November 19, 2010

The midterm elections transferred control of the House of Representatives to Republicans. Currently, the Republicans hold a 61 seat majority over the Democrats with five races undecided.  Control of the Senate remains with the Democrats but their majority was reduced from 60 seats to 53.

The biggest change for ACWA members next Congress will be the earmark ban.  Both House and Senate Republicans approved a voluntary ban on earmarks for the 112^th Congress.  In the 111^th Congress, only House Republicans banned earmarks.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on Nov. 17 to discuss the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Ranking Member James Inhofe (R-OK) said that a WRDA bill would have bipartisan support next year.

Chairwoman Boxer stated, “I’m optimistic we can get this done. WRDA is a classic case in point that we can work together. With the WRDA bill we address the important issues of flooding, cargo safety and ports. All this is done in WRDA.” 

Several Democratic Senators who worked last Congress on a cap and trade bill met to discuss strategy for the 112th Congress on Nov. 16.  The Senators acknowledge that a broad cap and trade bill is a non-starter next Congress and want to work on passing smaller energy bills instead.

“Whether we like or not, cap-and-trade has no chance of passage in the next Congress,” Sen. Joe Lieberman stated in an interview after the meeting.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced plans to screen up to 134 chemicals for potential effects on the human endocrine system. The chemicals, including many previously identified as priorities under the Safe Drinking Water Act, will be screened to determine whether additional testing is necessary or whether other steps are needed to address potential endocrine-disrupting chemicals.