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“It Ain’t Over Till Its Over”--Congress Almost Concludes the First Session As Senate Continues to Slog Through Debate and Nears a Vote on Health Care Reform Package
Water Quality: The House approved legislation to address water quality issues. The Water Investment Act (H.R. 1262) sped through the House early in 2009 and has been pending before the Senate. The House also witnessed the introduction of the Water Protection and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 3202) that would create a water trust fund to support infrastructure needs. The bill contains a number of identical provisions Aside from infrastructure assistance, Congress has devoted increased attention on the state of deteriorating water bodies due to nutrient loadings and fish kills. On the East coast, the Chesapeake Bay and the urgent need to reverse its ecological decline means that the Senate and House are likely to move on bills to renew the Chesapeake Bay program. Currently, S. 1816 is pending before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and consideration could take place in early 2010. The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has held a hearing on the House version of the bill (H.R. 3852) and is likely to continue working on the bill in the New Year. Whether successful or not, most congressional observers believe that any decisions on how to restore the Chesapeake may serve as a model to address other major water bodies throughout the nation. On the West coast, all policy-making turns on the drought. The continuing challenges of providing water supply and protecting the ecosystems throughout the West has witnessed the convergence of endangered species, water quality and drinking water protection mandates. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in California where the San Francisco Bay Delta’s decline is forcing policy-makers at all levels of government to consider ways to develop solutions to reverse fish population decline and ensure a reliable water supply. We expect that 2010 will witness a significant effort at the federal level to develop legislative solutions to meet these seemingly intractable problems. Water Supply: Similar to the pressure to restore the federal partnership for water quality infrastructure, water supply infrastructure needs will be addressed through the SRF legislation. However, a reliable water supply will also involve the development of alternative processes—water recycling and desalination. It remains to be seen whether Congress or the Administration will pursue a comprehensive initiative to promote construction of these kinds of water supply projects. We expect authorization of water projects through the Title XVI program, administered by the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Water Resources Development Act reauthorization process that Corps of Engineers’ Environmental Infrastructure Program supports. Appropriations: After sizable commitments of emergency stimulus spending during fiscal year 2010 prompted calls to turn attention to deficit reduction, the big play in 2010 will be how the White House establishes its program budget priorities for fiscal year 2011. We anticipate that election year pressures will force the hand of the Administration to favor spending restraint. To this end, when the budget is transmitted to Congress in early February, the expectation is that spending on most programs will not see growth and could experience actual cuts. The exception to this rule is likely to be alternative energy programs that enjoy strong Administration support such as a biomass. Transportation: Congress failed to agree on how to renew the surface transportation law. The Defense spending bill extends federal highway and surface transportation programs and authorizes the appropriation of funding from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for two months, through February 28, 2010, or until a multiyear law reauthorizing the federal highway program is enacted. The Jobs for Main Street Act (H.R. 2847) would appropriate $27.5 billion for highway and transit, $500 million for the FAA improvement program and $8.4 billion for mass transit programs. The purpose and funding levels contained in the bill closely mirror to those governing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Senate action on this House-passed legislation is expected to take place in January. It is unclear whether Congress will be able to complete work on comprehensive surface transportation reauthorization before 2011. The positive news for transportation is infrastructure remains front and center for the Administration and Congress as a vital element for economic recovery. Climate Change: If the planet is indeed warming, the same cannot be said for climate legislation. The Copenhagen Summit is Exhibit A in the debate over how difficult a consensus on how to address climate change in a comprehensive manner. While the House approved its version of a cap-and-trade program, the Senate has been unable to cobble together 60 votes to bring a similar approach to the Senate floor for debate and a vote. Opponents of the programmatic approach seem to have the upper hand when they argue that cap-and-trade will impose economic hardship on the country while other nations get a free ride. Whether analysis validates this does not seem to factor into the debate. Therefore, we expect that if the Senate proceeds to schedule a vote on a climate bill, it may ultimately resemble more of an alternative energy production bill than a climate bill with cap-and-trade. Because any Senate bill would require a compromise to be written with the House, it is premature to conclude that a cap-and-trade program is destined for the legislative dustbin. House Completes 2009 Work The House of Representatives completed its legislative business for 2009 on December 16, passing four bills affecting the federal budget. These bills included a jobs creation bill, the defense appropriations bill, a short-term continuing resolution, and an increase of the U.S. debt limit. The defense appropriations bill (H.R. 3326) extends many programs until February 28, including two small business loan programs, the Patriot Act, Medicare physician payments, surface transportation authorization, unemployment insurance, among other programs. The debt limit increase did not address long-term U.S. debt concerns, requiring Congress to revisit the issue in February as well. This sets up a logjam of essential legislation in February, just as Congress begins work on crafting a fiscal year 2011 budget and discussions on climate change legislation reemerge. House Passes Jobs Bill With Focus on Infrastructure Late Wednesday night, the House passed a $154 billion jobs bill (H.R. 2847) in a close vote of 217-212. Known as the Jobs for Main Street Act, the bill redirects $75 billion from recovered funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The bill includes the following: Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Funding - $1 billion in state capitalization grants for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, $1 billion in state capitalization grants to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. Half of the money is directed to additional subsidization, including negative interest loans, principle forgiveness or grants. Army Corps of Engineers - $715 million for the Army Corps of Engineers for water resources construction projects, a minimum of $30 million of which are directed to water-related environmental infrastructure assistance. Bureau of Reclamation - $100 million for the Bureau, including not less than $26 million of which is directed for water reclamation and reuse projects authorized under Title XVI. Transportation - $27.5 billion for high and transit, $500 million for the FAA improvement program and $8.4 billion for mass transit programs. Community Oriented Policy Services (COPS) Program - $2.95 million for competitive program to provides funding directly to law enforcement agencies. Firefighter Assistance Grants - $500 for fire departs to enhance their ability to protect the public and fire service personnel from fire and related hazards. Education – $23 billion for an Education Jobs Fund focused on paying salaries. The bill also includes provisions to spur small businesses to create jobs and emergency spending for extending unemployment benefits, extends COBRA, and extends Medicaid help to states. Although House Democratic leadership hoped the Senate would act in time to bring the bill to the President for a signature before the State of the Union address in January, this timetable seems doable, but optimistic. The Senate is considering drafting a jobs bill of their own, which will likely delay action the bill until well into the New Year.
Happy holidays from all of us at ENS Resources ?
Best wishes for the new year!
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The First Session of the 111th Congress started on a hopeful note with a new Administration, but was tempered by the worst economic climate since the 1930’s. Despite the focus on the economy and health care, a number of policy issues made significant progress in the legislative arena during the past year. Unfortunately, that progress was hampered by the realization that it still requires sixty votes to move legislation in the Senate, lending substance to the old standard, the Senate is where bills go to die. Notwithstanding the Senate’s ability to debate and approve legislation, the Senate committee process succeeded in setting the stage for a busy second session of the 111th Congress when it reconvenes in January. With this in mind, we provide our views on how the opening days of 2010 may unfold. 
contained in H.R. 1262. While it appears that prospects for a trust fund passing Congress are slim to none in the next session because of the anti-tax increase sentiment, the need for renewal of the core water infrastructure assistance program, the State Revolving Loan Fund Program, is expected to generate attention. With the legislative ball in the Senate’s court, we are hopeful that Committee on Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer will secure adequate Senate support to give final approval to the Water Infrastructure Financing Act (S. 1005) to renew the SRF program. Assuming that this happens, the House and Senate will be in a position to negotiate a final agreement, thereby providing a new commitment to the SRF program for the first time since 1987.
