Keeping in Touch... by Senator Jack Danforth 460 R.S.O.B. Washington, D.C. 20510 HEART OF AMERICA Traditionally rural America has been regarded as the "heart" of our country, but lately many have forgotten that rural America also is where most of us live. Two out of three Americans live in communities with populations less than 50,000. Unfortunately today two out of three Americans also are getting the short end of the stick from the federal government. When it comes to the distribution of federal grants, Washington simply does not serve rural America very well. In addition, small communities are burdened with so much paperwork and bureaucratic red tape that grant administrative costs often exceed grant benefits. many cases, small communities have decided that they do not want to be troubled with federal assistance. In Consider the difficulty the Missouri towns of Creighton (pop. 350) and Osborn (pop. 294) encountered recently in obtaining federal funds for a sewage and collection system. In 1971 both communities went to the considerable expense and trouble to employ a professional engineer to assist them. The engineer was needed not only to prepare the lengthy application forms, but to insure compliance with the many federal and state regulations governing sewer funds. In 1975 both communities were notified that their applications were complete. Funding was imminent. Then, in the final seconds of the game, Uncle Sam changed the rules. Additional regulations were promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency, sending the communities of Creighton and Osborn back to the drawing board. Each day the health hazard from open sewage became more serious, while the investment of time, money and manpower mounted. To assist these communities escape the bureaucratic run-around, my office set up a meeting between representatives of the EPA, the Farmers Home Administration, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Missouri Clean Water Commission, the engineer and elected city officials. I believe all of these agencies were attempting to act in good faith, but the bureaucracy just was getting in the way. As a result of the meeting, Creighton and Osborn may get their sewers without further delay-and it only took two federal agencies, two state agencies, the office of a U.S. Senator, city officials, a full-time engineer and seven years to reach a point where maybe two communities of fewer than 500 people can succeed in obtaining an up-to-date sewage system for their residents. As was the case with Creighton and Osborn, paperwork for small communities always is a great burden because a high percentage of program cost is spent in meeting federal requirements for planning, reporting and auditing. Large cities often have the facilities and manpower to handle the paperwork -- small communities do not. --MORE- Danforth-small communities first add I think the whole process is wrong and have been working for almost a year to correct the situation. Those efforts have resulted in the introduction of the Small Communities Act of 1978. My bill is the first Senate bill to address specifically the problems of municipalities, school districts, counties and other jurisdictions of less than 50,000 population. In addition to simplifying the regulatory process, the bill would accomplish three goals: 1) More than 500 overlapping federal assistance programs would be consolidated into simple, straightforward grants; 2) Small communities would be allowed to provide one self-certification of compliance with federal regulations such as affirmative action and community participation, instead of having to go through the process for each grant application; and 3) Communities could receive five-year setasides for federal programs in which they participate without having to come to Uncle Sam each year for approval. Every time I travel to Missouri, I hear about problems like those encoutered by Creighton and Osborn. My bill hopefully will restore the original purpose to federal grant programs--to serve the needs of local governments, big and small, in the simplest and most direct fashion possible. -30- NOTE TO NEWS DIRECTORS: An audio version of this Keeping in Touch is available, toll-free, at 800-424-0215. |