BEACON HILL BEAT
MAY 2006
W CATES FOR INCREASED FEDERAL FUNDING
FOR
THE STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUND
UCANE, in conjunction with the newly formed Clean Water Construction Coalition, has been working on the federal level to increase funding for the State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) program funded in the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget. Over the past month, UCANE members have met with Congressmen Marty Meehan (D-MA), Barney Frank (D-MA), and Stephen Lynch (D-MA) to promote the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition efforts to increase funding for the Clean Water SRF program to $1.35 billion and $1 billion for the Drinking Water SRF. Congressman Meehan serves as Co-Chair of this Coalition along with Steven LaTourette (R-OH). President Bush, in his FY 2007 federal budget proposal, had recommended only $688 million for the Clean Water SRF and $850 million for the Drinking Water SRF. To date, the congressional delegation from MA, ME, VT, CT, one of the two Congressmen from RI, and one of the two Congressmen from NH have committee to supporting this letter to the Appropriation’s Committee.
A similar letter was sent by the Senate’s version of the Northeast-Midwest Coalition also requesting $1.35 billion for the Clean Water SRF and $850 million for the Drinking Water program. Forty-six Senators have signed this letter to the Appropriation’s Committee including Senators from MA, ME, VT, CT, RI. UCANE encourages Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH), who is the Chairman of the Budget Committee and sits of the Appropriations Committee, and John Sununu (R-NH) to support the increased funding for the Clean Water SRF program.
EPA GIVES CHARLES RIVER CLEAN-UP HIGH MARKS
For the second consecutive year, the lower Charles River received a grade of B+ from EPA for meeting swimming and boating standards. Starting over ten-years ago, the Charles River Initiative is an effort between EPA and local stakeholders to improve ecological conditions in the lower Charles River. The continued work is paying off as the river shows signs of significantly improved water quality and ecological health.
The grade is based on the number of days the river meets boating and swimming standards during the previous calendar year. For 2005, the Charles met boating standards 97% of the time, and swimming standards 50% of the time according to data collected by the Charles River Watershed Association between Watertown Dam and Boston Harbor. EPA data indicates that the swimming standard in the most heavily used part of the river (the basin between the Mass. Avenue Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge) was met consistently during summer sampling in 2005.
The Charles has improved dramatically from the beginning of EPA’s Charles River program in 1995, when the river received a D for meeting boating standards 39% of the time and swimming standards just 19% of the time. "The next generation of Bostonians will hardly believe that the song, 'Love that Dirty Water,' was once inspired by the Charles River," said Robert Varney, EPA Regional Administrator for New England. Varney acknowledged recent efforts to address combined sewer overflows (CSO) on the river as a crowning accomplishment in the effort to make the river fishable and swimmable. "A 99.5% reduction in CSOs will bring tremendous benefits to the 20,000 people who enjoy the Charles and its shorelines on hot summer days in Boston."
Although the grade for the river remained the same for the past two years, a recent legal settlement among EPA, the MWRA, and the Conservation Law Foundation promises great improvements in water quality for the Charles in the years ahead. As part of the settlement, MWRA has committed to reduce discharges from CSOs to a level that was previously considered unattainable. MWRA Executive Director Fred Laskey called this agreement a win-win. "It's a win for the river and the people who use it and a win for MWRA's ratepayers who now have some certainty of the cost of this program over the next several years."
CSOs discharge during heavy rains when the pipes carrying stormwater and sewage become full and must be released to adjacent surface waters like the Charles River or Boston Harbor. At the completion of MWRA’s work in the year 2013, discharges from the CSOs will drop to 7.8 million gallons per year, down from 1.7 billion gallons per year in 1988. This represents a 99.5% reduction in CSOs since 1988.
