I would like to submit some comparative figures showing the experience of the Town of Vienna. In the budget for the Town of Vienna for the fiscal year 1963-64 the total cost of operating the Town's two sewage treatment plants was $38,000. In the two years following we abandoned these plants, tying one side of the Town into the Fairfax County sewer system and the opposite side of Town into the Potomac Interceptor. We paid Fairfax County $217,000 for the privilege of connecting to the County system. We will be paying Fairfax County some $30,000 to $40,000 annually over a 38 year period to handle approximately 40% of the Town's sewage. We tied the northside of Town into the Potomac Interceptor at a cost to the Town of $330,000 (exclusive of Federal participation), and are currently paying the District approximately $40,000 per year for treatment. By the year 2000, under the present legislation and on the basis of the present population, we will be paying more than $90,000 per year. We will still be paying off the bonds on the two treatment plants which we abandoned for the next 15 years. The residents of the Potomac watershed are highly appreciative of the interest of the President and the Congress in cleaning up the Potomac River. Since, by the very nature of the Potomac-its location and history-different standards are being applied than are being applied to other streams throughout the nation, we feel that the rest of the nation should share proportionately in the costs of the program. In repaying only half the cost of the Potomac Interceptor, the user jurisdictions are going well beyond cities located in any other area. We, therefore, feel that this proposed legislation will do much to rectify an error which we feel the Congress never did intend to make. We feel also that some badly needed relief from excessive sewage handling costs will be granted to users of the Potomac Interceptor line. METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS, Hon. JOHN DOWDY, Chairman, Subcommittee No. 3, District of Columbia Committee, DEAR MR. DOWDY: The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments wishes to express to you its intense interest in H.R. 8965, a bill introduced by Mr. Machen of Maryland to increase the amount of Federal contribution to the cost of the Potomac Interceptor Sewer. To express that interest, the Board of Directors of the Council of Governments has adopted a Resolution urging the passage of Mr. Machen's bill. We regret that we were unable to have a representative of the Council of Governments attend the hearings on H.R. 8965 which were held on Tuesday. However, we understand that the record for those hearings is still open, and we request your permission to have testimony entered into that record. Accordingly, we are submitting subject to your approval, a statement by Mr. Frederick A. Babson, President of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, along with another statement by Mr. Achilles M. Tuchtan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Council of Governments transmitting a copy of the Resolution adopted by the Board of Directors supporting the passage of H.R. 8965. We wish to express our thanks to you for your courtesy in this mat ter. Very truly yours, WALTER A. SCHEIBER. STATEMENT OF FREDERICK A. BABSON, PRESIDENT, METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, my name is Frederick A. Babson. I am a member and past Chairman of the Fairfax County, Virginia, Board of Supervisors and President of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. I am grateful for the opportunity to express to you today my full support for legislation which would remove the heavy financial burden from the shoulders of our local governments in financing the operation of the Dulles Interceptor Sewer. This interceptor, as you know, is the largest single reason why we are moving closer to everyone's keen desire to restore the Potomac River to a clean condition. It is entirely fitting that it was local initiative, and not Federal action, which led to the establishment of the regional element of this interceptor. The local elected officials demonstrated in that early stage of development their strong conviction that this interceptor sewer was necessary. They have backed up this conviction ever since by providing the entire financing necessary in their use of it. It is fitting, Mr. Chairman, that this local initiative be recognized, as indeed it has been, and that the corresponding heavy cost be lessened in all fairness to our local governments in accordance with the spirit and provisions of the Clean Water Restoration Act of 1966. The Council of Governments has a long history of great interest in the water used by our citizens of Metropolitan Washington. Its involvement in the establishment of the Dulles Interceptor Sewer was its first and one of its most notable. Two years ago, in an extension of this deep interest, the Council ordered an in-depth study by a team of prominent engineers of the water supply problems of this area. Last September, when the Potomac River dropped to an alltime low, the Council of Governments declared the first water crisis in the history of Metropolitan Washington, and, through the local elected officials who compose COG, issued specific emergency recommendations to our local governments. Only last month, Mr. Chairman, the team of engineering consultants submitted its report on the first phase of COG's two-part water supply study. The Council is now preparing to launch the second part. Thus it is clear that our local elected officials are concerned about our water. It is both fitting and significant that the two local elected officials to testify before you today from our Council of Governments represent jurisdictions on both sides of the Potomac