ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE

IMPROVING THE TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD PROGRAM
UNDER THE CLEAN WATER ACT

WHEREAS, the United States Conference of Mayors are fully committed to achieving and maintaining water quality for public use, recreation, the protection of aquatic ecosystems, and the economic prosperity of cites; and

WHEREAS, substantial progress has already been made toward this objective through the investment of almost $1 trillion by the municipal and industrial sectors of the economy; and

WHEREAS, the Mayors' experience demonstrates that achievement of water quality goals depends upon a commitment to accommodating economic development, the use of sound science and quality data, the careful investment of limited resources to maximize environmental benefits, and broad-based public support; and

WHEREAS, the Mayors experience also demonstrates that to secure further water quality gains will require a more comprehensive effort, involving both point and non-point sources on a watershed by watershed basis, to address continuing impairments of water quality; and

WHEREAS, such an approach which involves regulated and currently unregulated sources of contaminants to the nation's waters is both the most effective and most equitable strategy for making further water quality improvements; and

WHEREAS, to accomplish this, Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act pertaining to total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) is one of available tools to States and local governments to assure effective water quality management; and

WHEREAS, existing rules governing TMDLs have been inadequate and state failures to use this authority are forcing state and federal regulators to unfairly increase permit limits and costs on regulated points sources as the means for achieving further water quality progress, allowing unregulated sources to discharge contaminants free of any constraints or regulatory directives; and

WHEREAS, as a result, parties have sought judicial intervention to force states and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) to make changes to TMDLs, most recently resulting in the publication of proposed rules by the U.S. EPA which have proven controversial; and

WHEREAS, Congressional appropriators, led by Representative James Walsh (NY), are now proposing dramatic increases in funding to help states undertake more complete analyses and other work to apply TMDLs more readily; and

WHEREAS, such resources will provide the states with additional funding which municipalities and others now operating under permits believe is an important step in helping states build the capacity to allocate regulatory and non-regulatory burdens associated with future water quality improvements more proportionately; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. EPA proposed TMDL rules do not reflect a consensus approach that can secure sufficient support for a successful regulatory result, nor does suggesting that states be given unlimited time and autonomy to shield politically-sensitive constituencies from regulation, while local governmental taxpayers, principally those in urbanized areas, and regulated industrial sources absorb all of the societal costs for improving the nation's waters, and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors urges the U.S. EPA to re-propose its TMDL rulemaking or modify the current proposal substantially in an effort to build more consensus for these changes; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that among the issues to address further in the re-promulgated TMDL rules is consideration of additional methods to facilitate brownfields and in-fill development, positive initiatives which can help secure other environmental benefits, ensuring that the final rules do not disproportionately burden parties seeking to reuse such sites as compared to developing on greenfields and other more pristine locations in outlying areas; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Conference during this intervening period of re-promulgation opposes Congressional efforts to supercede the new TMDL rules and others proposals which would simply delay needed contributions to water quality improvements by unregulated sources; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress undertake further examination and review of state capacity, including resource commitments, and state program efforts to ensure that funding shortfalls to delegated state programs are not causing local governments that now hold permits for discharges to the nation's waters to absorb additional costs for water quality improvements; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Conference encourages U.S. EPA and the states to continue to make every effort to include both point sources and non-point sources proportionately in the ongoing TMDL processes underway in the states.