FEBRUARY
ACSM GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS UPDATE
Advanced Registration Deadline for the ACSM Annual
Conference in Phoenix has been extended to March 14. The link to the program on the website is: http://www.acsm.net/acsmconf03.html
Recently Introduced Legislation
Three bills were introduced recently in Congress which will
affect our members. We will monitor the legislation and meet with Members of
Congress to discuss the proposed legislation on behalf of our members.
S.212 High Plains Aquifer Hydrogeologic Characterization,
Mapping, Modeling and Monitoring Act
Sponsor: Sen Bingaman, Jeff [NM]
(introduced 1/23/2003)
Latest Major Action: 1/23/2003 Referred
to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources.
Title: A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
cooperate with the High Plains States in conducting a hydrogeologic
characterization, mapping, modeling and monitoring program for the High Plains
Aquifer, and for other purposes
The Bill authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, working
through the United States Geological Survey, and in cooperation with
participating State geological surveys and water management agencies of the
High Plains Aquifer States, shall establish and carry out the High Plains
Aquifer Comprehensive Hydrogeologic Characterization, Mapping, Modeling and
Monitoring Program, for the purposes of the characterization, mapping,
modeling, and monitoring of the High Plains Aquifer. The Program shall
undertake on a county-by-county level or at the largest scales and most
detailed levels determined to be appropriate on a state-by-state and regional
basis--
(1) mapping of the hydrogeological configuration of the High
Plains Aquifer; and
(2) with respect to the High Plains Aquifer, analyses of the
current and past rates at which groundwater is being withdrawn and recharged,
the net rate of decrease or increase in High Plains Aquifer storage, the
factors controlling the rate of horizontal and vertical migration of water
within the High Plains Aquifer, and the current and past rate of change of
saturated thickness within the High Plains Aquifer.
The Program shall include a Federal component, which shall
have as its priorities--
(A) coordinating Federal, State, and local, data, maps, and
models into an integrated physical characterization of the High Plains Aquifer;
(B) supporting State and local activities with scientific
and technical specialists; and
(C) undertaking activities and providing technical
capabilities not available at the State and local levels.
The Federal component shall include interdisciplinary
studies that add value to hydrogeologic characterization, mapping, modeling and
monitoring for the High Plains Aquifer.
H.R.20 Clean Water Infrastructure Financing Act of 2003
Sponsor: Rep Kelly, Sue W. [NY-19] (introduced 1/7/2003)
Latest Major Action: 1/7/2003 Referred
to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure.
Title: To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to
authorize appropriations for State water pollution control revolving funds, and
for other purposes.
The bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to
require that architectural and engineering contracts, including surveying,
mapping and other related services be awarded consistent with procedures under
the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 or an equivalent
State qualifications-based requirement.
It requires revolving funds to be used only for providing
assistance for activities which have as a principal benefit the improvement or
protection of water quality of navigable waters. Also, it makes revisions
concerning uses of funds for: (1) innovative technologies; (2) administrative
expenses; (3) small system technical, planning, and management assistance; and
(4) financially distressed communities.
H.R.670 Flood Loss Mitigation Act of 2003
Sponsor: Rep Baker, Richard H. [LA-6] (introduced 2/11/2003)
Latest Major Action: 2/11/2003 Referred
to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Financial
Services.
Title: To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to
provide for identification, mitigation, and purchase of properties insured
under the national flood insurance program that suffer repetitive losses.
Under this bill, a fund will be in place for the carrying
out of the Act. For each fiscal year, the Director of FEMA shall make a
determination of the portion of the amounts in the fund that are attributable
to savings from mitigation activities and purchases of qualified repetitive
loss structures .
`In each fiscal year, an amount of the fund shall be
available only for mitigation activities for, and purchase of, qualified
repetitive loss structures. After a determination by the Director that 75
percent of the number of qualified repetitive loss structures that existed upon
the enactment of the Flood Loss Mitigation Act of 2003 have been provided
mitigation that sufficiently reduces the risk of losses from flooding, or have
been purchased for public or open space use that is consistent with sound land
management and use policies, the Director may use up to 75 percent of the
amount reserved in each fiscal year for costs of mapping activities under section 1360 of the National Flood
Insurance Act.
FEMA
Wendy Lathrop has asked that the following information
regarding FEMA be included in the Update.
The new version of the Elevation Certificate is finally
available, and can be downloaded from FEMA's website at: http://www.fema.gov/nfip/elvinst.htm The prior form had a printed expiration date
of July 31, 2002, had been formally extended until October 31, 2002, but had
been unofficially revalidated until whenever a new form would be
published. That "whenever"
was January 29, 2003, and the form is the proper form to use from that date
forward. It is valid through December
31, 2003.