River. I might add, Mr. Chairman, that my Council of Governments colleague, Mr. Achilles M. Tuchtan, our distinguished Chairman of the Board, who is here before you, was one of the real leaders in the fight to establish this critically-needed interceptor. He is deserving of the praise and thanks of his fellow elected officials and citizens for this notable public service, and I take this occasion to salute him for it. It is clear from this testimony, Mr. Chairman, that we have long been interested in the fight to preserve our water in a clean state and have been willing to pay the price. Now it is appropriate, through the sentiment of the Congress in the Clean Water Restoration Act, that our financially-burdened local governments be given a helping hand in their great effort toward this goal. For this reason, I urge the adoption of the legislation before you, and I commend you for it. Thank you. STATEMENT OF ACHILLES M. TUCHTAN, CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, METROPOLITAN COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS WASHINGTON Mr. Chairman and the Members of the Subcommittee, my name is Achilles M. Tuchtan. I am a member of the City Council of Rockville, Maryland, and Chairman of the Board of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. I appear before you in this latter role because of the interest demonstrated by the Board of Directors of the Council of Governments in the legislation now being considered by your Subcommittee. The Council of Governments is the cooperative organization of the District of Columbia and the fourteen other major local governments of Maryland and Virginia within the metropolitan area. It is composed of the District Commissioners, members of the governing bodies of six nearby counties and eight cities, and members of the United States Congress and the General Assemblies of Maryland and Virginia who represent portions of this region. Through its members, the Council is responsible to more than two and a half million people. Since its establishment in 1957, COG has contributed materially to the solution of area-wide problems in this metropolitan area. Several of its achievements have been Nationwide firsts, such as an interstate master sewer plan, an air pollution monitoring system, a model local ordinance for controlling air pollution, plus development of model building and plumbing codes and the establishment of radio and teletype networks which link our local police and fire departments. The Council of Governments was one of the prime movers in the fight to build the Dulles Interceptor Sewer, bringing valuable and successful leadership to this effort as long ago as 1960. The Federal decision to build Dulles Airport made some form of sewerage essential. It was necessary to convey sewage across miles of substantially undeveloped countryside in Maryland and Virginis for eventual delivery to the collection and treatment system of the District of Columbia. This was required to protect the Potomac River above Little Falls, the source of the Region's water supply. and to which sewage effluent from the Airport would otherwise drain. Despite the lack of immediate local need for sewerage, all of the jurisdictions of the region recognized the importance of protecting the Potomac. They thus willingly undertook the obligation of making the Dulles Interceptor a regional facility. This was made a regional facility because of our success in this campaign, and the interceptor is recognized widely as the greatest achievement in years in preserving the cleanliness of the portion of the Potomac River which serves as Washington's water supply. Through the years since, the local governments of Metropolitan Washington have demonstrated their commitment to this cause by willingly assuming a heavy financial burden. This has involved bearing 100 per cent of the cost of their use of the Potomac Interceptor. Under the provisions of the Clean Water Restoration Act of 1966 the Congress has authorized the Federal Government to provide up to 50 per cent of the cost of developing such facilities. Under Section 204 of this Act, provision is made for reimbursement for certain projects on which construction was begun prior to passage of the Act. While the Dulles Interceptor technically is not one of the projects so favored, I would like to point out, Mr. Chairman, that it was built far in advance of a need that would normally have arisen on the basis of population development alone. On that basis, among others, we believe that the relief offered by the legislation before you is entirely consistent with fairness and with the objectives of the Clean Water Restoration Act. Because of these factors, the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has unanimously approved a resolution supporting the legislation before you which would increase the amount of the Federal contribution to the Potomac Interceptor Sewer and would provide just and needed relief to our local governments. I am happy to transmit copies of this resolution with my testimony. I commend you, Mr. Chairman, and all members of this Subcommittee for your foresight in these developments and for demonstrating so clearly and constructively the spirit of the Congressional mandate expressed in the Clean Water Restoration Act of 1966. I am happy to assure you of my strong support, and that of my colleagues, for the legislation before you, and I urge its prompt enactment. Thank you. ITEM 3.1. RESOLUTION ENDORSING SEVERAL BILLS BEFORE THE CONGRESS TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF THE FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE POTOMAC INTERCEPTOR SEWER Whereas the Congress, in 1960, under Public Law 86-515, authorized the construction of the Potomac Interceptor to provide sewerage service to the