This Week in Washington
For the Week Ending March 30, 2001
This weekly report is written by the American Society of Civil Engineers' 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 by e-mail or at 202/789-2200.
Inside This Week:
Tornado Safety Bill Passes House of Representatives
On March 22, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill, with a vote of 401-6, to permit the use of federal Housing and Urban Development community block grant funds to construct tornado-safe shelters in manufactured home parks. ASCE endorsed the legislation, H.R. 247, the "Tornado Shelters Act," which was introduced by Representative Spencer Bachus (R-AL).
The bill would extend to mobile home owners and residents the same benefits now given to low-income individuals living in apartments and single-family homes. Under the bill, shelters could only be built in communities of 20 or more mobile homes and where a tornado has touched down in the recent past.
ASCE Urges $277 Billion Investment in Water InfrastructureE
The United States must invest nearly $277 billion in drinking water and wastewater infrastructure repairs over the next two decades, ASCE told three congressional committees this week.
"Requirements for communities that have not yet achieved secondary treatment or must upgrade existing [wastewater] facilities remain very high: $126 billion nationwide is required by 2016, according to the most recent estimate by the EPA," ASCE said. "The total drinking-water infrastructure need nationwide is $150.9 billion for the 20-year period from January 1999 through December 2018."
ASCE submitted testimony to the Senate Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Water on March 27 and to the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment and the House Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials on March 28.
"Not meeting the investment needs of the next 20 years risks reversing the public health, environmental, and economic gains of the last three decades," ASCE concluded.
To read the ASCE testimony, please visit the Society web site at /pressroom/publicpolicy/congtest.cfm
FHWA Proposes Process to Resolve Streamlining Disputes
Concluding that "environmentally responsible transportation improvements, delivered on time and within budget, is a vision that all too often eludes" the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA), the FHwA has proposed a new process to resolve disputes over the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that hinder the speedy completion of highway projects.
The proposed policy, released in draft form on March 28, would establish a process to elevate disagreements over NEPA reviews to the Secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT) for resolution. The policy would set deadlines for requesting and completing a DOT review of the dispute.
"All participating federal agencies must cooperatively develop and agree upon a project review timeline for individual projects," the policy states. "If a participating agency fails to render its review, opinion or analysis, or fails to make a decision on issuing a permit within the agreed-upon time period, such failure may be elevated to the Secretary [of Transportation]."
To review the draft policy, see the FHwA web site at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/strmlng/npdjan22.htm
Bush Says Arsenic Standard Will Be Lowered Eventually
The current drinking-water standard for arsenic of 50 parts per billion (ppb) will be lowered after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completes a review of the regulation adopted by the Clinton Administration in January, President Bush said on March 29.
"I told people pretty plainly that I was going to review all the last-minute decisions that my predecessor had made, and that is exactly what we're doing," Bush said at a news conference. "There will be a reduction in the acceptable amount of arsenic per billion after the review in the EPA."
EPA has proposed to withdraw the pending arsenic standard for drinking water that was issued on January 22. The rule would have reduced the acceptable level of arsenic in water from 50 ppb to 10 ppb. EPA said it will seek independent reviews of the science behind the standard and of the estimates of the costs to communities of implementing the rule. A final decision on withdrawal is expected after the public has an opportunity to comment.
State Government Update
ASCE provides updates on individual state government matters affecting civil engineers. For more information on the following item(s), or any other state government relations matters, please contact Austin Fulk, ASCE?s Manager of State Government Relations, at (202) 789-2200.
State Legislative Update
The following bills were recently introduced in state legislatures across the country. If you have questions about particular legislation, please contact Austin Fulk, ASCE's Manager of State Government Relations
Colorado
S.B. 145 allows for the emplacement of environmental covenants on environmentally remediated land. These covenants would restrict the uses for which the land is available.
Hawaii
S.B. 1577 allocates $600 million towards school repair and renovation.
Louisiana
H.B. 926 allows certain professionals, including engineers, to teach certain subjects such as math and science in elementary or secondary schools without obtaining a teaching certificate.
Maryland
H.B. 1317 sets new requirements for the re-depositing of dredged material.
Minnesota
H.F. 1118 provides for the state Department of Transportation to use best value design-build procurement for up to 10 percent of its annual procurement.