FEMA will be presenting a free half-day workshop at the ACSM
meeting in Phoenix, on the afternoon of Monday, March 31. The program will concentrate on Cooperating
Technical Partnerships and the roles that ACSM members can play in furthering
the mitigation goals of the National Flood Insurance Program. Because Maricopa County (Phoenix) is a
Cooperating Technical Partner, representatives from their GIS
and surveying divisions will add a practical hands-on
viewpoint to the discussion. Look for
announcements of the location of this presentation under "Technical
Sessions" in the ACSM Program.
FEMA Flood Map Modernization Project
The FY 2003 omnibus appropriations bill was passed recently.
FEMAs Flood Map Modernization program will receive $150 million for flood map
modernization, this includes $2 million for the New York DEC, $250,000 for the
West Virginia group and $2 million for the Louisiana project. FEMA also
received $800 million for disaster relief (the House requested $1.82 billion
and the Senate requested $842 million).
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) is reduced from 15
percent to 7.5 percent. $150 million is
provided for new National Pre-Disaster Mitigation Fund. Each state, and five
other recognized entities, will receive $250, 000 for planning mitigation
disaster mitigation projects.
We expect to be working with the Flood Map Coalition to
ensure that funding remains at this level or higher for the next fiscal year.
FEMA Flood Map Modernization Project II
FEMA recently announced its plan for procurement procedures
for the carrying out of the Flood Map Modernization Project. Weve learned that
IT businesses are planning to protest FEMAs procurement plan because they feel
that they should be carrying out the project. Additionally, while FEMA comes up
with a procurement plan, it will send the initial work to the four A/E firms
currently under contract with FEMA. FEMA expects to announce its final plan in
late March/early April. Briefing with Representative Pete Sessions Regarding
Competitive Sourcing in the 108th Congress Laurence Socci and Curt Sumner
attended a briefing held by Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX) regarding
competitive sourcing outlook for the 108th Congress. The briefing
discussed a number of important topics including the Executive Branch
Management Scorecard which grades federal agencies on the way that they are
outsourcing their needs to the private sector. Federal agencies are rated on a
scale of red, yellow and green with red needing the most improvement needed and
green meaning the least improvement needed. Congressman Sessions noted that the
agencies are moving more toward green status and less in the red status.
He talked about TRAC legislation and its outlook for the
future and he also talked about some amendments that were proposed relating to
TRAC-like legislation. We heard various other speakers talk about how TRAC
legislation has affected them in their daily business. All in all it was a very
informative briefing.
USGS Work Group
ACSM has begun working with other organization to form a new
coalition whose goal is to work together for the betterment of the USGS. The
name of the coalition is the USGS Coalition, its purpose will be to support
increased federal investment in USGS programs that underpin responsible natural
resource stewardship, improve resilience to natural and human-induced hazards,
and contribute to the long-term health, security, and prosperity of the
nation.The members of the coalition hope to work for additional federal funding
for USGS so that it can better serve the community.
NDGPS Funding
The Presidents FY 2004 budget came out recently and it
authorized $36 million for NDGPS funding. This is more that the estimated $33
million for FY 2003, but it is not at the level needed to complete the NDGPS
project. We will be working with other groups to try to get additional funding
for this project.
COFPAES
The new webpage for COFPAES is up and running. Go to www.cofpaes.org to check it out.
In other COFPAES news, COFPAES is in the process of
preparing a focus group involving several contracting representatives from
federal agencies to discuss QBS, particularly how it related to the selection
of A/E firms. As this is still in the planning stage, we will keep members
informed as this moves forward.
Additionally, COFPAES discussed a bill to require price
competition in A/E contracting which has been introduced in the Washington
State legislature.
To view the bill and information about it, go to: http://www.leg.wa.gov click on bill search
and enter 1884
The bill would (1) remove land surveying for the state QBS
law, and (2) amend the QBS law by requiring agencies procuring A&E services
to short list multiple firms and obtain
fee information from all the firms deemed qualified (e.g., those on the short
list).
ACSM PAC Auction
Only one month to go until we meet in Phoenix. Now is the
time to start thinking about donations for the PAC Auction. Our PAC is very
important to our government affairs program. Well use any funds raised to
support Members in Congress who help us and are supportive of our issues. Your
generosity is appreciated.
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS LINKS AND INFORMATION
Federal Government Resources on the Web:
United States Senate - http://www.senate.gov
U.S. House of Representatives (House Web Server) - http://www.house.gov
Status of Legislation (Library of Congress) - http://thomas.loc.gov
Who is my Representative in Congress? - http://www.vote-smart.org
Email Your Member of Congress Today! http://www.MrSmith.com
Official U.S. Executive Branch Web Sites: http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/executive/fed.html
The White House - http://www.whitehouse.gov
Links to State Legislatures:
View the National Council of State Legislatures Web site