Washington Insider--Monday

House Bill Mandates Study on Toxins in Water Supply

Here's a quick monitor of Washington farm and trade policy issues from DTN's well-placed observer.

EPA Likely to Receive Budget Cut

To no one's surprise, Republicans appear unlikely to grant the president's request for $8.59 billion to fund the Environmental Protection Agency in the coming fiscal year. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy testified last week before the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the agency's budget and told panel members, "The president is not only sending a clear signal about the resources EPA needs, … [his funding request] is also part of an overall federal budget that does not accept the overall bad policy-making of sequestration. The president's budget finds a way to avoid sequestration."

However, Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., and subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert, R-Calif., said it would be futile to entertain the president's proposed 5.6% increase in spending on the agency. Calvert was direct in telling McCarthy, "Policy decisions will dominate today's hearing, given there is little merit to discussing the agency's proposed budget in depth."

True to his word, Calvert and other Republicans on the panel spent most of their time expressing their concerns about policy issues such as EPA's proposed rule to clarify which waters are subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act and actions the agency was taking to address climate change. Chairman Rogers, who does not believe that climate change is occurring, cited as evidence the fact that "Just this past week in my district in the Midsouth we had two consecutive nights of below zero with snow on the ground."

The preference of appropriators to shy away from any in-depth discussions about appropriations does not bode well for EPA's future budget.

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Organized Labor Poised to Fight Proposed U.S. Trade Agreements

Leaders of the AFL-CIO Executive Council who met last week in Atlanta say they will focus on opposing Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) for the president, commonly known as "fast track." TPA will be necessary for the United States to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim nations. In a statement released following the meeting, the Executive Council released a statement saying, "The AFL-CIO commits to working with a broad coalition of allies to defeat 'Fast Track' trade authority and instead develop more democratic and participatory trade negotiating procedures that lead to fairer and more balanced trade deals that put people and the planet over profits."

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In addition, press reports indicate at least two union presidents at a rally with workers last week said their unions would freeze contributions from their union's political action committees unless a candidate opposes fast track.

The increasing opposition to trade agreements from organized labor and from its largely Democratic group of supporters in Congress will make negotiations substantially more challenging for the Obama administration.

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Washington Insider: House Bill Mandates Study on Toxins in Water Supply

One thing has become increasingly clear in recent months and that is the antipathy Congress regularly expresses for the Environmental Protection Agency. At the same time, in response to almost any environmental threat, the EPA is called in to "do something." True to this pattern, there are growing moves at both state and national levels to confront algae toxins in drinking water.

Last week, a large majority of the House -- 375 to 37 -- voted to require EPA to create "a science-based" plan to tackle algae toxins in drinking water supplies "within 90 days of the bill's enactment into law." Introduced by Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and backed by Democrats, the bill would amend the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Latta called the proposal thoughtful and robust. The EPA would be required to evaluate the risk to human health from drinking water provided by public systems and publish a list of harmful cyanotoxins. It also would be required to summarize the known adverse health effects of cyanotoxins listed and publish health advisories for those associated with this form of harmful blue-green algae.

In addition, EPA would be required to recommend feasible techniques for treating algae toxins and to provide technical assistance to states and utilities. The bill, which now heads to the Senate, was cosponsored by four Republicans -- Reps. Candice Miller. Mich., Tim Murphy, Pa., and David Joyce, Ohio -- and Democrats Reps. Mike Quigley, and Marcy Kaptur, Ohio.

The bill moved through the House quite quickly following its early Feb introduction. It has resonated with bipartisan environmental groups and others following the weekend-long ban on drinking Toledo, Ohio's water in early August 2014 which was caused by algae toxins from Lake Erie, which supplies the city's water.

The bill was supported by the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies and the American Water Works Association. AMWA executive director Diane VanDe Hei said the bill would ensure EPA provides information in a timely fashion to local water utilities about adverse human health effects associated with certain algal toxins, as well as the best methods to detect and remove these substances from source waters.

At the same time, VanDe Hei noted the proposed bill is just "one piece of the puzzle." She reiterated AMWA's stance that "the best, and most cost effective, long-range strategy to protect the public from algal pollution is to prevent bloom-causing nitrogen and phosphorus from entering waterways in the first place."

This is done, she said, by reducing nonpoint source runoff, including that from agricultural operations, through a strong investment in pollution prevention and infrastructure enhancement programs, including the drinking water and clean water state revolving funds and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program in the 2012 Farm Bill.

So, in spite of congressional votes to limit several of EPA's efforts, there are continuing and growing moves underway to limit threats to drinking water and agriculture likely will play central roles in many of those, including efforts to make them more effective and less intrusive, a process producers should watch closely as it proceeds, Washington Insider believes.


Want to keep up with events in Washington and elsewhere throughout the day? See DTN Top Stories, our frequently updated summary of news developments of interest to producers. You can find DTN Top Stories in DTN Ag News, which is on the Main Menu on classic DTN products and on the News and Analysis Menu of DTN's Professional and Producer products. DTN Top Stories is also on the home page and news home page of online.dtn.com. Subscribers of MyDTN.com should check out the U.S. Ag Policy, U.S. Farm Bill and DTN Ag News sections on their News Homepage.

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(GH/CZ)

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