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<br />.\ <br /> <br />. temporary water purchases. It also authorizes the Secretary to make water available for <br />protecting fish and wildlife resources outside authorized project service areas on a <br />nomeimbursable basis. It requires the Secretary to charge recipients for the use ofnonproject <br />water for municipal, industrial and agricultural uses, and requires the payment of capital costs <br />attributable to the sale of water or the use of Federal Reclamation project facilities into the <br />Reclamation Fund and credited to the project from which the water or facility is supplied. The <br />authority was to sunset after ten years, but has been extended. It will expire on September 30, <br />2005 unless extended again. <br /> <br />Rural Water Supply Act of 2005: Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman <br />Pete V. Domenici and Ranking Member Jeff Bingaman introduced legislation on April 25 to <br />address the urgent demand for water infrastructure in small and rural western communities. <br /> <br />The bill addresses the inability of many rural communities to afford new water projects. In a <br />2002 report, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that capital needs for clean water in <br />the United States from 2000 to 2019 will range from $331 billion to $450 billion. In many cases, <br />small and rural communities lack the bonding capacity to raise the capital required for these <br />projects. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The "Rural Water Supply Act of2005" creates within the Bureau of Reclamation a loan <br />guarantee pro gram for water infrastructure and streamlines the process for assessing water <br />infrastructure needs. The loan guarantee program established by the bill provides a federal <br />backing of loans taken out by small communities for municipal and industrial water <br />infrastructure. The bill also expedites the appraisal and feasibility study process within the <br />Bureau of Reclamation to allow communities to study the best approach to meet their water <br />supply needs. The legislation is intended to help towns with populations under 50,000 that meet <br />certain loan criteria. <br /> <br />- - <br />Co-sponsors of the bill mclude Senators Bennett (UT), Murk-owski (AK) and Johnson (SD). <br /> <br />NEPA Task Force to Hold First Field Hearing in Spokane: - The Task Force on Improving <br />the National Environmental Policy Act held a field hearing on The Role ofNEP A in the States of <br />Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska on April 23rd. The meeting was held at the <br />Phase I Building Auditorium at the Washington State University campus. <br />NEPA Task Force Chairwoman Cathy McMorris (R-WA) was asked to lead the bipartisan panel <br />of House Resources Committee members around the country to gather input on the <br />implementation ofNEP A. The TaskForce primarily examined whether the original intent of <br />NEP A is being fulfilled. Its was also seeking input on the economic impacts NEP A is currently <br />having. <br /> <br />NWRA Western Water Seminar: The National Water Resources Association will hold its <br />Western Water Seminar on July 20-22. It is also planning an annual conference November 9-11. <br />For more information visit: www.nwra.org. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />NWRA 2005 Federal Water Seminar: The National Water ResoUrces Association held its <br />annual National Water Resources seminar in Washington, D.C. on April 12_ Mr. Ben Grumbles, <br />Assistant Administrator for the Office of the Environmental Protection Agency (EP A) was the <br />breakfast keynote speaker, focusing his remarks on how the EP A was not looking to expand the <br /> <br />9 <br />