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Home My WebLink About07.d.1) and 07.d.2) (Handout) Reports and Announcements of Board Member Michael McGill7d. /) Mandoaf)- Central Contra Costa Sanitary District Board Meeting March 21, 2013 Board Member McGill Item 7.d.1 FUTURE MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES WITH PAID EXPENSES AND /OR STIPEND None MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES THAT EXPENSES AND /OR STIPEND WAS PAID Mayors' Conference, Pleasant Hill March 7, 2010 Industrial Association Forum, CCWD LV Presentation March 13, 2013 Budget and Finance Committee Meeting March 18, 2013 r Central Contra Costa Sanitary District <�Q► I?d OGL7� CASA Washington D.C. Conference February 25 — 27, 2013 Report of Paul H. Causey Attendance at the CASA 10d' annual Washington Conference included both presentations by elected and staff personnel from both parties of the Congress as well as Capital Hill Congressional visits to promote several important topics to CASA members. The presentations topics included the following: • Overview of the anticipated priorities for the new Congress • Congressional Overview: The 113'x' Congress, A New Beginning and Old Priorities Congressional visit briefings by senior government representatives • Regulatory Policies of the Obama Administrations Second term • Financing Water Infrastructure Needs and recovering the Energy Embedded Within the Wastewater Treatment Process • Policy Making in an Era of Change • A debriefing of all Capital Hill meetings Significant observations included that there will probably be no new funds available any time soon for wastewater infrastructure; that SRF funding will likely not be renewed in this session; that the WIFIA proposal needs strong support to make its way through Congress; one staffer requested information on the position of the SWRCB on the conflict of interest legislation; WARDA will need reauthorization and will be a priority for Senator Boxer; and green house gas regulations will move forward in the future. The Capital Hill briefings included four priority topics for CASA as follows: 1. Robust commitment to support water infrastructure especially the Clean Water Act SRF and other new and innovative financial tools to assist agencies with capital funding requirements. This included distribution of CCCSD information on recycled water programs and projects as well as the tie between jobs and infrastructure from all types of wastewater and water projects. 2. Revisions to the Clean Water Act or EPA regulations to revise the conflict of interest provisions especially for California to allow a non - monetary evaluation of nominees for State and Regional Boards rather than a 5% of income criteria from regulated entities. The may involve support for the Sunshine on Conflicts Act by Representative Gary Miller of California. 3. Citizens suit reforms to the Clean Water Act to assure consistent affirmative defense to public agencies. 4. Nutrient regulations and management by way of alternative approaches to compliance and regulation. Attendees were formed into teams for Capital Hill visits and my teams meet with staff members of the following Congressional Offices ✓ Rep. George Miller ✓ Rep. Mike Honda ✓ Rep. Zoe Lofgren ✓ Rep. Jackie Speier ✓ Rep. Nancy Pelosi ✓ Rep. Eric Swalwell All visits were very cordial and the staff representatives were very receptive to our requests and discussions. However we did observe that most of the staff members we met with were very young and not as well informed on the issues as anticipated. The exceptions to this would be the offices of Miller, Speier ands Pelosi as one might expect. The only strong push back received was from Pelosi's office regarding revisions to the Clean Water Act citizen suits provisions. This idea was stated as the third rail of politics never to be touched. Overall the conference provided broad insight into the coming Congressional term and allows the attendees to express local needs and interests. Many of these interests should be further promoted to the local Congressional team within the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District Service Area and I would recommend that the Board reach out to those members and assure that our Washington message is further reinforced with the local staff persons both through face to face meetings and letters of strong support from the Board President. I would be happy to answer any questions or make copies of all handouts available if any Board members would like copies. I have attached a copy of HR 836 Sunshine on Conflicts Act by Rep. Gary Miller for your information. MA110 iICATED _J GPo,� I 113TH CONGRESS He Re 836 1ST SESSION To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify the requirement that permit applications for the discharge of pollutants be approved ky disinterested board members, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 26, 2013 Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California introduced the following bill; which tvas referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify the requirement that permit applications for the dis- charge of pollutants be approved by disinterested board members, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the "Sunshine on Conflicts 5 Act of 2013 ". X, 1 SEC. 2. APPROVAL BY DIED T METED BOARD MEMBERS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL,.— Section 402(a) of the Federal 3 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342(a)) is 4 amended by adding at the end the following: 5 "(6) Not later than 60 days after the date of the en- 6 actment of this paragraph, the Administrator shall issue 7 a rule to prohibit any member of a board or body that 8 approves permit applications or portions thereof from vot- 9 ing upon, or seeking to influence, the approval of any per - 10 mit in which that member has a direct or indirect financial 11 interest, as defined in applicable State law. ". 12 (b) NO FORCE OR EFFECT OF EmSTING REGULA- 13 TION.— Section 123.25(c) of title 40, Code of Federal Reg - 14 ulations, shall have no further force or effect after the ear - 15 liest of the date on which a rule is issued under section 16 402(a)(6) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 17 U.S.C. 1342(a)(6)) or the end of the 120 -day period be- 18 gimiing on the date of the enactment of this section. ORR &M In 71.1) CHondou#) Item 7.d.2 ANNOUNCEMENTS f300-rct Member Nc&, It Attended: National Association of Work Boards Conference, Washington DC March 8 -12, 2013 Contra Costa Council Land Use Task Force regarding CEQA Reform March 13, 2013 Workforce Development Board of Contra Costa County Executive Committee Meeting March 13, 2013 Airport Land Use Commission Meeting March 13, 2013 Lamorinda Democratic Club Meeting March 14, 2013 Contra Costa Council Board Meeting March 15, 2013 Attended (cont): A Blueprint for Growth for Contra Costa County: Call to Action Meeting, Contra Costa Economic Partnership March 18, 2013 Pleasant Hill Chamber Mixer At the Contra Costa Food Bank March 20, 2013 Diablo Valley Democratic Club Meeting March 20, 2013 Will attend: None