This Week in Washington

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:

• Election Day is Nov. 6- Remember to Vote
• EPA Announces Standard Of 10 ppb for Arsenic in U.S. Drinking Water
• House Aviation Showdown Set
• Baucus Hopes for Tuesday Markup on Economic Stimulus
• Jeffords Backs Water Infrastructure Security Bill
• ASCE President Promises to Aid Fight to Protect U.S. Infrastructure
• Congress/White House Considering Limiting Liability for Terrorist Attacks
• ASCE Urges Senators to Consider Infrastructure Modernization Bank
• State Government Relations Update

1. Election Day is Nov. 6- Remember to Vote

Tuesday, November 6, is Election Day, and voters across the country will be asked to select candidates for a variety of offices. In Virginia and New Jersey, voters will elect all statewide officeholders, with Virginia voters electing new members of the house of delegates and New Jersey voters electing all members of the state legislature. Various other municipal and local offices are up for election across the country, with one of the most important being the race for mayor of New York City.

If elections are being held in your area, be sure to vote. No elected office is insignificant, and every vote is important. If civil engineers do not participate in the electoral process, your voices do not count. All political involvement is important, and voting is the most basic form

2. EPA Announces Standard Of 10 ppb for Arsenic in U.S. Drinking Water

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christie Whitman announced on October 31 that the arsenic standard for drinking water will be 10 parts per billion (ppb) throughout the United States. The 10 ppb standard was first promulgated by the Clinton Administration in January and later suspended by President Bush for a study of the costs and benefits of the standard.

"Throughout this process, I have made it clear that EPA intends to strengthen the standard for arsenic by substantially lowering the maximum acceptable level from 50 parts per billion, which has been the lawful limit for nearly half a century," Whitman wrote in a letter to the House and Senate appropriations committees. "A standard of 10 ppb protects public health based on the best available science and ensures that the cost of the standard is achievable."

EPA plans to provide $20 million over the next two years for the research and development of more cost-effective technologies. The Agency also will provide technical assistance and training to operators of small systems, which will reduce their compliance costs, Whitman said.

3. House Aviation Showdown Set

As the House prepared for a contentious and close vote today on an aviation security bill, the House Rules Committee decided on a party-line vote Wednesday night to allow 20 minutes of debate on the House GOP bill and 60 minutes on the Democrats' substitute. The fight to win votes appears to center on moderate House Democrats and Republicans.

The House GOP bill, sponsored by House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Young, would beef up security at airports by increasing the standards for airport screeners and providing more federal oversight under the Department of Transportation. It also would contain exemptions for certain medical products, express a sense of Congress to exempt screening of animals shipped through the mail, increase the number of air marshals, secure cockpit doors and provide airports with $1.5 billion to help cover costs associated with increased security. The GOP bill also contains a controversial provision limiting liability for those sued for damages resulting from the attacks of Sept. 11, and was included at the behest of Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI).

The Democratic substitute, which is the bill the Senate passed 100-0, contains many similar provisions to beef up security, but would make screeners federal employees, which Democrats and many Republicans say is necessary to overhaul the system. Democrats, hoping to avoid a protracted conference committee battle, agreed to offer the Senate bill, although some Transportation and Infrastructure members indicated privately that they would have preferred a vote on a bill written by ranking member James Oberstar (D-MN). Oberstar's bill would have given oversight to the Transportation Department, rather than the Justice Department.

4. Baucus Hopes for Tuesday Markup on Economic Stimulus

Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) is working to secure a majority on his committee for a plan to boost the economy and help laid-off workers, saying he hopes to mark up the bill next Tuesday. Baucus called on President Bush to step in more decisively at this point, so that Congress can meet Bush's goal of enacting a bill by the end of November. The House passed its version of the economic stimulus package, H.R. 3090 last week by a vote of 216 to 214.

Baucus met Wednesday with Finance ranking Republican Charles Grassley, (R-IA) in a final effort to find common ground. But Democrats and Republicans--and the two senators--appeared far apart on key issues. A bipartisan group of Senate moderates also met Wednesday to coalesce around elements of a stimulus bill, but Baucus said he was focusing more on Bush's role.

The main issue separating the two parties is how to assist laid-off workers with health insurance needs. Democrats want an additional subsidy through COBRA. But many Republicans contend that approach would lead to a permanent new federal benefit.

