By Judy Sheahan
June 28, 2010

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, Chair of the Conference's Environment Committee, provided an overview of new legislative and regulatory initiatives that are before Congress and the Administration on such issues as the Energy Block Grant, climate, solid waste, clean air, and floodplains that could severely impact cities. Elizabeth (NJ) Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, Co-Chair of the Brownfields Task Force, unveiled three new Conference of Mayors brownfield publications and highlighted two new brownfield legislative initiatives.

Some of the critical issues discussed:

Climate Change/EECBG: Foster discussed how the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) was not included in Senators Kerry and Lieberman's American Power Act. According to Kerry's staff, the Senator is very supportive of the Block Grant but he views himself as a "broker" to bring all the pieces together. If other Senators asked Kerry for the Energy Block Grant to be included in his bill, his staff said that he would have no objections of including it. Foster urged the mayors to call their Senators immediately and ask them to include EECBG in the final climate and energy bill.

Floodplains: Another critical issue for mayors, Foster outlined, is flood plain management and the proposed changes. The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has been developing an upgrade to the 1977 Executive Order on Flood Plain Management. The new policy will broaden the scope of the Executive Order to include the 500-year flood plain for critical actions. A final draft has been developed and forwarded to an Interagency workgroup comprised of key federal agencies for approval, which is still pending. The Conference of Mayors has weighed in with CEQ and the official comment period is over, but Foster told mayors that they may want to contact CEQ and outline their views.

EPA Proposed Rules: "There are seven new rules that EPA has proposed in the last couple of months. Some of these proposed rules may impact your city operations and budgets," Foster said. These rules deal with clean air, solid waste, and coal ash disposal. All of these rules can be found on EPA's and the Federal Register's website and are open for comment. "Mayors, please have your staff read these proposed rules, inform Conference staff how this may impact you, and submit your comments to EPA and to the Conference," he urged.

Brownfields: Bollwage unveiled three new Conference of Mayors brownfields publications and provided the committee with a legislative update. The publications, a product of an EPA grant, include the following: "Creating a Green Jobs Program: A Step by Step Guide" teaches strategies and methods to help create a successful green jobs program; "Recycling America's Land: A National Report on Brownfield's Redevelopment, Volume 8;" and a compendium of Best Practices in Brownfields Redevelopment, Volume 4.

According to Bollwage, the Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2010 (H.R. 5310) has been introduced by Representatives Frank Pallone (NJ) and Joe Sestak (PA) and have taken many of the recommendations of mayors and others in crafting their bill.

Some of the new provisions include:

• Increasing the total amount of EPA brownfield grant program funding to $350 million in FY11 to $600 million in FY 16 and beyond;

• Increase Clean Up Grant amounts to $750,000 and up to $1.5 million under "special circumstances;"

• Establishment of a multi-purpose grant, up to $1.5 million, that can be used by a community for a full range of activities; and

• Protection for local governments from some liability issues.

Bollwage also outlined Lautenberg's Cleanfields Initiative, which is a product of the Wilderness Society and the Conference of Mayors working together. This bill, which will be attached to an appropriate Energy or Climate Bill, would provide additional incentives for renewable energy projects to be placed on brownfield sites.

"I urge you to become familiar with these pieces of legislation and to talk about them to their members of Congress and Senate," Bollwage said. "We will need your help to pass both of these bills."

• Supporting Full and Dedicated Funding of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants — calls on Congress and the Administration to appropriate full funding for the EECBG Program in fiscal year 2011, while supporting higher authorization levels in future years.

• Calling on Congress to Pass Comprehensive Clean Energy and Climate Protection — Legislation urges Congress to include in any final energy and climate legislation the direct allocation of carbon allowances, auction proceeds, or other sources of revenues to cities for investment in energy conservation and climate mitigation, including funding for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program at the full authorized level.

• Support for the Greening of School Districts — calls upon its constituents to partner with their local school districts to implement green initiatives such as appointing sustainability managers, establishing a green advisory team, providing training for municipal and district staff, and adopting policies that call for all district schools to pursue certification through third-party rating systems like LEED.

• Calling on Congress and the Administration to Increase Funding for the EPA Climate Showcase Grants for Local Governments — calls upon Congress and the Administration to support increased funding for the Climate Showcase Communities program in fiscal year 2011 and in future years.

