June 2014 President Signs into Law Water Resources Bill President Obama signed into law the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA), HR 3080, the first Water Resources bill enacted since 2007. The new law authorizes the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to construct projects for flood control, water navigation, storm damage reduction, beach nourishment, ecological restoration, water supply and dam and levee safety. Key provisions include limiting feasibility studies for new projects to three years and streamlining the environmental review and permitting process. It also establishes a new pilot Water Infrastructure Finance Innovation Authority (WIFIA) to provide credit assistance to drinking water, wastewater and water resources projects and includes reforms to the State Revolving Fund (SRF) program. In addition, the act establishes a new process for future bills to review and prioritize water resources development activities with strong Congressional oversight. It provides for increased expenditures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to reduce the backlog of port and harbor projects and requires a review of possible ways to increase revenue collections for financing projects on the inland waterways. The House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the legislation. The vote in the Senate was 91-7 and 412-4 in the House of Representatives. During the signing ceremony on June 10 the President praised Congress for coming together to pass the legislation in a bipartisan manner and urged lawmakers to pass a transportation bill before the highway trust fund becomes insolvent before the end of the summer. To read the full text of the law, click here. EPA Extends Waters of US Rule Comment Deadline The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and US Army Corps of Engineers (UISACE) are extending the public comment period for the Waters of the US proposed rule by 90 days, from July 21 until October 20. The extension is in response to numerous requests from agencies for more time to review the rule and meet with stakeholders. The proposed rule, released in April, would define waters of the U.S. to determine which waters are subject to the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act (CWA). According to the agencies, the proposed rule is necessary to provide clarity on what waters are subject to the jurisdiction of the CWA after two Supreme Court cases muddied the waters.
The new rule will affect project development and operations for public works departments across the country. The proposal expands the types of waters that will be considered jurisdictional and subject to the CWA permitting requirements. Under the proposal, all tributaries of jurisdictional waters and all waters located within the riparian area or a floodplain which has historically been subject to case-by-case determinations will be considered waters of the U.S. Additionally, certain isolated wetlands and ditches dug in uplands, which were categorically excluded from jurisdiction under prior agency rules and guidance, are now subject to CWA jurisdiction and certain other waters that are deemed to have a significant nexus to jurisdictional waters will be considered jurisdictional under the new rules. For an effect to be significant it must be more than speculative or insubstantial and program staff will need to perform a case-bycase analysis to determine whether the aggregate effect of geographically isolated waters significantly affect the physical, biological and chemical integrity of federally protected waters. Other waters, including wetlands, are similarly situated when they perform similar functions and are located sufficiently close together or sufficiently close to a water of the United States so that they can be evaluated as a single landscape unit with regard to their effect on the chemical, physical or biological integrity of protected waters. The proposed rule does not change any of the current exemptions for ponds and lagoons used in waste treatment systems; prior converted cropland; upland ditches; ditches that do not contribute flow to traditional navigable waters, interstate waters, territorial seas or jurisdictional impoundments; groundwater; artificially irrigated areas, lakes, and ponds; ornamental waters, artificial pools or swimming pools; collected water from construction activity; and gullies, rills and non-wetland swales. The proposed rule is posted at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/fr-2014-04-21/pdf/2014-07142.pdf. House Water Subcommittee Holds Hearing on EPA s Proposed Waters of US Rule The House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a hearing on the potential effects of the US Environmental Protection Agency s (EPA) new proposed rule on the waters of the US. EPA and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in April published a proposed rule clarifying what types of waters and waterways fall under jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act and would therefore be deemed waters of the US. The new rule could affect project development and operations for public works departments across the country if these projects and operations occur near waterways designated as waters of the US. The commenting period on the proposed rule was recently extended by 90 days and has a new deadline of October 20, 2014. The hearing held June 11 consisted of two panels offering testimony on the potential effects of the new rule. The first panel included federal officials from the EPA and the USACE. The
second panel featured representatives from several local government and business associations including: the Oklahoma Water Resources Board on Behalf of the Western Governors Association and the Western States Water Council, the Colorado Springs Utilities on behalf of the National Water Resources Association and the Western Urban Water Coalition, the Riverside County, California Flood Control & Water Conservation District on behalf of the National Association of Counties and the National Association of Flood & Stormwater Management Agencies, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Association of Home Builders, and the American Sustainable Business Council. EPA Catalog of Watershed Protection Funding Sources Updated The Environmental Protection Agency s (EPA) online catalog of federal funding sources for watershed protection was recently updated to include the latest information about fiscal year 2014 federal funding allocations for programs focusing on watershed protection and restoration. The site houses an easy-to-use, searchable database of 85 programs in which financial assistance sources, including grants, loans and cost-sharing are available to fund a variety of watershed activities. Information about each funding source includes a program description, details on program contacts, funding history, typical past award amounts, eligibility requirements, application deadlines and matching funds/criteria requirements. For more information visit: https://ofmpub.epa.gov/apex/watershedfunding/f?p=fedfund:1 EPA Updates Recommended Water Quality Criteria for Human Health The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has updated its national recommended water quality criteria for human health for 94 chemical pollutants to reflect the latest scientific information and EPA policies. EPA will accept written scientific views from the public on the draft updated human health criteria until July 14. Once finalized, EPA water quality criteria provide recommendations to states and tribes authorized to establish water quality standards under the Clean Water Act. For more information visit, http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/health/.
