LOBBYING
In Katrina's Wake, Groups Seek Creation Of Water Trust Fund
     Following the destruction of Hurricane Katrina and passage of the mammoth highway bill, a coalition of contractors, water agencies and other groups are preparing to lobby Congress for the creation of a new federal trust fund that could finance $35 billion to $40 billion worth of wastewater infrastructure projects over the next five years.
     The Associated General Contractors urged members attending a legislative conference this week to promote the trust fund concept while visiting with lawmakers.
     "There is the possibility of getting the trust fund. We have to package it right. We have to push it aggressively," AGC lobbyist Jeff Shoaf told his membership Tuesday.
     The lobbying campaign comes at a time when Congress is struggling with how to pay the reconstruction costs of areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.
     House conservatives Wednesday advocated offsetting part of the costs by rescinding nearly $25 billion worth of individual earmarks in the recently approved $286.4 billion transportation reauthorization bill.
     House Transportation and Infrastructure Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chairman John Duncan, R-Tenn., held a June 8 hearing on wastewater and drinking water and he endorsed the trust fund idea at the Tuesday AGC meeting.
     "Katrina has shown the importance of our clean water, wastewater infrastructure," Duncan said, adding, "I'm definitely and strongly in favor of creating that trust fund."
     In response to a question about obstacles to such a fund, Duncan said the funding stream has not been resolved. He mentioned user fees as a potential option.
     "There's one big thing, and that's how big it's going to be and how it's going to be paid for," Duncan said.
     Duncan's subcommittee in 2003 moved a bill that would have provided $20 billion over five years for grants for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund.
     Trust fund advocates outside of Congress are currently circulating draft language among interested groups for a trust fund that would provide $6 billion to $7 billion annually over the next five years for wastewater infrastructure. The draft does not provide funding for drinking water projects.
     Under the draft, financing for the fund could come from an industrial or corporate fee, but the House Ways and Means Committee would likely have jurisdiction over financing the fund.
     The focal point for building support for the trust fund is the Water Infrastructure Network, a coalition that includes AGC, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, environmental, engineering, labor, county and municipality groups.
     Adam Krantz, a WIN spokesman and NACWA's managing director of government affairs, said Katrina has highlighted the importance of wastewater treatment facilities for modern society.
     "Without it, you can't have industry, you can't have housing," he said.
     Krantz said passage of the highway bill makes it easier for Congress and his coalition to focus on new national infrastructure issues.
     "We think we're going to have a very broad, strong coalition on this," Krantz said. "We think it is the right time with the highway bill being put to rest."    By Mark Wegner

Prior to Chairman Duncan's address to AGC, Dr. Frank Luntz spoke to AGC's Municipal & Utilities Division outlining his recent poll showing that eighty-six percent of Americans would support the creation of a trust fund as quoted below.