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said this week he probably would recommend a presidential veto over the health benefit issue. However, one of the leaders of the moderate group, Sen. John Breaux (D-LA) Wednesday proposed creating a tax credit to achieve the same purpose. Breaux acknowledged that his plan would be more administratively cumbersome than a direct subsidy, but he said it might be more acceptable to Republicans.

Another important issue is the difference over additional unemployment benefits. Bush's proposal falls short in the view of Baucus and other Democrats. But Grassley has said Baucus' proposal would alter the federal role in jobless claims. And impose new dictates on states.

5. Jeffords Backs Water Infrastructure Security Bill

Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT) has introduced a bill, S. 1593, that would authorize the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide funding to support research projects on critical infrastructure protection for water supply systems. The bill, the Water Infrastructure Security and Research Development Act, would authorize the EPA to spend $72 million over six years for grants to (or cooperative agreements with) research institutions. House Science Committee Chair Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) has announced his intention to introduce the House version, but there was no number at press time.

Eligible research institutions would include public and private entities, including national laboratories that perform research that will improve the security of water supply systems. Individual awards could not exceed $1 million. Test and evaluation projects would be cost-shared on a 50-50 basis.

The research would assess the security issues for water supply systems by conducting assessments and developing and refining vulnerability assessment tools. They also would protect water supply systems from potential terrorist threats by developing technologies, processes, guidelines, standards, and procedures for the purpose of protecting water supply systems. Projects would also develop real-time monitoring systems to protect against chemical, biological, or radiological attack.

Research also would seek technologies and processes for addressing the mitigation, response and recovery of biological, chemical and radiological contamination of water supply systems.

6. ASCE President Promises to Aid Fight to Protect U.S. Infrastructure

ASCE will provide whatever assistance it can to help the federal government protect America's civil infrastructure from terrorism, ASCE President Gerry Schwartz said in a letter to the White House on November 1.

?The tragic events of September 11 have served as a grim reminder that our nation?s infrastructure is extremely vulnerable to disasters," Schwartz said in a letter to Tom Ridge, director of Homeland Security.

"ASCE has developed a multifaceted disaster response plan. We have established civil engineering study teams under ASCE?s disaster response procedure, which has been in place for more than a decade. Additionally, ASCE has assembled Building Performance Study Teams (BPST) to gather data on the catastrophic failures at the World Trade Center and the extensive damage to the Pentagon," Schwartz added.

View the letter

7. Congress/White House Considering Limiting Liability for Terrorist Attacks

The White House confirmed reports that it will consider proposals designed to limit the liability of businesses affected by the September 11 terrorist attack. An Administration official noted that ?owners and architects of buildings destroyed by the attacks, manufacturers of airplane components and others could be sued as a result of the attack.? White House officials say the caps on suits would be fair since the liability for airlines has already been capped, and that the inevitable lawsuits would focus on other businesses.

8. ASCE Urges Senators to Consider Infrastructure Modernization Bank

Congress should consider legislation that would create a "Federal Bank for Infrastructure Modernization" (FBIM) within the Federal Reserve System to provide approximately $500 billion over 10 years to upgrade America's failing infrastructure, ASCE said on October 31 in a statement to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

The FBIM could lend to any state or local government, any Native American tribe, or any regional or multistate organization to fund certain types of capital infrastructure projects dealing with transportation, schools, drinking-water, wastewater or hazardous waste. The concept was proposed earlier this year by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) in H.R. 1564, the Rebuilding America's Infrastructure Act of 2001.

"The bill would fund capital projects undertaken by state and local governments. It would use existing funds to create a stable, long-term source of funding," ASCE said.

Read all the testimony at this week's infrastructure funding hearing.

9. State Government Relations 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 e-mail 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. These bills affect the civil engineering profession, but ASCE National has not taken a position on them unless otherwise noted.

Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania legislature passed, and the governor signed, H.B. 910, a tort reform measure supported by ASCE members that affects engineers. Under the bill, engineers and other design professionals who volunteer their services in a professional capacity for either a government or nonprofit entity for a public service project or during a declared disaster emergency are immune from tort liability for their actions. The only exceptions involve intentional or reckless acts undertaken by the design professional.