Budget

EPA water chief Tracy Mehan and water treatment industry officials are squaring off over Mehan's push to require treatment facilities seeking federal infrastructure loans to adopt techniques to better manage assets, which the utilities say will be expensive to implement and demonstrate even greater future funding needs that utilities are unable to address.

Drinking water utilities have made significant progress in implementing post-Sept. 11 security measures, but substantial money is needed for systems to continue improving safeguards against terror attacks, according to a new American Water Works Association (AWWA) report. The water systems are using the report to seek increased federal security funding on Capitol Hill this week. The report shows "an incredible mobilization in a short period of time, and a change in attitude and culture," says an AWWA source.

Despite strong state opposition, EPA's most recent round of Superfund listing decisions -- set to be promulgated next week -- is for the first time based on considerations of how much the cleanups will cost, among several other factors, in an effort to address the program's budget woes, according to EPA sources.

EPA has launched an internal review to determine ways to ease the impact of current fiscal crises around the country on state environmental agencies, with the review focusing heavily on options such as increased flexibility rather than more federal funding.

EPA Deputy Administrator Linda Fisher told Inside EPA, "We are trying to look state by state," to assess the current fiscal problems facing states and determine possible solutions.