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State water officials say they are grappling with how to handle the anticipated departure of experienced state and federal environmental and management staff that are expected to leave public service in record numbers over the next five years. Sources say the departures will likely create enormous challenges in implementing water quality programs that are already beleaguered by severe state and federal budget cuts.

State environment officials have released a long-awaited draft report that urges the federal government to fund and oversee surplus mercury supplies because states lack the resources and experience to safely store the mercury. The draft report argues that federal agencies, including the departments of Defense and Energy, already have experience storing and overseeing large supplies of mercury.

EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) is developing a new performance-based approach to assess its emergency response readiness and homeland security capabilities. The new measure is one of several the agency is crafting following a critical review by the White House's Office of Management & Budget (OMB) that concluded OSWER has failed to demonstrate environmental and public health benefits from some of its waste cleanup programs.

Rep. David Obey (WI), lead Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, is considering a last-ditch effort to remove several riders from EPA's spending bill for fiscal year 2003 that state officials and environmentalists say are environmentally damaging, congressional sources and environmentalists say. Obey and other Democrats will also try to convince Congress to raise EPA spending to levels agreed to by the House last year, the sources say.