S.F. 2058 provides for the state Department of Transportation to use either low-bid or best value design-build procurement for up to 10 percent of its annual procurement. Best value design build combines the design-build method with qualifications-based selection (QBS) procedures to award a contract to the individual or firm most qualified to perform the work.
S.F. 2145 allows colleges and universities in the state to use two-phase design-build procurement for construction.
New Jersey
A.B. 3330 establishes a grant assistance program to help localities rehabilitate significant and low-level hazard dams.
A.B. 3154 permits the issuance of home inspectors licenses to licensed professional engineers and architects.
North Dakota
H.B. 1297 limits liability for property owners who unknowingly acquire contaminated land.
Texas
S.B. 697 sets requirements for the state engineering board to require continuing education credits.s
ASCE Congressional Fellow?s Report, March 2001
President Bush's first address to Congress (on Feb. 27) helped kick Congress into overdrive. Bush's big tax cut plan upset many Republicans and even more Democrats. However, it's fair to say that everyone is concerned about the economy.
Senator Kennedy was especially offended with the use of JFK in a tax cut ad. Although the President's budget details aren't due out until April, Kennedy is certain that his brother would not have supported a $1.6 trillion tax cut. Kennedy is a member of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), which is one of four joint Congressional committees. JEC reviews the nation's economic conditions and recommends improvements to the economic policy. JEC reports its findings and makes recommendations to the House and Senate, including those on the President's submissions to Congress.
Aside from watching the lively Senate debate on campaign finance reform, most of the month was filled with appropriations work. Appropriations is considered discretionary spending, which covers everything from road building to police protection to medical research to our national defense. In contrast, mandatory spending, including Social Security and Medicare, and the enormous interest charge to finance the national debt, is required by law. I work on the following eight of the 13 appropriations acts: commerce; energy and water; interior; transportation; treasury-postal; veterans affairs-HUD; and lastly, some on agriculture; and some on labor, health & human services, and education. We consider the many needs of our constituents and will request funding where appropriate.
I'm pleased that the President is focusing on critical infrastructure protection. I met with the Department of Energy and House Science Committee to discuss the co-dependencies of the energy infrastructure. I participated in the Partnership for Critical Infrastructure Security conference, hosted by the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office (CIAO) at Commerce and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Among the many top-notch speakers were: the President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donohue; President and CEO of Union Pacific, Dick Davidson; National Security Advisor, Condeleeza Rice; Secretary of Transportation, Norman Mineta; Chief Security Officer of Microsoft, Howard Schmidt; and Congressional members Robert Bennett (R-UT), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and Jim Turner (D-TX). The best part of this excellent conference was chatting with Secretary Mineta, who was also schooled at UC-Berkeley.
ASCE had a press conference on the 2001 Report Card for America's Infrastructure at the National Press Club. After the successful event, I met with several of the ASCE Committee members and Bob Bein, the ASCE President. We discussed my wide range of fellowship activities and the importance of the fellowship goals. Later, President Bein met with Senator Kennedy?s staff on the report card and science and engineering education needs.
Briefings and meetings included: smart growth; alternative energy; climate change; water pollution; media violence; American Red Cross; International Code Council; Association of American State Geologists; FEMA; and more.
The magnitude 6.8 Nisqually Washington earthquake and my ties to the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries kept me busy. I gave my first talk on the quake to the Geological Society of Washington (in Washington, DC) on February 28, the very day of the quake. A few days later, I led an Oregon Investigation Team to survey the damage in Washington to help collect perishable data and to learn from the performance. Our reconnaissance report is on the web at http://www.OregonGeology.com; we wrote articles for EOS and Geotimes. I spoke to the ASCE Capitol Section Aviation Engineers on the quake and the fellowship.
Of the many receptions I have attended, the best one was hosted by the New England Council. My boss and other Senators dropped in to say hello. I met Massachusetts? junior senator, John Kerry. Kerry is favored by some as the 2004 Democratic Presidential candidate. However, I favor him for his adept windsurfing skills (because I'm an avid high wind shortboarder myself).
Respectfully submitted,
Yumei Wang, P.E.
2000-2001 Congressional Fellow