• Lower Energy Costs, Increase Job Growth, Reduce Pollution, and Save Water: A Resolution in Support of Appliance Efficiency Standards — urges the U.S Department of Energy to expeditiously promulgate and implement new national appliance and equipment standards at the greatest level of cost effective energy and water savings and to accelerate completion of those specific new standards which will deliver the largest energy and water savings.

• Supporting Diesel Clean-Up Measures as a Near-Term Climate Change Mitigation Strategy — calls on Congress to reauthorize the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act for an additional five years, and to seize other opportunities to fund diesel pollution reductions in upcoming climate legislation, transportation legislation and other appropriate legislation.

• Support for Biosolids as a Qualifying Renewable Energy Source — calls on Congress to include biosolids and biogas derived from the treatment of municipal wastewater as a qualifying renewable resource under any Federal Renewable Electricity Standard.

• Designating Waters of the United States — opposes legislation to expand federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act; supports a directive that the EPA should conduct an analysis of every regulation proposed under the Clean Water Act to determine the cost before it is promulgated and secure Congressional appropriations to be disbursed directly to state and local government to pay for the costs imposed by any regulation.

• America's Principal Cities Commitment to Clean Water Goals — urges the Conference of Mayors to participate in a dialogue with the U.S. DOJ and the U.S. EPA to urge both agencies to provide guidance to exercise flexibility in all matters concerning CSO and SSO controls.

• Aligning Federal Policy on Floodplain Management, Climate Change, and Sustainable Communities — urges the President to align federal policy on floodplain management with the Administration's policy initiatives on Climate Change and Sustainable Communities; opposes the adoption of federal policies that would disinvest in existing urbanized areas within floodplains; and calls for the modernization of the AR and A99 Special Flood Hazard Zones under the National Flood Insurance Program consistent with outlined principles.

• Resolution to Support the Creation of Special Purpose Corporations Owned by Municipal or Other Governmental Agencies That Would Allow Minority Equity Investment by Private Sector Investors — urges Congress to amend its tax codes and other regulations and encourage state legislatures to adopt legislation that would allow municipalities to create special purpose corporations for purposes of owning and operating its water and wastewater systems; allow the transfer of all regulatory responsibilities to the new corporation; Grant the corporation's the right to issue tax exempt debt, participate in SRF programs and other acts of Congress that provide direct benefits to the sponsoring municipality.

• Calling for a Coordinated National Strategy to Protect Public Health, Endangered Species and Critical Habitats by Providing Needed Water and Wastewater Infrastructure — calls on Congress and Federal agencies to implement a Sustainable and Coordinated National Strategy to strengthen the intergovernmental commitment to water and wastewater infrastructure and provide additional funding, tools, and technical assistance to assist local governments with water and wastewater infrastructure needs.

• Urging Increased Resources to Advance Restoration, and Protection, of our Nation's Large Rivers, Lakes, Bays and Estuaries — urges increases in the authorization levels allowed for essential programs that protect and improve the health of watersheds and urges the Obama Administration to assemble a task force to coordinate and increase efforts to heal and protect these water systems.

• Support for Sustainable Development in Cities — calls on Congress to adopt the Livable Communities Act, the Enhancing Livability for All Americans Act, or similar legislation and support full funding for the Sustainable Communities Partnership.

• HUD, DOT and EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities — congratulates HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson for their leadership in creating the Partnership for Sustainable Communities and that the U.S. Conference of Mayors will continue to work with these three agencies to enhance and promote the Partnership programs and principles.

• Calling on the Obama Administration to Create an Office Dedicated to the Promulgation of Sustainability Principles, Practices, and Policies — recommends and endorses the creation of an office within the Administration, whose primary mandate is to encourage, promote, and further principles and practices of sustainability across all sectors of the communities outside the Federal Government.

• Endorsing "Closing the Recycling Loop — Affirmative Sustainable Procurement Program"– encourages cities to give purchasing preferences to products containing the highest level of producer responsibility and encourages the development of recycled/recyclable products, fostering extended producer responsibility and creating an innovative, sustainable marketplace.

• Supporting Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Products — supports state and federal EPR legislation which gives producers the incentive to design products to make them less toxic and easier to reuse and recycle; encourages all manufacturers to share in the responsibility for eliminating waste and encourage its members to develop producer responsibility policies.

• Creation of a National Environmental Trust Fund — calls on Congress to create a National Environmental Trust to be used to grant funds to cities to support the development and implementation of environmental infrastructure, pollution prevention programs, environmental cleanup activities, Brownfields remediation and redevelopment, pollution reduction programs, and sustainable development policies.