Nation's Cities - March 5, 2012

8 NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
Enzi, from page 1
the aisle. He has been a member of the
Senate Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions (HELP) Committee for his
entire tenure in the Senate. In 2005, he
became chair of the committee and is
now its ranking member.
In his role as chairman of the HELP
Committee, Enzi led the Senate in its
efforts to ensure that everyone, no mat-
ter their age, can receive a quality educa-
tion. Enzi worked to provide Americans
access to affordable, quality health care
while protecting workers and provid-
ing them training to get the best jobs.
Enzi also worked to oversee the biggest
revision to pension laws in 30 years to
strengthen funding rules to secure the
retirements of millions of Americans.
The committee also led the way to mak-
ing the first revision to mine safety laws
in 28 years by promoting the use of new
technologies to improve mine safety and
save lives.

that he advocates for rural interests.
The Congressional City Conference
gets underway on Saturday, March 10,
with Leadership Training Institute semi-
nars and other NLC meetings. General
sessions and workshops on issues impor-
tant to cities will take place March 12
and 13.
Wednesday, March 14, is dedicated
to lobbying for city interests on Capitol
Hill and with federal agencies.
Check the Congressional City
Conference page at www.nlc.org for
the latest conference information and
to register.

Transportation, from page 1
March 31, it is virtually impossible now
for Congress to adopt individual bills
and then find a consensus in time for the
impending deadline.
Other Transportation News
While Congress wrestles with a sur-
face transportation program to meet
current and future needs, legislators also
turned attention to other parts of the
national transportation network.
At a recent briefing sponsored by
the Congressional Bicameral High-
Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail
(HSIPR) Caucus, state transporta-
tion officials from Washington, North
Bill, from page 3

he referred to the bill as a “one-size-fits-
all, Washington-knows-best solution,”
and said that, “Congress should not
now come charging in after seven years
of work and presume to sit as a national
zoning board, arrogating to our national
government the right to decide which
states have gotten the balance right and
deciding which projects are or are not
appropriate.”
In 2006, an overwhelming bipar-
Carolina, Connecticut and Michigan
joined Amtrak to highlight the $10
billion federal investment in passenger
rail in 32 states, which is paying off in
improved service, safety improvements,
job creation, enhanced mobility and
preparing for future enhanced mobility.

(R-Ark.) that mirrors the eminent
domain legislation passed by the House.
If Senate leadership allows consideration
of the Boozman amendment and it
passes, the new eminent domain leg-
islation could ride the higher-stakes
transportation reauthorization bill to the
President’s desk and enactment.
NLC is urging Congress to pass a
clean transportation reauthorization bill
free of non-germane amendments and
to oppose legislation that would usurp
local control and further limit eminent
domain authority.
EPA, from page 5
implementation vehicle, rather than
consent decrees.
NLC submitted written comments to
EPA on the Draft Integrated Planning
Approach Framework addressing these
issues.
Mayor Reardon emphasized that
clean water is the highest priority to cit-
ies. He also said that local elected officials
must be accountable to their citizens and
for every dollar collected, and the city
must provide a “return on investment”
in terms of the services it provides. He
also called for a greater partnership with
the federal government, a “true partner
to help find solutions.”
Bob Roddy, director of public works
for the Unified Government of Kansas
City and Wyandotte County said that

EPA was establishing “artificial compli-
ance schedules” through the use of con-
sent decrees, noting that cities were built
over the course of 100 years, but today
consent decrees often involve undertak-
ing huge public works projects over the
course of 20 years.
Nancy Stoner, EPA acting assistant
administrator for water, will speak about
the integrated planning approach frame-
work at the Energy, Environment and
Natural Resources Committee meeting
at the upcoming NLC Congressional
City Conference in Washington, D.C.,
on March 11.
Local government representatives at the EPA Integrated Planning Approach Framework workshop in
Kansas City, Kan. Left to right: Bob Roddy, director of public works for the Unified Government of
Kansas City, Kan., and Wyandotte County, Mayor Joe Reardon and Robert G. Stubbe, director of
public works, City of Omaha, Neb.
Details: To view NLC’s comments,
visit /influence-federal-policy/advocacy/
regulatory-advocacy/regulations---envi-
ronment. To learn more about EPA’s
integrated planning effort, visit http://
www.epa.gov/npdes/integratedplans.