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AMessage fromNACWA’s
President & Executive Director
This past year has been marked by significant challenges and
political change, including economic turmoil that continues
to impact all levels of government and a shift in Congress to a
more conservative approach to many issues – including the en-
vironment. Anticipating these trends, NACWA has sought to
get out in front and position the organization and its members
to maximize the Association’s effectiveness.
This is perhaps best exemplified through NACWA’s advocacy
in the context of its Money Matters . . . Smarter Investment
to Advance Clean Water™ campaign. Through its Money
Matters Task Force NACWA has been the leading voice for
critical regulatory prioritization reform under the Clean Water
Act (CWA), seeking to stretch every ratepayer dollar as far
as possible to maximize water quality benefits. As the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to ramp up
its regulatory and enforcement agenda, this initiative offers an
approach to fully comply with the CWA while bringing relief to
those who are footing the bill — clean water agency ratepay-
ers. And while the Money Matters™ campaign articulates
the Association’s vision for a much-needed fresh look at the
how the objectives of the CWA can and should be prioritized,
it also exemplifies the need to be even more aggressive when
weighing in on the many legislative, regulatory and legal issues
that are far too numerous to mention in this message. These
issues are described throughout NACWA’s Year-At-A-Glance
and in more detail in our online publication, the Year in
Review.
It is clear that NACWA’s regulatory, legislative and legal
advocacy efforts are increasingly interrelated. While the
Association continues to work with EPA toward a sound
national stormwater rule, NACWA also successfully secured
the passage of legislation requiring federal entities to pay their
fair share of municipal stormwater fees, resulting in millions
of dollars in previously unrealized revenues for municipali-
ties. Similarly, our work in the nutrient arena has included a
NACWA-hosted a Nutrient Summit and resulting issues paper;
organization of a working group and coalition to advocate
of behalf of a Farm Bill that addresses agriculture’s role in
the water quality equation; receipt of a Turner Foundation
grant to develop an outreach and advocacy strategy to ensure
nonpoint source are brought to the table; participation in key
litigation on the Chesapeake Bay TMDL and Florida nutri-
ent criteria development; and, testimony in a June House of
Representatives hearing on the need for state flexibility in
developing nutrient criteria.
On the issue of sewage sludge incineration (SSI), not only did
NACWA secure substantial changes in the final SSI rule – free-
ing many member utilities from significant expenditures – the
Association also ensured that Members of Congress weighed
in with EPA on their disappointment with the Clean Air Act
rule. Of greatest significance, the Association became the pri-
mary plaintiff against EPA in an effort to ensure the SSI regula-
tion was in line with clear statutory intent and the principles
of sound science. The SSI issue marks the first time that a
lawsuit has been lodged and titled NACWA v. EPA, demon-
strating the Association’s evolving and renewed commitment
to not only work with EPA where appropriate, but also draw-
ing a strong line when all other avenues and alternatives have
been exhausted.
On the sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) front, NACWA’s con-
tinued pressure on EPA led to a mid-July facilitated discussion
with stakeholders. The uncertainty communities face – with
no clear and consistent policy on what is expected of them
when managing their sanitary sewer systems – will perpetuate
inconsistent progress on addressing SSOs. In the coming year
we will need to maintain our stance with EPA to ensure the
important momentum generated by the stakeholder discus-
sion is not lost.
In the national policy arena it is often difficult to quantify
the impact of an association’s advocacy efforts. The efforts
mentioned above and others described in this Year-In-Review
demonstrate that membership in NACWA is an investment
that pays great dividends. Together we will continue to put
the right advocacy strategies in place to ensure our interests,
your ratepayers’ interests, the environment, and public health
are protected.
Jeff Theerman
NACWA President 2010-2011
Executive Director, Metropolitan
St. Louis Sewer District, Mo.
Ken Kirk
Executive Director