USDA Debuts New Regional Conservation Partnership Program The National Resources Conservation Service (NCRS) under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now accepting applications to the new Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The RCPP competitively awards funds to conservation projects created and managed by partnerships between eligible entities. The RCPP encourages farmers to partner with nonagricultural entities, such as wastewater utilities and municipal storm water agencies, to use available resources to reduce nutrient runoff pollution. The RCPP is beneficial to the environment and the economy because it allows for the treatment of water pollution at the source. When farmers work with wastewater utilities to treat water before runoff flows to municipal water sources, municipalities can save money in water treatment and pass those savings along to rate payers. The USDA, with participating partners, is funding the RCPP at $2.4 billion over the next five years. USDA will provide $400 million in funding during this first year of the program. There will be three different funding pools for applicants to choose from: the national funding pool, the state funding pool, and the critical conservation area (CCA) funding pool. Projects that only deal with one state will be eligible for state funding; while projects covering multiple states will be eligible for national funding. Only projects that are located in the critical conservation areas, recently designated by the Secretary of Agriculture, will be eligible for CCA funding. These areas are the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, the Great Lakes Region, the Mississippi River Basin, the Colorado River Basin, the Longleaf Pine Range, the Columbia River Basin, the Prairie Grasslands Region, and the California Bay Delta. State projects will receive 25 percent of the funding; national projects will receive 35 percent of the funding and CCA projects will receive 40 percent of the funding. State and local governments, municipal water treatment entities and water and irrigation districts are among the entities that are eligible to participate in the RCPP. The deadline for application submissions is July 14, 2014. To learn more about the RCPP and how to create a winning application, you can participate in a USDA s online information session. The next online information session will be held at 11AM EST on Wednesday, June 18. Click here to learn more about and RSVP for the USDA information sessions. Click here to view the official grant announcement. Click here to learn more about the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.
House Leaders Call for Extending MAP-21 House Republican leaders have issued a plan to extend MAP-21, the federal surface transportation law, until May 2015. The extension would be paid for with a $12 billion general fund transfer, which would be offset by savings from ending Saturday delivery of most US mail. An additional offset would come from utilizing the $1.3 billion balance in the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund. A one year extension of MAP-21 requires an additional $14 billion more than is available in the Highway Trust Fund. Under current House Rules and under recent practice, a transfer of general funds into the Highway Trust Fund must be offset. MAP-21 expires at the end of September. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved a six-year bill, the MAP-21 Reauthorization Act (S. 2322), in May. The legislation reauthorizes federal-aid highway programs from fiscal year 2015 to 2020 at current funding levels plus inflation while maintaining current formulas. It would provide $242.7 billion for the federal highway program. The Highway Trust Fund is expected to become insolvent by August. Congressional leaders are considering options to prevent insolvency. GAO Report Criticizes TIGER Grant Selection Process The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report May 28 criticizing the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) for not documenting key decisions in its Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grant program selection process. The report found that USDOT did not document key decisions to accept and review applications received after the published deadline, did not document key decisions to advance projects with lower technical ratings instead of more highly-rated projects and that its procedures were not consistent with internal guidelines. GAO recommended that USDOT establish additional accountability measures for management of the program, including clear procedures for addressing late-arriving applications and for documenting and approving major decisions in the application evaluation and project selection process. The TIGER program provides grants for road, rail, transit and port projects to achieve critical national objectives. USDOT recently announced that applications for the sixth round of TIGER grants totaled $9.5 billion, 15 times the $600 million set aside for the program. The Department received 797 eligible applications, compared to 585 in 2013, from 49 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. Since 2009, Congress has dedicated more than $4.1 billion for six rounds to fund projects that have a significant impact on the nation, a region or a metropolitan area. The GAO report is available at: http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/663630.pdf.
