This Week in Washington

For the Week Ending April 19, 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 at 202/789-2200 or by e-mail at bpallasch@asce.org, mcharles@asce.org, mhight@asce.org, afulk@asce.org, or lhermsen@asce.org.

This Week in Washington will now be sent on Thursday evenings (instead of Fridays) to avoid conflicting with weekend e-mail server operations.

Inside This Week:

• Bush EPA Approves Clinton Regulation for Wetlands
• ASCE Submits Statement on Commerce Department Appropriations
• EPA Sends Decision on Arsenic Standard for Water Back to NAS
• Newsweek Magazine Offers Fixes for Flying Woes
• OMB to Shorten A-76 Review for Commercial Procurements
• UN Official Prods Bush Administration on Global Climate Issue
• Public Transit Gains Riders
• Bush Names Michigan Official to Head EPA Water Office
• State Government Update

Bush EPA Approves Clinton Regulation for Wetlands
The Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with a Clinton Administration regulation that strengthens wetlands protection by expanding the government's permitting authority over dredged materials regulated under the Clean Water Act.

EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman said the EPA believes the rule, promulgated three days before President Clinton left office in January, will ensure greater protection of wetlands. "The Bush Administration is committed to keeping our waterways clean and safe," Whitman said on April 16.

The new rule, issued jointly with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, clarifies the types of activities that are likely to result in a discharge of dredged material regulated under the Act. The new rule modifies the definition of "discharge of dredged material" to identify specific activities that EPA and the Corps believe are likely to result in discharges that should be regulated.

The Corps and EPA regard the use of mechanized earth moving equipment to conduct land-clearing, ditching, channelization, in-stream mining, or other earth-moving activity in waters of the U.S. as resulting in a discharge of dredged material unless project-specific evidence shows that the activity results in only "incidental fallback." Officials said the rule also provides a definition of what constitutes unregulated incidental fallback that is intended to be consistent with a 1998 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. No modifications were made to the rule between the Clinton and new Bush administrations. The rule will begin a nationwide permitting process for any mechanized land clearing, ditching, channelization or in-stream mining operation that does more than move "incidental fallback," a term EPA has defined as "excavated material that falls back into substantially the same place of its initial removal."

For a text of the final rule, go to: http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WATER/2001/January/
Day-17/w1179.pdf

ASCE Submits Statement on Commerce Department Appropriations
On April 17, ASCE submitted comments to both House and Senate Appropriations Committees on the FY 2002 appropriations for Commerce Department programs. Among the specifics, ASCE:

• Expressed concern about cuts to the Economic Development Agency, which provides seed money for infrastructure improvements to economically distressed areas. The Administration has proposed a 19 percent cut to the program.
• Expressed concern about an eight percent cut at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. ASCE specifically pointed to cuts at the Building and Fire Research Laboratory, which is the only Federal laboratory supporting the U.S. construction industry. ASCE praised the Administration for maintaining full funding for the Measurement and Standards Laboratories Programs.
• Expressed concern about proposed cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. ASCE specifically pointed to a 17 percent cut to the National Weather Service as having the potential to impact public health and safety.

The statement will soon be available on ASCE?s web site at /pressroom/publicpolicy/congtest.cfm.

EPA Sends Decision on Arsenic Standard for Water Back to NAS
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman announced on April 17 that she is asking the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to perform another review on a range of possible standards for arsenic in drinking water. The study will evaluate levels of three to 20 parts per billion (ppb). The NAS-endorsed standard, once established, will take effect in 2006, the same time that EPA's suspended standard of 10 ppb was scheduled to go into place, Whitman said.

NAS, which recommended in 1999 that the current standard of 50 ppb be reduced, is being asked to look at new studies regarding health effects that were received after the previous comment period closed and to review EPA's risk analysis of arsenic. The NAS already has reported that the present standard of 50 ppb is too high, but it did not specify what a protective level should be. Meanwhile, Whitman has directed the EPA staff to prepare a proposed rule seeking additional public comment on the suggested range of three to 20 ppb.

"I have said consistently that we will obtain the necessary scientific review to ensure a standard that fully protects the health of all Americans, and that we will establish that standard in a timely manner," Whitman said. "This is precisely what we are doing today."

EPA also will convene a subgroup of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council to review the economic issues associated with a standard. "Many smaller water systems and the communities they serve may have to absorb additional costs to meet the new standard," Whitman said. "We want to make sure those costs are fair and fully justified.

On January 22, 2001, EPA published a final Clinton Administration regulation that would have lowered the current arsenic standard from 50 ppb to 10 ppb in 2006. Whitman extended the January standard's March 23 effective date for 60 days. The new proposal would extend for nine additional months, until February 22, 2002, the current May 22 effective date for the 10 ppb standard. Compliance dates will still be in 2006.

Additional information on the proposal and the comment period is available from EPA's drinking water hotline at 1-800-426-4791 or on EPA's Office of Water home page at: http://www.epa.gov/ow.

