Year-at-a-Glance 2012-2013 - page 6

» NACWA urged appropriators to allocate $5
million in the FY2014 budget to establish an
Integrated Planning Pilot Program, where three to five
communities in each of EPA’s 10 regions would
receive funding to develop an integrated plan.
The pilot program garnered influential bipartisan
support in both the House and Senate and
resulted in $2 million in the FY 2014 House EPA
appropriations bill to establish a pilot program.
» NACWA joined a coalition of over 70 national
associations, led by the U.S. Conference of Mayors,
united in opposition to provisions in the Obama
Administration’s proposed FY 2014 budget that
would impose a 28% benefit cap on tax-exempt
municipal bond interest.
» NACWA lead water sector efforts to protect the tax
exempt status of municipal bonds, and joined with
the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies
(AMWA) to issue The Impacts of Altering Tax-Exempt
Municipal Bond Financing on Public Drinking Water &
Wastewater Systems, documenting how limiting or
eliminating the tax exemption would cost utilities
billions of dollars a year in lost project financing
and lead to higher rates.
» NACWA secured a major regulatory and legal
victory for clean water utilities nationwide when
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
denied a petition from environmental activist groups
to include nutrient removal as part of secondary
treatment requirements. The Association worked
closely with EPA to secure a strong denial of the
request, which is anticipated to save clean water
utilities tens of billions of dollars annually.
» NACWA was active in raising concerns over EPA’s
position on the direct translation of narrative
nutrient criteria into permit limits for clean water
agencies. These efforts will continue into the next
year as the Agency implements training for Clean
Water Act permit writers on narrative criteria
translation.
» NACWA successfully intervened in federal litigation,
Food and Water Watch, et al. v. EPA, challenging the
validity of water quality trading programs under
the Clean Water Act – clearing the way for the
Association to aggressively represent municipal
utilities in the case and defend trading programs
nationwide. The Association’s participation in the
litigation provides a key municipal perspective on
the importance of trading as a critical element of a
holistic watershed approach to nutrient reduction.
» NACWA filed compelling legal briefs in a case
involving nutrient regulation for the Mississippi
River Basin, supporting EPA’s decision against
promulgating federal numeric nutrient criteria
(NNC) for the Basin. The Association participated in
a joint brief with other intervenors in Gulf Restoration
Network v. EPA , arguing that EPA’s denial of federal
NNC was legally appropriate. NACWA also
submitted a stand-alone brief to present the unique
municipal perspective on why federal NNC will not
further the watershed approach to reduce nutrients
from all sources of impairment.
Nutrients, Water Quality,
&Watersheds
4
Affordability,
Integrated Planning
& Financing (continued)
NACWA’s
ADVOCACY
AGENDA