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LEGISLATIVE
RESPONSE TO TMDL On April 13, Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and two co-sponsors introduced Senate Bill 2417, the "Water Pollution Program Enhancements Act of 2000," intended as a direct legislative response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's pending attempt to introduce direct federal regulation of nonpoint source discharge under the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) authority in the Clean Water Act. The bill, which the American Forest & Paper Association supports, (1) would increase federal funding for state-level nonpoint source compliance programs, including grants to landowners; (2) would fund a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study to evaluate the scientific basis and costs underlying the pending TMDL proposal; (3) would fund a pilot program for EPA and the states to assess different approaches to reducing both point and nonpoint sources; and (4) would direct EPA to take results of the NAS study into account before issuing a final rule. This last provision would delay EPA's final rulemaking at least 18 months beyond the current estimated August publication date. (To examine the text, see http://thomas.loc.gov, and enter SB2417 in the search box.) State-level rallies against the regulation have continued throughout the spring, past the end of the public comment period, in the South and beyond, to build grassroots pressure against the bill, although in spite of some dramatic gestures-such as a letter of protest signed by Alabama's entire congressional delegation to EPA's water-issues point man, Charles Fox-many in the industry question how deep congress's resistance runs. Recent statements from EPA which appear to offer significant concessions while actually altering nothing of substance are a further cause for concern. Return to Public Policy Archive Forest Resources Association
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