Newsweek Magazine Offers Fixes for Flying Woes
The nation's civil aviation system is showing obvious signs of strain. While a tremendous amount of attention has been focused on the problem, not enough has been done to alleviate it. Newsweek, in its April 23, 2001 edition, published a cover story on ?7 Ways to Fix Air Travel.? The first solution the article offers is to ?pour more concrete,? essentially, to build more runways.

ASCE?s 2001 Report Card for America?s Infrastructure recently gave our nation?s aviation infrastructure a grade of ?D.? In the Report Card, ASCE makes its own recommendations for helping to alleviate some of the country?s aviation problems:

• Full funding for the Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR-21) at the authorized level of $40 billion.
• Permit increases in Passenger Facilities Charges (PFC) above the current $4.50.
• Streamline the environmental permitting process by running federal and state environmental impact assessments simultaneously to speed new runway construction.
• Modernize the Air Traffic Control System.

The 2001 Report Card for America?s Infrastructure is available on ASCE?s web site at /reportcard.

OMB to Shorten A-76 Review for Commercial Procurements
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said April 18 that it will revise OMB Circular A-76 to speed up the internal review of commercial activities performed by federal agencies. An A-76 review, which is designed to determine whether the agency or a private-sector business should perform the activity, now takes 18 months to two years to complete.

In 2000, OMB identified a total of 115 federal agencies with approximately 1.7 million employees. Of these employees, a total of 849,389 (49 percent) performed some duties identified as commercial -- duties that were not inherently governmental -- in nature.

OMB Circular A-76 establishes the broad principles, individual definitions and specific directives on the management of commercial activities by the federal government.

The Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998 (FAIR Act) directs federal agencies to submit an annual inventory of all their activities that are performed by federal employees but are not inherently governmental (i.e., are commercial). OMB is to review each agency's Commercial Activities Inventory and consult with the agency regarding its content.

Upon the completion of this review and consultation, the agency must transmit a copy of the inventory to Congress and make it available to the public. The FAIR Act establishes an administrative appeals process under which an interested party may challenge the omission or the inclusion of a particular activity on the inventory. Finally, the FAIR Act requires agencies to review the activities on the inventory.

Each time that the head of an executive agency considers contracting with a private sector source for the performance of such an activity, the head of the executive agency shall use a competitive process. When conducting cost comparisons, agencies must ensure that all costs are considered.

UN Official Prods Bush Administration on Global Climate Issue
Jan Pronk, president of United Nations climate change negotiations, has urged the Bush Administration against following through on its plan to reject the Kyoto Protocol.

Pronk, president of the Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change as well as The Netherlands' environmental minister, said during a climate change conference in Washington on April 18 he would oppose any effort to renegotiate the treaty's greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction commitments or differential treatment for developing countries, tenets agreed upon in Kyoto, Japan in 1997.

Late last month, Bush said he has no interest in seeking ratification of the treaty, which would require industrialized countries to cut GHG emissions an average five percent below 1990 levels by no later than 2012, because it exempts developing countries from the first round of GHG reduction commitments. The administration has said it is conducting an "open review" of U.S. climate policies.

Since Bush's announcement, Australia and Japan have indicated they may not support the agreement without U.S. participation. "But there is still room for negotiation," Pronk said in a speech during the Pew Center on Global Climate Change's annual conference.

Public Transit Gains Riders
According to a survey report released by the American Public Transportation Association (ATPA), public transit ridership increased by 3.5 percent in 2000. This is the fifth consecutive year the public transportation ridership has increased. For the year, 9.4 billion trips were taken on U.S. trains and buses. This is the largest number in 40 years. The complete survey can be found on the ATPA web site at: https://www.apta.com/.

Bush Names Michigan Official to Head EPA Water Office
President Bush said April 19 that he intends to nominate George Tracey Mehan III to be Assistant Administrator for Water at the Environmental Protection Agency. Mehan is currently the Director of the Office of Great Lakes in the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

He served as Associate Deputy Administrator of the EPA from 1992 to 1993 and was Director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources from 1989 to 1992. He is a graduate of St. Louis University and St. Louis University Law School.

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 or via email at afulk@asce.org.

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.

California: A.B. 184 limits increases in appraisal value of property resulting from seismic retrofitting.

A.B. 1118 allows tax credits for seismic retrofitting of residential structures.

S.B. 865 would establish the California and Mexico Border Infrastructure Financing Authority to improve infrastructure along California?s border with Mexico.

S.B. 924 sets standards under which the state can contract out for architectural and engineering services.

Louisiana: S.B. 1002 clarifies the requirements for land surveyor interns and land surveyors in training.

Ohio: H.B. 214 revises rules for the practice of landscape architecture.

Oregon: S.J.R. 21 and 22 allow for voters to approve, by referendum, bonds for the seismic retrofitting of schools and emergency service buildings.

Texas: S.B. 365 would adopt the International Residential Code of the International Code Council as the state?s residential building code. It would also adopt the National Electrical Code of the National Fire Protection Association.