SENATE RELEASES FY 2007 STATE BUDGET
On May 17th, the Senate Ways & Means Committee, Chaired by Therese Murray (D-Plymouth), released their $25.46 billion FY 2007 state budget, which was $30 million less than the House proposal. One of the important programs that the Senate failed to fully fund was the Commonwealth Sewer Rate Relief Fund which provides rate relief to municipalities throughout the state. The House had proposed $25 million for this program, which at one point was funded at $60 million, but the Senate only allocated $15 million in their 2007 budget. UCANE will continue to work with the MWRA, MWRA Advisory Board, and other environmental groups to increase these funds when the House/Senate Conference Committee meets.
The Senate also offered a lower funding figure in the FY 2007 budget for the DEP General Fund allocating $31,930,671 compared to the House $32,930,671. This will also be an item that the House/Senate Conference Committee will debate.
Other items in the state budget regarding water infrastructure funding were funded at appropriate levels including:
Clean Water Contract Assistance for the
Water Pollution Abatement Trust
Senate = $54,907,283 (Same as FY 2007 requests by the House & Governor)
Drinking Water Contract Assistance for the
Water Pollution Abatement Trust
Senate = $9,308,806 (Same as FY 2007 requests by the House & Governor)
Grandfathered Drinking Water Contract Assistance for the
Water Pollution Abatement Trust
Senate = $7,852,853 (Same as FY 2007 requests by the House & Governor)
Reimbursements for Tax Abatement to Elderly Water & Sewer Payers
Senate = $9,655 (Same as FY 2007 requests by the House & Governor)
The entire FY 2007 State Senate Budget can been viewed at
http://www.mass.gov/legis/07budget/senate/index.htm
The Senate also reviewed many amendments to the budget during the week of May 22nd, several of which were of interest to UCANE members. The DEP Water Policy Amendment (ENV 160) filed by Senators Edward Augustus (D-Worcester), Robert O’Leary (D-Barnstable), Steven Panagiotakos (D-Lowell), Scott Brown (R-Wrentham) and Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge) was adopted requiring the Office of Commonwealth Development to establish a Water Management Blue Ribbon Panel to review the effectiveness of the DEP’s guidance policy regarding the Water Management Act. The Blue Ribbon Panel is required to submit a report to the Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture and the Senate Ways & Means Committee no later than December 31, 2006. UCANE expressed several concerns over the Water Management Policy, including a requirement to enforce the use of only 69 gallons of water per day per person.
Senator Robert O’Leary (D-Barnstable) was successful in getting his State Revolving Loan Fund Amendment (ENV 134) adopted. This provision would allow the top 20% of SRF projects, determined by the commonwealth capital score or projects that address regional wastewater issues, to be loaned to municipalities at 0% interest. The rest of the SRF funds would continue to be loaned at the traditional 2%. This rule would apply to the CY 2007 SRF list. Previous to the amendment being filed, UCANE met with Senator O’Leary to discuss the importance of the SRF and to brainstorm on how to make these loans more accessible to municipalities.
Another amendment adopted was the MWRA Bond Cap (ENV 43) filed by Senator Robert Havern (D-Arlington) increasing the MWRA’s bond cap from $5.4 billion to $6.1 billion.
Unfortunately, a Republican attempt by Senators Richard Tisei (R-Wakefield), Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester), Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth), and Scott Brown (R-Wrentham) to increase the Commonwealth Sewer Rate Relief Fund from $15 million to $25 million was rejected.
The results of all the Senate Amendments for the FY 2007 State Budget can be viewed at http://www.mass.gov/legis/07budget/senate/fy07amendments.htm
UCANE MEETS WITH NEW DEP DIRECTOR OF THE
SRF PROGRAM DAVE DeLORENZO
UCANE members met with the new Director of Municipal Services Dave DeLorenzo along with DEP’s former Director Steve McCurdy to discuss the SRF program and the transition in leadership at the DEP. Steve has accepted a position with the Office of Commonwealth Development but will still be involved with the implementation of the SRF in MA. Dave has worked for the DEP for over 19 years, most recently as Deputy Regional Director for Water Projects in the southeast office in Lakeville, MA and is very familiar with how the SRF program is run and the importance of low interest loans to municipalities.
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