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It is important to note that every Senate districts receive funds from the Commonwealth Sewer Rate Relief fund, proving that it is truly a statewide program that benefits the entire Commonwealth. At the time of this publication, the Senate had not debated their budget amendments. UCANE will request the entire Senate Chamber to support level funding of the Commonwealth Sewer Rate Relief Fund and, if needed, fight for $25 million if this line item goes to the House/Senate Conference Committee. LINEHAN WINS CITY COUNCIL SEAT Bill Linehan defeated Susan Passoni to replace Jim Kelley on the Boston City Council. Prior to the election, Linehan served as Special Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer of the City of Boston for the past six years and also had served as Director of Operations for the City of Boston’s Parks Department. In total, Linehan’s tenure in City Hall has eclipsed twenty years. The Council seat represents District 2 consisting of South Boston, South End, Chinatown, the Financial District, North Dorchester, the Leather District, and Bay Village. BOSTON CITY COUNCILOR McDERMOTT WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION Boston City Councilor Jerry McDermott announced this week that he will not seek re-election, leaving his Allston-Brighton seat which he held since 2002. McDermott currently is Chairman of the Council’s Ways & Means Committee, which determines budget priorities for the city. McDermott will serve out his current term, ending on December 31st. DEP AWARDS 46 PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS FOR DRINKING WATER EXCELLENCEIn the second week of May, the DEP honored 46 Massachusetts public water systems for their outstanding performance in 2006. There are 1,638 public water systems in the Commonwealth that provide approximately 500 million gallons per day of safe, potable drinking water to citizens throughout the Commonwealth. The awards recognized those water suppliers that have gone above and beyond meeting the minimum regulatory requirements for compliance. During the awards ceremony, the DEP acknowledged the challenges faced by suppliers in complying with the Safe Drinking Water Act, and recognized outstanding performance in providing customers with clean drinking water. The following drinking water systems received awards: Small Community System Awards Medium and Large Community Water Systems Consecutive Water Systems Non-Transient, Non-Community Water Systems Special Recognition Small Systems Security Award Systems Taking Action to Reduce Lead Award Commissioner's Conservation Award UCANE MEMBERS MEET WITH KENNEDY & KERRY STAFF TO PROMOTE SRF FEDERAL FUNDINGA delegation of UCANE members met with the environmental staff of Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and John Kerry (D-MA) in their Boston and Washington DC offices. The meetings focused on two important pieces of federal legislation to increase funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) and Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) projects. Early this year, the House passed the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007 (HR 720) on a 303 to 108 vote. The legislation seeks $14 billion over four years for the Clean Water SRF program. In the past, the program was funded at $1.35 billion, but the Bush Administration has been cutting that level back for years, recommending only $688 million for FY 2008. Congressman Jim Oberstar (D-MN), Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is the lead sponsor of HR 720 and was instrumental in getting the bill passed by such a large margin. The Senate has yet to file a companion bill, but Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is expected to file the bill. Additionally, the House passed, on a 367-58 vote, the Water Quality Investment Act (HR 569) which seeks increased funding for Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) projects. Congressman Capuano was a co-sponsor of this bill and Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has already filed the companion bill S. 836 - Archived News -300 Congress Street, Suite 101 • Quincy, MA 02169 |
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