Federally owned Dulles International Airport and to adjacent areas of Maryland and Virginia; and Whereas, under the Act, financing of the Interceptor was provided by a grant of $3,000,000, to represent the estimated cost of conveying sewage from the Airport to the District of Columbia for disposal, plus a loan of $25,000,000, at regular interest rates, to be amortized by the beneficiary jurisdictions over a period of forty years; and Whereas in 1966 the Congress passed the Clean Water Restoration Act, (PL. 89-753) whereby local jurisdictions might receive Federal grants up to 50 percent for the construction of sewers and treatment works; and Whereas in consideration of Congressional policy enunciated in the Clean Water Restoration Act, providing up to a 50 percent contribution of Federal funds to the development of facilities similar to the Potomac Interceptor; and Whereas Public Law 86-515 requires that the local jurisdictions bear 100 percent of the cost of their use of the Potomac Interceptor, causing them to bear an inordinate financial burden contrary to the existing Congressional policies provided for in the Clean Water Restoration Act; and Whereas several bills before the Congress seek to provide relief for the citizens and local jurisdictions of the Washington Metropolitan Region from the further necessity of continuing to carry that inordinate financial burden by amending Public Law 86–515 to require that only 50 percent of the loan made under that Act be repaid, and that the amount of the loan which is not required to be repaid be considered as an additional Federal contribution toward the cost of planning acquiring rights-of-way for, and constructing the Potomac Interceptor Sewer: Now therefore, be it Resolved, by the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, That it hereby endorses the bills before the Congress which seek to increase the amount of the Federal contribution to the Potomac Interceptor Sewer and strongly urges that the Senate and House Committees on the District of Columbia give favorable consideration to this legislation, and recommend its enactment by Congress. Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN, EXECUTIVE OFFICE, GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Chairman, Committee on the District of Columbia, DEAR MR. MCMILLAN: On Tuesday, July 11, 1967, Subcommittee No. 4 of your Committee, under the chairmanship of Congressman Dowdy, held a hearing on H.R. 8965, 90th Congress, a bill "To amend the Act of June 12, 1960, relating to the Potomac interceptor sewer, to increase the amount of the Federal contribution to the cost of that sewer." In the course of the hearing, Mr. Dowdy asked that the Commissioners comment on an amendment of the bill proposed by Mr. Robert J. McLeod, General Manager and Chief Engineer for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission of the State of Maryland, amending the Act to allow local governments and agencies that have connected with the Potomac interceptor sewer to pay in a lump sum their respective portions of the cost of planning and constructing such sewer, rather than spreading such payments over the forty-year period presently required by the Act of June 12, 1960. The Commissioners of the District of Columbia generally favor the proposed amendment in principle. They do, however, question whether the amendment should take the form of an added subsection (c) of section 4 of such Act, in view of the fact that this section of the Act authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make loans for the construction of the sewer, and the subsection further provides for the repayment of those loans. The Commissioners believe that the proposed amendment would more appropriately be inserted in subsection (b) of section 2 of the Act, relating to the nature and contents of the agreements to be entered into between the Commissioners and the local governments and agencies connecting with the sewer. Under this subsection, each agreement is to establish charges for the use of the Potomac interceptor, and these charges are required to be "based upon the costs of operation, maintenance, and amortization of the cost of all planning and construction (including acquisition of rights-of-way) of such interceptor. "The Commissioners suggest that in order to overcome the effect of the quoted language, which occurs in the first sentence of subsection (b) of section 2 of the Act, there be inserted immediately following such first sentence of subsection (b) of section 2 of the Act a sentence reading substantially as follows: "In the event any agency or local authority shall make lump sum payment of its entire portion of the cost, or one or more lump sum payments of the whole or any part of the remainder thereof, of all planning and construction (including acquisition of rights-of-way) of the Interceptor, the agreement between the Commissioners and such agency or local authority shall provide or shall be modified to provide, as the case may be, that the aggregate amount of the charges to such local authority or agency for the use of the Potomac Interceptor shall take into consideration such payment by the local authority or agency of its portion of the cost of such planning and construction." The Commissioners believe the language suggested in the preceding paragraph not only incorporates the ideas expressed in the first two sentences of the amendment proposed by Mr. McLeod, but also provides a more feasible payment arrangement by avoiding the establishment of a large number of individual rates, and instead, allowing such lump sum payments to be made to the credit of eacli user's account, on a cumulative basis. With respect to the third sentence of that amendment (The connecting user agency or local authority shall be entitled to |