Stephanie Salmon, AFS Washington Office; Jeff Hannapel & Christian Richter, The Policy Group, Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON ALERT President Signs Water Infrastructure Bill
LEGISLATION SHOULD HAVE POSITIVE IMPACT ON SUPPLIERS OF CAST COMPONENTS. President Obama signed the Water
Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA)-H.R. 3080 on June 10. Following months of behind- the-scenes negotiations, both the U.S. Senate and House approved the conference report in May. Te measure authorizes billions of dollars for ports, flood control projects and other water projects across the country. Of particu- lar interest to metalcasting facilities that produce components for water infrastructure projects are the follow- ing sections of the measure: • Reauthorizes the wastewater state revolving loan fund program and expands the types of projects the state revolving fund may fund.
• Establishes the Water Infrastruc- ture Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) to serve as a low-inter- est loan program administered by EPA to specifically support water and wastewater-related infra- structure projects, including pipe replacement or rehabilitation, construction or rehabilitation of treatment plants, desalination projects, groundwater replenish- ment projects, energy efficiency improvements and others. It is
ON THE HILL
Circuit Court Upholds EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS)
In May, a federal court rejected industry challenges to EPA’s new air quality standards.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Dis- trict of Columbia upheld EPA’s decision to tighten air quality standards for fine particulate matter in National Associa- tion of Manufacturers (NAM) v. EPA. Arguments were rejected that EPA acted unlawfully in creating its new national ambient air quality standards. The Court claimed the petitioners against the EPA had not identified “any way in which the EPA jumped the rails of reasonable- ness in examining the science. EPA
offered reasoned explanations for how it approached and weighed the evidence, and why the scientific evidence supported revision of the NAAQS,” the court said. Multiple industry groups in the coalition, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and NAM fought the new standards, which could significantly hurt U.S. manufacturing financially. The new NAAQS is 12 micrograms per cubic meter, down from the previ- ous standard of 15 µg/m3. The tougher standard eventually could require affected industries to install additional pollution controls to reduce particulate matter emissions. Fine particulate matter is emitted from various sources, including vehicles, smokestacks and fires.
Dozens of Signatures Secured for House LIFO Letter
AFS sent more than 200 letters to House lawmakers in support of a “Dear Colleague” letter circulated by Reps. Jim Lankford (R-Okla.) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) opposing repeal of the Last In First Out (LIFO) inventory method. The letter, addressed to Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), specifi- cally urges the chairman to remove LIFO repeal from the tax reform proposal that was issued earlier this year. More than 110 signatures are now on the LIFO letter. representing 25% of the House.
For additional information, contact Stephanie Salmon, AFS Washington Off ice,
202-842-4864,
ssalmon@afsinc.org. July 2014 MODERN CASTING | 19
designed to fund larger projects and provides loan guarantees and direct loans at long-term Treasury rates. It does limit WI- FIA support of a project to 49% of the project’s costs, with an overall limitation of 80% for all federal assistance in any project and provides that tax-exempt debt cannot be used to pay the non-federal share of project costs. EPA is authorized to spend $175 million over five years to carry
out the program, including $20 million in the 2015 fiscal year. However, the actual funding levels will be decided as congres- sional appropriators craft FY15 spending bills.
• Requires that these projects use iron and steel products that are produced in the U.S. for the construction, alteration, main- tenance or repair of a public water system or treatment works project.
Steel and iron castings are significant components in water infrastructure projects, such as this drainage pump station in New Orleans.
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