The Week Ending June 2, 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:
FEMA Director Speaks to Wind Hazard Reduction Caucus
On May 24, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director James Lee Witt spoke to the Congressional Wind Hazard Reduction Caucus about FEMA's efforts to prevent tornado damage. Witt also described "Project Impact," a natural disaster mitigation effort in which FEMA partners with local governments to educate the public and policymakers about preventative efforts that can improve public safety. The Wind Hazard Reduction Caucus was formed late last year under the stewardship of ASCE in order to reduce the amount of life and property that is lost in natural disasters. The Caucus attempts to increase Congress' awareness of the public safety and economic loss issues associated with tornadoes, hurricanes, tropical storms and thunderstorms, and is working to createa National Wind Hazard Reduction Program (NWHRP). ASCE also formed the Wind Hazard Reduction Coalition, the private industry and association counterpart to the Caucus, to support the Caucus’ efforts.
ASCE Participates in National Dam Safety Awareness Day
ASCE took part in a program, along with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director James Lee Witt, marking National Dam Safety Awareness Day on May 31. To focus public attention on the importance of dam safety, FEMA designated May 31, 2000 as National Dam Safety Awareness Day. May 31 is the anniversary of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood, where in 1889 more than 2,000 people lost their lives as a result of a dam failure.
House Appropriation for USGS Would Add Some Streamgages
The House Appropriations Committee recently marked-up legislation that would provide Fiscal Year 2001 funds for the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The Appropriations Committee did not provide the funding to cover federal pay raises or other uncontrollable costs, which would result in a loss of $2.3 million in purchasing power in the data collection portion of the Federal-State Cooperative Water Program. The Cooperative Program is a partnership been the federal government and the states that provides the majority of funds for operating streamgaging stations - about two-thirds of the total.
However, the Committee’s actions would provide for an increase of $1.7 million for water activities under the USGS Real Time Hazards initiative. This is opposed to the $4 million increase proposed in the President's budget. At the $1.7 million level, the initiative would provide funding for the addition of about 35 new or reactivated streamgages. USGS’ streamgaging network is used for many purposes including flood warning and prediction; water supply evaluation; highway, bridge, and dam design; and drought prediction.
Yet, the smaller increase for the Hazards Initiative will significantly delay the implementation of a system to ensure the reliable delivery of real-time streamflow information. Such a system was scheduled to be implemented in the spring of 2001. At the reduced funding level, the implementation will be delayed a minimum of one year. This delay will extend the time period where the risk exists that real-time streamflow information may not be available in the event of a power loss or hardware failure, for example. Such failures are more likely during times of emergencies such as floods. It is during these emergencies that the real time information is most critical.
The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected on June 22 to work on funding for USGS.
DOT Adopts DOD'S Central Contractor Registration
A vendor registration system newly adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will significantly increase the number of electronic vendor payments while reducing the number of vendor reports and the DOT resources needed to maintain lists of vendors.
On May 12, DOT signed an agreement that creates a partnership with the Joint Electronic Commerce Program Office (JECPO) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to use Central Contractor Registration (CCR). DOT finance offices will integrate the CCR vendor data, specifically the financial electronic funds transfer (EFT) information, into their new financial system. Vendor EFT information is input and maintained by vendors using DOD's web-based CCR program (www.ccr2000.com), which currently has EFT and other information for over 166,000 contractors.
Through education and outreach, DOT will work with its finance, procurement and small business communities to ensure a seamless transition to this new system that will save time and money for companies doing business with the department.
This new system will employ a single transmission of this information rather than separately sending this data for each contract award, eliminating the barriers between procurement and finance functions. The system also will eliminate the need for the department to frequently update tables containing information on its vendors. Should the vendor's EFT information change at any time, modification to the vendor's data in CCR would register that change with all elements of DOT and DOD.
ASCE Comments on IRS Regulations
On May 30, ASCE submitted comments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) concerning the tax treatment of corporate sponsorship payments to non-profit organizations such as ASCE. The regulations generally draw the line between when corporate sponsorship payments cross the line into advertisement and therefore are no longer charitable tax deductions for the corporation and become taxable to the non-profit organization.
The comments urged the IRS adopt the broadest possible interpretation of corporate sponsorship. ASCE noted in the comments that all income received by ASCE, from any source, is used to support the Society’s mission of advancing the practice of civil engineering and protecting the public health and safety. ASCE’s comments will be available on the web at /govnpub/reg_affairs/regagencies.cfm.
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.
Water Infrastructure in California
ASCE isn't the only organization grading infrastructure. Heal the Bay, a California environmental organization, released its 10th annual Beach report card on conditions of beaches in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange Counties. 263 locations on the Report Card were graded on an A to F grading scale, with 66 percent receiving A grades during dry weather, but 62 percent receiving F grades during wet weather. Heal the Bay interpreted the wet weather results as a result of largely ineffective stormwater management programs and the potential need for sewer infrastructure improvements. Sources of high bacteria densities in stormwater range from leaky sewer lines to animal waste to runoff from outdoor food service mats and garbage storage areas. Heal the Bay was disappointed that there has been little public discussion on using some portion of the State budget surplus on infrastructure improvements in watersheds adjacent to polluted beaches.
