12
Expansion of Judicial Advocacy –
An Overview
NACWA Expands Legal Advocacy Footprint,
Raises Profile in Nation’s Courts
The past year has seen an expansion of NACWA’s judicial ad-
vocacy efforts as the Association increased its litigation port-
folio and heightened its presence in the nation’s courtrooms
to protect its member’s interests. NACWA’s growing legal in-
volvement has focused on many of the Association’s key issues
including nutrients, biosolids management, nonpoint source
control, and stormwater – and has taken a variety of forms
including intervention, amicus curiae briefs, and initiating
litigation as the lead party. Aggressive legal advocacy plays a
critical role in bolstering NACWA’s efforts to defend its mem-
bers against unreasonable or illegal regulatory requirements
and their associated economic burdens, and the Association is
committed to maintaining a robust presence in legal matters
that impact the municipal clean water community.
NACWA engaged in five new litigation matters this year. Cen-
tral among these cases was the Association’s efforts to be the
lead party in challenging EPA’s final sewage sludge incinera-
tion (SSI) regulations, demonstrating the Association’s ability
to take the legal fight to the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) on matters that will have significant legal and
economic impacts on its members. NACWA also displayed a
willingness to fight agricultural and nonpoint source interests
in the courtroom by intervening in a lawsuit over EPA’s total
maximum daily load (TMDL) for the Chesapeake Bay, seeking
to prevent agricultural interests from abandoning the TMDL
process and leaving municipal wastewater and stormwater
dischargers responsible for costly water quality improvements.
Nutrients have taken a leading role in the Association’s legal
efforts as well, with NACWA participating in litigation in both
Florida and Massachusetts to push back against the imposi-
tion of illegal and scientifically flawed nutrient regulations
on the municipal clean water community. Stormwater issues
have also drawn NACWA’s attention with the Association
making strong legal arguments against EPA’s efforts to include
numeric effluent limits in municipal stormwater permits, as
well as supporting member agency interests to ensure that
stormwater utility charges are treated as valid fees for service
and not illegal taxes.
As EPA continues forward with an increasingly aggressive regu-
latory agenda, NACWA’s legal and judicial advocacy efforts
will play a critical role in defending the interests of the mu-
nicipal utility community in courtrooms all across the county.
Additional information on all of NACWA’s litigation activity
over the past year is available in more detail throughout this
Year in Review, as well as in the Litigation Tracking section of
the Association’s website at www.nacwa.org. NACWA stands
ready to continue being the voice of its members in the na-
tion’s courts.