The Mono Lake Committee joined national environmentalists and plumbing manufacturers to ask six Members of Congress from California to withdraw support for the bill to repeal national standards for water efficient plumbing products. Congressmen Wally Herger (R, District 2), John Doolittle (R, District 4), Tom Campbell (R, District 15), Ken Calvert (R, District 43), Dana Rohrabacher, (R, District 45), Christopher C. Cox (R, District 47) were co-sponsors in this Congress, but when the bill is introduced early next year in the next Congress, they have an opportunity to withdraw their support.

We emphasized the demands of floods, droughts, and fires in 1998 on local water and wastewater systems throughout the country. We pointed out the many reports that show the great majority of homeowners are satisfied with the performance of the 1.6-gallon toilets and that the marketplace is driving even further improvements. Consumer Reports magazine referred to the bill as "unwarranted."

"HEARING ON TOILET BILL IS FLUSHED AT REQUEST OF THE SPONSOR

What we thought was dead until next year has risen. The ultra-low flush toilet bill will have a hearing July 31 (see below) and letters are needed to the Chair of the Committee. If the Chair senses that this bill does not have much support, he may be able to keep it from going anywhere. The Mono Lake Committee is sending a letter, but individual letters will help too!

This is a notice concerning the status of HR 859, Rep. Joseph Knollenberg's bill to repeal the national plumbing efficiency standards contained in the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The bill will be officially heard in Washington, D.C. on July 31 by the Committee on Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy and Power. Letters are desperately needed from water utilities, environmental organizations, water associations of any kind, or individuals officially opposing the passage of HR 859 for the hearing record. If you sent a letter in the past, please consider doing so again. We need to get our views known!!

The letters should be sent before July 31 and should be addressed to:

The Honorable Dan Schaefer
Chairman
Subcommittee on Energy and Power
Committee on Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

People interested in helping see that HR 859 does not become law, can write or email their Member of Congress (see original action alert), asking him/her to sign on to a bipartisan "Dear Colleague" letter being sponsored by Republican Congressman Michael Bilirakis from Florida and Edward J. Markey from Massachusetts. The staff person handling the letter is Rebecca Hyder (202-225-5755) in Bilirakis office. Following is the text of the letter:

The Honorable Thomas J. Bliley, Jr.
Chairman, Committee on Commerce
2125 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairman Bliley:

We are writing to express our support for maintaining the uniform national efficiency standards for new plumbing products that were enacted in 1992 as part of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. We believe that the current law best serves the interests of communities, consumers, the plumbing industry, and the environment.

Our communities shoulder the enormous responsibility of providing a safe and affordable water supply to American consumers. Similarly, the principal responsibility for managing the collection and treatment of municipal wastewater for the protection of rivers, lakes and estuaries lies at the local level. Data compiled by the States and recently by the Environmental Protection Agency shows that the public water systems and wastewater treatment agencies will need to invest over $277 billion to protect public health and accommodate growth over the next 20 years. Much of this will go for facilities whose size and cost will be affected by the volume of flow. The Federal government may only provide a small portion of the funding necessary for this investment. We believe that it would be unwise to suspend or repeal national plumbing efficiency standards without a full accounting of the consequences to America's water and wastewater utilities and the consumers that they serve.

Uniform national standards have also assisted consumers by bringing efficient plumbing products from a niche market into the mainstream, ensuring that the price and performance of such products are the result of competition among all manufacturers. The results of this market transformation are already apparent. Tens of millions of efficient plumbing products have been shipped and installed and the consumer acceptance of these products, as measured by consumer surveys, is clearly positive.

Plumbing manufacturers, distributors, contractors and the professional plumbers union are united in their support for current law. A national standard allows products to move freely across state lines without the industry being required to manufacture, stock and deliver different products based on varied state or local performance standards, labeling requirement or test procedures.Finally, plumbing product efficiency is critically important for protecting the environment. From the Florida Everglades to Puget Sound and From Boston Harbor to Santa Monica Bay, the protection and restoration of environmental quality in many diverse habitats is dependent upon making more efficient use of water. And while a scarcity of water is not a problem in many portions of the country, the financial resources needed to ensure safe drinking water and thorough treatment of wastewater are in limited supply almost everywhere. Efficient plumbing products will help meet important environmental goals in virtually every State.For these reasons, we believe that current law should be maintained.

Sincerely yours,

Michael Bilirakis, R-FL Edward J. Markey, D-MA