FHWA Proposes Planning Rule The US Department of Transportation June 2 published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register to propose updated planning regulations as required by MAP- 21. Comments are due August 30. The NPRM proposes revisions to the regulations governing the development of metropolitan transportation plans and programs for urbanized areas, state transportation plans and programs, and the congestion management process. MAP-21 continues many provisions related to transportation planning from prior laws but also introduces transformational changes and adds some new provisions. The NPRM proposes the following changes to statewide and nonmetropolitan and metropolitan transportation planning: Performance-Based Planning and Programming - MAP-21 transforms the federal-aid highway program and the federal transit program by requiring a transition to a performance-driven, outcome-based program that provides for a greater level of transparency and accountability, improved project decision-making and more efficient investment of federal transportation funds. New Emphasis on Nonmetropolitan Transportation Planning - MAP-21 places a new emphasis on the importance of nonmetropolitan transportation planning. MAP-21 requires states to work more closely with nonmetropolitan areas. It also gives states the opportunity to designate RTPOs to help address the planning needs of the nonmetropolitan area of the state. Fosters further collaboration between individual state DOTs and MPOs by requiring them to coordinate with each other when establishing performance targets. Additions to the Metropolitan Planning Process - MAP-21 made two changes specific to the metropolitan planning process one change affects the policy board structure of large MPOs, and the second establishes a process for scenario planning. Both of these changes would support the effective implementation of a performance-based planning process. For more information visit: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/fr-2014-06-02/pdf/2014-12155.pdf.
Two Highway Safety Rule Comment Deadlines Extended The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) extended the comment period to June 30, 2014 for two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) related to the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). The HSIP NPRM, which originally had a May 27 comment deadline, proposes to amend USDOT s regulations for consistency with MAP-21. A second NPRM, the National Performance Management Measures, which had a comment deadline of June 9, proposes safety performance measures and state DOT and Metropolitan Planning Organization requirements for establishing and reporting specific annual targets for fatalities and serious injuries for the purposes of carrying out the HSIP. USDOT is extending the comment deadlines so that the public may review proposed rulemakings in concert with a companion NPRM on governing the development of metropolitan transportation plans and programs for urbanized areas, state transportation plans and programs and the congestion management process. For more information visit: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketdetail;d=fhwa-2013-0019 and http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketdetail;d=fhwa-2013-0020. House Passes Transportation Appropriations Bill The House of Representatives June 10 approved a $52 billion fiscal year (FY) 2015 transportation and housing Appropriations bill. The Transportation, Housing & Urban Development (T-HUD) bill (HR 4745) was approved 229-192. The bill provides $17.1 billion in discretionary spending for the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) and funds the Federal Highway program at $40.2b billion, consistent with MAP-21. The measure, however, cuts TIGER grants from its current funding level of $600 million to $100 million. The White House Office of Management and Budget issued a statement criticizing the bill for underfunding several transportation and housing programs. During debate, lawmakers adopted an amendment stripping funding from high speed rail in California. Most Democrats opposed the measure and intend to restore funding to several transportation programs when the bill reaches conference committee with the Senate. The Senate s FY 2015 T-HUD bill, S2348, passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 5 and is expected to reach the Senate floor in late June. The Senate proposal costs $54.4 billion and provides $18.1 billion in discretionary funding for USDOT. It provides $550 million for TIGER grants, contrasting sharply with the House proposal.
FEMA Announces Policy Updates to Flood Risk and Analysis Mapping Standards A full list of standards for the Risk MAP (Mapping, Assessment and Planning) program was issued in 2013 as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) policy standards for flood risk analysis and mapping. FEMA has instituted a semi-annual maintenance process for this policy to address the number of standards and to provide regular updates and procedures for mapping. Updates to the mapping standards will typically be issued twice each year. As a part of the regular maintenance, standards now require all Federal Register Flood Hazard Determination Notices to include a web link to an official FEMA site showing the proposed flood hazard changes; require standardization of map repository addresses; and require FEMA to leverage existing data from the US Army Corps of Engineers National Levee Database. FEMA is also issuing new guidance documents for Risk MAP and updating the related technical reference documents that define specific requirements for flood risk project deliverables. For additional information, please visit the FEMA Guidelines and Standards for Floor Risk Analysis and Mapping webpage.