Update from Washington, D.C. 06/10/2011
The heat is on in the nation’s capital as temperatures soared to
the upper nineties and beyond the week of June 6. For their part,
Members of Congress were sweating the details of how to solve the
looming debt crisis as negotiations took on a sense of heightened
urgency after the release of a disappointing jobs report.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has warned that Congress must
act by August 2nd to avoid defaulting on U.S. borrowing
obligations. This is no easy task as the two parties have serious
disagreements over what deficit-fighting measures to pair with an
increase in the debt limit. Republican leaders have ruled out tax
increases, while most Democrats believe that increased revenues
have to be part of any agreement to reduce deficits. There is one
thing, however, that both sides have made abundantly clear:
negotiators should strike a deal well before the August deadline
to avoid rattling financial markets. Complicating matters is that
House and Senate lawmakers have rarely been in session at the
same time the last few weeks. The Senate was on recess the week
of May 30, while the House was out this past week.
When the lower chamber did meet, they overwhelmingly defeated a
so-called “clean” bill that would have raised the debt limit
without accompanying spending cuts or other conditions. This was
largely a symbolic vote in anticipation of upcoming meetings with
the White House. House Republicans and Democrats each had their
turn to make their case to President Obama, but not much
materialized from those meetings. Meanwhile, Vice President Joe
Biden has continued hosting bipartisan talks with congressional
leaders in hopes of reaching a compromise to raise the debt limit
and cut spending.
In other news, the full House of Representatives considered the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations bill. The
measure was considered under what is called an “open rule,” which
lets members propose an unlimited number of relevant amendments.
One amendment that was overwhelmingly accepted would reverse some
of the cuts to firefighter grant programs. Another that passed
would strike language from the package that limits Urban Area
Security Initiative grants to the top 10 highest-risk urban
areas. It did not propose an alternative number of eligible
cities, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which
administers the grants, has limited the number to 31 for the
current fiscal year. Amendments to restore funding to other
programs important to local governments were rejected, as it
became increasingly difficult to find additional offsets.
At the Appropriations Committee level, the Energy and Water
Appropriations Subcommittee approved a draft bill that would fund
the Department of Energy and related agencies at $30.6 billion
for fiscal year 2012, which is $5.9 billion less than the
president’s budget request and $1 billion below the fiscal 2011
spending levels. The draft bill would reduce funding for the
Energy Department, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of
Reclamation and several regional water and power authorities.
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, leaders of the Senate Environment and
Public Works (EPW) Committee recently released a bipartisan
outline – called Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century,
or simply MAP-21 – of their core principles for a multi-year
surface transportation reauthorization.
Details were kept to a minimum, but the proposal would fund
programs at current levels, plus inflation. Also, important for
some lawmakers, there would be no earmarks. Numerous programs
would be consolidated to focus resources on key national goals
and reduce duplicative and wasteful programs. Programs also would
be consolidated to create a more focused freight program that
would improve the movement of goods. A new section called America
Fast Forward would be created to help stretch federal dollars
further. In addition, the bill aims to expedite project delivery,
without sacrificing the environment.
The existing authorization for federal transportation programs –
known as SAFETEA-LU – is operating under a short term extension
through September. It’s still uncertain as to whether Congress
can muster enough support to reauthorize the program or if they
will simply extend it. The funding problem will continue to haunt
lawmakers, especially as gas tax revenues continue to
decline.
In other news, Representative Gary Miller (R-CA) is circulating a
draft bill to streamline the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) Section 404
permitting process. Specifically, the measure – the Flood Control
Facility Maintenance Clarification Act – would provide a narrow
exemption for maintenance removal of sediment, debris, and
vegetation from flood control channels and basins.
Under Section 404 of the CWA, counties, local flood control
agencies, and similar local government agencies in California and
across the country are required to obtain permits from the Corps
of Engineers to perform maintenance activities in flood
protection facilities. The law also provides an exemption for
“maintenance of currently serviceable structures.” However, the
Corps has interpreted that the exemption does not apply to
certain routine maintenance activities.
The narrow interpretation has caused a number of unintended
consequences. For one, it has drastically increased the Corps’
workload, creating a significant backlog. The processing time for
a 404 permit takes anywhere from one to three years, and often
comes with costly mitigation conditions attached. It also has
hampered local agencies in their efforts to perform routine
maintenance in a timely and responsive manner, leaving them open
to undue liability for flood damage.
Several Members of the California congressional delegation have
agreed to become original cosponsors of the Miller bill. County
officials are encouraged to contact their Member to urge them to
sign on to the legislation.