The senator’s bill would give equal footing to small business bidding for government contracts by brteaking up large contracts into smaller, more manageable projects… require agencies to indicate exactly what they’re looking for in subjective components of a project and require the General Services Administration to enforce agreements to hire local subcontractors.

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“There have been no directions from the White House that we move forward on monument designation,” Salazar told Tester at a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Interior Subcommittee.

The exchange stems from publicity last week over an Interior Department internal memo on potential monument designations and acquisitions, part of which was leaked last week.

The leaked memo had a list of areas in the West that “may be good candidates for National Monument designation under the Antiquities Act,” which allows the president to establish national monuments.

“However,” the memo continued, “further evaluations should be completed prior to any final decision, including an assessment of public and congressional support.”

Among the areas on the list is the Northern Montana Prairie, an area of grasslands in northeast Montana that the memo said could be connected with Canada’s Grasslands National Park, which is on the Montana-Saskatchewan border north of Glasgow.

A portion of the memo also mentioned a proposal to buy up private land along the wild and scenic Missouri River east of Fort Benton, to preserve the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

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U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., denounced the memo last week, saying it laid out a plan “to federalize potentially millions of acres of private lands in Montana” and calling it a “naked abuse of power.”

Rehberg introduced a bill to exempt Montana from the Antiquities Act, asked Salazar to release all pages of the memo, and asked for a variety of department documents and communications on discussions about monument designation.

Tester, a Democrat, asked Salazar about the monument designation and any plans to buy up land along the Missouri River.

Salazar said he knew of no such plan to purchase Missouri River land, and that before any monument designations or land purchases occur, the administration would have a “conversation and a dialogue” with people locally and across the country.

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Few in Circle would have disputed that the town’s water was bad. The salt content was so high it killed grass; the fluoride so concentrated it discolored teeth.

But when the Safe Drinking Water Act forced the community to do something about it, Circle’s 365 bill-paying customers took a big gulp. The solution was a $2.82 million reverse-osmosis treatment system to pull out the fluoride salt and other elements of concern.

“For us, that’s a lot of money, we’re a small community,” said Carol Markuson, Circle town clerk.

The town applied for every state and federal program it could think of, but that still left more than $800,000 to be repaid by ratepayers of Circle Water, now 13 years into a 40-year loan.

Rural communities say they’re beginning to choke on the costs of complying with ever-tightening regulations on the water they drink and the sewage they discharge.

The Environmental Protection Agency consistently ratchets down on water quality requirements, said John Camden, of Montana Rural Water Systems. A requirement that a large city can meet quickly can be crippling in a small town. And recommended EPA alternatives, such as connecting to the nearest compliant water system, aren’t possible for the state’s few-and-far-between communities.

“When acceptable arsenic levels went from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts, it put 29 systems out of compliance,” Camden said.

Last week the debate spilled into the chambers of the U.S. Senate, where Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., told EPA chief Lisa Jackson that his state’s smaller communities wouldn’t last without more help from the EPA.

“Quite honestly, they’re getting to the point where they can’t afford it, and they’re not poverty-stricken areas, either,” Tester said.

Jackson, speaking before a Senate appropriations subcommittee to which Tester belongs, assured the senators that the EPA would try harder.

“The Safe Drinking Water Act can offer loan forgiveness to help small communities who can’t afford it, Jackson said.

Ultimately though, Jackson said the agency’s ability to do more for rural water systems comes down to money.

Operators of rural water systems know there are no cheap fixes. In Laurel, the cost of water and sewer improvements over the past seven years is roughly $9 million. The town has not only had to modify its handling of chlorine in its drinking water, but also its treatment of chlorine and other elements in its effluent, which is discharged into the Yellowstone River. Adding to the bill was the natural rechanneling of the Yellowstone River, which left the town’s drinking water intake high and dry.

“I don’t know if the citizens can afford those costs,” said Kurt Markegard, Laurel Public Works director.

Base rates for Laurel water recently jumped more than $60 a year. Sewer rates will soon follow suit as the community enters the next phase of its multimillion-dollar waste system upgrade. And available grants might not be helpful.

Markegard said the community recently turned down an offer for state assistance because matching money was required and the city didn’t have it.

In Ekalaka, sewer bills for the community’s 222 customers could increase $45 a year as the town searches for ways to fund new testing requirements. New permit qualifications now require the town to test not only water leaving the sewer plant, as they always have, but now also the incoming sewage.

Public Works Director Elston Loken said the $1,000 sewage testing budget could jump to $10,000 a year.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do. We’re working on it now. We’ll borrow from another fund if that’s needed,” Loken said. “It’s looking right now like we’ll probably have a rate increase and we’ve got elderly residents with fixed incomes.”

Few argue the benefits of cleaner water.

Circle water has been great since the improvements, Markuson said. The town’s lawns and gardens have actually greened up. The old city water was so salty that watering grass more than infrequently could kill it. Now people water more.

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Salazar also confirmed that there are no plans for the government to pursue land purchases along the Missouri River Breaks.

Tester questioned Salazar during a Senate hearing, asking about a recently leaked Interior Department memo which listed possible ideas for monument designations.

Tester directly questioned whether the Administration has any plans to designate a grasslands national monument in northeastern Montana.

“There are no plans that we have to move forward,” Salazar responded, adding that there have been “no directions from the White House that we move forward on monument designation.”

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After stops in Helena and Deer Lodge, they sat down in front of a crowd of over 100 people at Longfellow Elementary School to discuss the Farm to School program, which is designed to bring healthier foods and an understanding of local agriculture to schools across the country.

“The farm-to-school movement offers new income opportunities for America’s farmers and ranchers in addition to supporting off-farm jobs in rural America while giving children the opportunity to eat healthy, local fruits and vegetables and learn to be healthy eaters,” according to USDA press release.

“The program is intended to bring the farm to the school, to help the kids understand the connection between hard-working ranchers and the food on their plates,” Sec. Vilsack said.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the importance of the program and address its successes and challenges.

One of Sec. Vilsack’s main points was that the United States has the best farmers in the world, but that rural communities need help to overcome economic challenges.

Longfellow Elementary recently received a prestigious bronze award in the USDA’s Healthier US School Challenge, which garnered high praise from both the senator and the secretary.

“We’re dealing with the best of the best, here,” Sec. Vilsack said. “It’s an indication that these folks are taking it very seriously.”

Sen. Tester promised he would be taking the conversation to Congress.

“We want these kids to have the best possible food they can,” Sen. Tester said. “But we need to talk about this issue and do something to make it happen.”

They both stressed the correlation of nutritious meals and school performance, Sec. Vilsack candidly citing personal stories of his own childhood.

“I want these kids to have a great start because they’re facing some tough competition,” he said. “It’s very important that we empower our senators to go in and talk about this issue.”

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