, the Administration announced a plan to reduce or eliminate MTBE use and to promote the use of ethanol. Senator Daschle has prepared a bill on the use of ethanol in RFG but has not released it. He is looking for a Republican co-sponsor so that the issue will be bi-partisan. Senator Fitzgerald also has a bill. The Environment and Public Works Committee (Senators Smith and Inhofe) may be looking for a 4 percent set-aside for ethanol as a oxygenate. The Committee has not formally announced its position.
On another transportation-related issue the Senate, on April 11, blocked a vote on a bill to temporarily repeal the gasoline tax. The bill would have temporarily repealed the 4.3 cents per gallon tax until Jan. 1, 2001. If the price of fuel rose above $2.00 per gallon the entire 18.4 cents per gallon tax would have been temporarily repealed. Senator Conrad was among the 56 Senators to vote against cloture and essentially kill the bill. ASCE opposed the repeal bill because gas tax revenues are directly deposited into the Highway Trust Fund under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) and any cuts in those taxes could reduce highway funding to all states. The 4.3 cents per gallon tax on gasoline and diesel fuel generates $7.2 billion annually for highway funding.
I also attended the Advanced Legislative Process Institute. This intensive two-day workshop is presented by the Congressional Research Service for Congressional Staff to enhance understanding of the legislative process. Topics included Considering Measures, Unanimous Consent Agreements, Amending Measures, Committee Proceedings and a Committee Exercise, The Congressional Record, The Other Chamber (in my case, The House), and Conference. The workshop concluded with a simulated Conference Committee procedure. My conference committee was successful in arriving at a negotiated final version of a bill that would then be sent to the White House for signature.
The National Water Resources Association (NWRA) held a 2000 Federal Water Seminar and a congressional reception this month. I met with many of the engineers on the North Dakota State Water Commission and the Garrison Conservancy District who were here in Washington for the Seminar. NWRA publishes an online newsletter, "The National Waterline" which can be obtained through their website: http://www.nwra.org.
The month ended with my attendance at the ASCE Board of Directors Meetings at the ASCE World Headquarters in Reston. I was invited to join discussions on the future of the Institutes and the future of ASCE globalization. On Saturday I was invited to the Outstanding Project Achievement and Leadership (OPAL) awards dinner at the Washington D.C. Capital Hilton. Five leading civil engineers and five recently completed public works projects were selected. The moving and restoration of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was the winning project. I was the featured luncheon speaker on Sunday and gave a brief talk on "Trends in Public Works Infrastructure Spending - An Engineer's View from Capital Hill".
Respectfully Submitted,
David Westerling, P.E.
ASCE 2000 Congressional Fellow
david_westerling@conrad.senate.gov
