On January 12, the 2009 legislative session will begin. This could be a momentous session as the Legislature deals with a struggling economy, weather-related damages and tightening general fund revenues. Iowa’s investment in its infrastructure, like water and wastewater, will also be a hot topic.
Iowa Rural Water begins to develop its legislative agenda for the next session almost as soon as the previous legislative session ends. The legislative committee, comprised of representatives from rural water systems and small communities, meets to analyze the outcomes of the previous session and to identify issues that need attention in the coming year. The committee also develops a survey which is provided to all rural water systems and Community Action Committee (CAC) members for their feedback on priorities and issues important to their water and wastewater systems.
Based on this input, the IRWA legislative committee makes recommendations to the IRWA board of directors on the activities for the upcoming legislative session. While these recommendations become the organization’s priorities, we work on a multitude of issues that impact water and wastewater systems in the state. In the past we’ve worked on a diverse group of issues ranging from inspection of septic tanks to licensing of plumbers to restrictions on special elections.
The IRWA board has tentatively identified the following issues as the organization’s priorities for the 2009 legislative session. The legislative committee and board will meet following the November election to finalize this list.
Water and Wastewater Infrastructure. The state should provide investment into upgrades of the water and wastewater infrastructure in the state. With the exception of a $3 million general fund appropriation for wastewater compliance with new water quality standards, all funds in the state for water and wastewater infrastructure originate at the federal level. Iowa’s infrastructure needs are immense and are complicated by many new regulations that will require even more expensive treatment systems. The state’s goal should be to minimize the cost to the residents. This can be accomplished by a) increasing the grant funds available to communities; b) providing regulatory relief for those communities that are economically disadvantaged; and c) reducing interest rates or expanding loan terms for disadvantaged communities under the federally-funded water and wastewater revolving loan funds.
Compliance with the Clean Water Act. The state has a role in implementing the federal Clean Water Act. This should be accomplished in compliance with an Iowa law that prohibits the state from being more stringent than federal regulations. The Department of Natural Resources, in response to a threatened lawsuit and petition for rulemaking, is developing a policy that will implement a federal antidegredation policy in Iowa. This policy is designed to ensure that high quality waters are not degraded and that other waters are not further degraded. State policymakers should adopt a policy that complies with the federal Clean Water Act, complies with Iowa’s law on stringency and provides protections to allow for growth in Iowa’s communities.
Employment Issues. Opposition to the establishment of a prevailing wage tops the list of labor issues on the IRWA priority list. Imposing a prevailing wage requirement, especially when there are questions about the accuracy of its calculation, will significantly increase costs for Iowa’s small communities and residents. With a struggling economy and a need for greater investment in our water and wastewater infrastructure, prevailing wage will make it more difficult for these improvements to be made.
Federal Legislative Issues. Two main federal issues surfaced throughout the legislative policy development process. These issues are in addition to our continued support of the NRWA legislative agenda to provide funding for technical assistance for rural water systems and small communities through the EPA and USDA funding programs. First, we will work to make the CDBG grant program more flexible to allow communities a choice to hook into an existing municipal or rural water system if this is the most cost effective option. Under current regulations, grants are not available for communities to hook into another system.
Second, we will work with Congress to stop EPA from directing federal funds to implement the Clean Water Act to those states that totally fund their NDPES permit program through fees imposed on permit holders. This attempt by EPA is a direct infringement on states’ rights and will unfairly punish states that have statutory limits on the amount that can be collected through fees (like Iowa) or fund their NPDES program through general fund dollars. In addition, we will watch to ensure that EPA does not attempt to dictate to states’ that general fund dollars must be used to match capitalization grants for funding for the drinking water and clean water state revolving loan funds.
These priority issues will be reassessed after the November elections to determine if there are additional issues that should be on the list. In the meantime, we will begin to develop legislative proposals to implement our priority issues and meet with legislators to discuss Iowa’s investment in our water and wastewater infrastructure.