School Bonds in California
Proponents of a ballot initiative that would make it easier to pass school construction bonds announced that they have submitted 1.15 million signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot well in advance of the June 29 deadline. The measure needs at least 670,816 valid signatures from registered voters to qualify. The initiative, currently called "School Improvement and Accountability Act," is nearly identical to Proposition 26, which failed by less than two percentage points in March. This measure would lower the voter requirement for local school bonds from a two-thirds majority to 55 percent; Proposition 26 would have lowered the threshold to 50 percent. A group of educators, business executives and politicians led by Democratic Governor Gray Davis championed the proposal and coordinated a $6 million signature-gathering blitz across the state.
Tort Reform Still Needed
According to a survey by the American Consulting Engineers Council, nearly two-thirds of engineering firms believe that innovative engineering practices are threatened by frivolous lawsuits. For a copy of the report, the "1999-2000 Liability Survey," contact Austin Fulk, ASCE's Manager of State Government Relations, at (202) 789-2200 or afulk@asce.org.
ASCE Congressional Fellow Monthly Report for May 2000
The Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (WRDA 2000) was formally received by the Senate through the Committee on Environment and Public Works’ Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The Subcommittee held its first hearing on the bill on May 23. Dr. Joseph Westphal, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) and Major General Hans Van Winkle of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) provided testimony. Dr. Westphal presented a broad overview of the Administrations proposal which included Everglades Restoration, Puget Sound Restoration, the CALFED Bay Delta Assistance Program, Brownfields Restoration, and $15 million for watershed and river assessments.
The proposed WRDA 2000 also included a tribal partnership program, a modernization program for Corps recreation areas and a reduction of 2 years in the "no action time" for project de-authorization. The Corps is proposing leaving the cost sharing for non-structural flood damage reduction projects at 65 percent federal, 35 percent non-federal. But for structural projects the federal cost sharing would be reduced to 50 percent federal, 50 percent non-federal. The effect of this is to de-emphasize structural components and move toward a non-structural program.
Dr. Westphal urged the Committee to authorize only projects which have completed Executive Branch review. The Army Corps of Engineers has submitted only one project to Dr. Westphal for authorization. Last week the Chief of Engineers recommended the New York, New Jersey Harbor Navigation Project. In a related move, the Corps is proposing the Harbor Services Fund and User Fee to pay for harbor dredging projects. The fund would be dedicated to harbor improvements and would bypass the traditional congressional budgeting process.
Continued wrangling between the Congress and the executive branch was highlighted in a continuing series of articles about the Corps of Engineers in the Washington Post. Basically it pits the traditional role of the Corps in navigation and flood control against the new mission initiatives which include an expanding role of the Corps in local water and sewer projects, environmental restoration and other work. To some extent this conflict also pits the military leadership of the Corps, which has more of a traditional outlook, against the civilian leadership which leans toward "mission creep" into new areas. But the lines are often unclear as each Division and District in the Corps often have regional incentives and focuses and many civilian engineering managers are reluctant to leave the Corps strengths in navigation and flood control.
On May 23 the Washington Post reported that the General Accounting Office (GAO) has reported that 903 federal buildings require $4 billion worth of repairs and renovations. Funds for these repairs come from the Federal Buildings Fund, a revolving fund that finances both capital and repair and maintenance funding. The Fund contributed about $580 million per year through the years of 1994 to 1999, but still left the existing $4 billion shortfall.
Also this month the Civil Engineering Research Policy Forum was held on Capital Hill. I attended the Focus Luncheon where Congressman Ralph M. Hall (D-TX) gave a talk on the value of civil engineering in the national agenda. Many insights into Texas politics were also offered. Congressman Hall is the Ranking Member on the House Science Committee.
The following day the ASCE Committee on Government Affairs (CGA) held a meeting at the ASCE Washington office. I gave a brief lunchtime talk to CGA on my experiences on Capital Hill and encouraged the Committee to continue to actively participate in the legislative process. As an example I used the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) which has provided four congressional fellows each year for the last 20 years.
At the end of the month a congressional staff meeting was held with Charles Fox, Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The topic was the proposed new regulations on non-point pollution calling for limits based on total maximum daily loads (TMDLs). There is some concern here in Congress that EPA is moving too quickly on its rule making under limited authority as described in the 1972 Clean Water Act. Mr. Fox was sincere in his defense of his agency’s rule making procedure and indicated that delay of the rules could derail the effort. With the presidential election only five months away, it is possible that a new administration would then have authority over the new rules. I argued that there is a significant need for water quality monitoring facilities nationwide and that a long term monitoring program similar to the streamflow gaging stations that the United States Geological Survey (USGS) established during the last century is needed. There are several bills pending in the Senate that would postpone the rule-making and would provide funding to the states for nonpoint pollution regulation.
Respectfully Submitted,
David Westerling, P.E.
ASCE 2000 Congressional Fellow
david_westerling@conrad.senate.gov
