To: Members & Affiliates, Legislative Policy Committee,
Legal Affairs Committee, Clean Water Funding Task Force
From: National Office
Date: May 21, 2008

This edition of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies’ (NACWA) Legislative Update, current through May 21, 2008, provides information on the activities of the 110th Congress of interest to the nation’s publicly owned treatment works (POTWs).  For more detailed information regarding NACWA activities related to specific legislation, please click on the web links in selected news items or contact Susie Bruninga at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (202/833-3280) or Byron DeLuke at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (202/833-4655).

NACWA’s Bill Tracker provides a direct link to congressional websites where bill texts and summaries are posted.  You can find NACWA letters, statements, alerts, updates and related documents under Legislative in the Member Pipeline section of the NACWA website.

Top Story

Congress Passes Farm Bill, Increases Funding for Water Quality Programs

The House and Senate gave final approval May 16 to a five-year, $289 billion farm bill, after negotiators were able to work out an agreement on financing and offsets for the bill, particularly for increased spending for nutrition, conservation, energy, and disaster relief provisions.  The legislation, which boosts federal funding for programs to protect environmentally sensitive lands and water resources to about $25 billion over five years, was approved by a Senate vote of 81-15 and a House vote of 318-106, more than the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto by President Bush.  If the Farm Bill support holds, Congress is on track to hand President Bush the second veto override of his presidency – the first being the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA).

The new Farm Bill legislation includes a new program supported by NACWA and other water sector organizations called the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP).  Previously called the Regional Water Enhancement Program (RWEP), the new program is rolled into the existing Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the program. NACWA sent a letter Apr. 24 along with a coalition of organizations representing municipal water and wastewater agencies, conservation interests, and agricultural producers that called on members of the House and Senate conference committee to ensure a strong AWEP program.  The bill includes AWEP selection criteria that give priority to projects that are mostly likely to improve water quality or quantity, involve multiple partners, maintain agricultural production, and involve the highest percentage of producers in a watershed or region.  AWEP is funded at $73 million for FY 2009 and FY 2010; $74 million for FY 2011; and $60 million for FY 2012 and each fiscal year thereafter.  Eligible partners include water and wastewater agencies, water districts, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  In addition, the bill includes funds for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, which would be guaranteed $690 million over 10 years.

While the new legislation is not perfect, NACWA is pleased with the new AWEP program and the additional funding to address water quality challenges.  The Association spent countless hours setting strategy with other water sector groups and conservation organizations and wrote or signed onto to numerous letters urging support for programs that would benefit water quality.  NACWA’s Farm Bill advocacy was bolstered by the publication of 2007 Farm Bill Reauthorization and Potential Benefits for NACWA Members, the Association’s white paper outlining opportunities to boost funding to mitigate water quality challenges posed by agriculture.  The programs and NACWA’s advocacy for the Farm Bill established important groundwork for improving the legislation even more when it comes up for reauthorization in five years.  NACWA encourages its members to work with agricultural producers and other stakeholders to develop projects through the AWEP program.  Success stories regarding this program will ensure its continuation in the future.

Biosolids

NACWA Coordinates Municipal Efforts, Meets with Congressional Staff on Biosolids

NACWA continues to meet with WEF, the National League of Cities (NLC), the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA), and other municipal stakeholders to develop a strategy for ensuring a rational discussion on biosolids management.  Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate EPW Committee, has announced that she would look into the practice of land applying biosolids and has requested significant amounts of information from EPA.  NACWA has also learned during discussions with committee staff that Boxer is interested in conducting an oversight hearing by the end of the summer about the land application of biosolids after a series of articles raised questions about the safety of the practice.  The Center for Food Safety, an organization that unsuccessfully petitioned EPA to ban land application of biosolids in 2003, is encouraging Boxer’s investigation, and NACWA is concerned that opposition groups, armed with the recent press coverage, may have a more receptive audience this year and going into the 111th Congress and a new administration.  NACWA is working to ensure a balanced roster of witnesses so that the municipal perspective on the safety and benefits of land applying biosolids is prominently articulated in any upcoming hearing.

NACWA and WEF sent a letter May 2 to Sen. Boxer urging her to invite a municipal witness with expertise in the management of biosolids to testify at the hearing.  NACWA President Chris Westhoff, an assistant city attorney and public works general counsel for Los Angeles, was recommended as an ideal witness because of his expertise and active involvement in a lawsuit whereby residents of nearby Kern County unsuccessfully sought to block Los Angeles from applying biosolids on land owned by the city.  The letter pointed out that Californians generate 750,000 tons of biosolids annually and that more than 60 percent is beneficially reused through land application.

In addition, NACWA members and staff met with both Democratic and Republican staff members of the EPW Committee in separate meetings during the Policy Forum to urge their support for biosolids land application programs that have received negative publicity in the media recently.  Democratic staff, however, were receptive to the important information NACWA provided regarding the safety of land application and the effectiveness of EPA’s Part 503 regulations, which govern biosolids management.  Representatives from three NACWA public agency members, including NACWA President Chris Westhoff, briefed majority staff on the importance of land application to the nation’s clean water agencies.  The committee’s minority staff, during a separate meeting, expressed an interest in inviting Westhoff to testify if the Democrats do not.  NACWA is now working to collect additional information on pollutant loadings in biosolids and incident response protocols requested by the committee staff during the meetings.

Clean Water Act

NACWA Seeks Waste Treatment Exemption from Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Bill

NACWA continues to work with congressional staff to ensure that a waste treatment exemption is included in the Senate version of the Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007 (H.R.  2421, S. 2080), legislation to codify the definition of “waters of the United States” currently found in EPA and Corps of Engineers regulations.  Supporters of the bill said recent Supreme Court rulings created uncertainty about the jurisdictional reach of the Clean Water Act.  As reported in NACWA’s April Legislative Update, the Senate EPW Committee held its first hearing on the legislation April 9 to gather information about the potential effects of the bill.

Attention shifted to the House side on April 16, when the T&I Committee held a marathon hearing that lasted 14 hours.  Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chair of the committee and the bill’s sponsor, seemed to indicate his willingness to work with those who have concerns with the legislation, saying that H.R. 2421 is “not an inflexible document.”  The Association was successful in negotiating an agreement with the committee to ensure that a waste treatment exemption found in the regulations will be included in the House bill.  NACWA has also met with staff for Sen. Lautenberg, who is a cosponsor of S. 2080 and chairs EPW’s Water Quality Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the bill, to ensure that the waste treatment exemption is included in the Senate version as well.  In addition, House T&I Committee staff have said that they are open to further clarification, either in the bill itself or in accompanying report language, that the bill does not cover groundwater.  NACWA will continue to work with the House and Senate committees to ensure its member concerns are addressed as the bill moves forward.

Clean Water Policy Forum

2008 Clean Water Policy Forum Focuses on Solutions to 21st Century Challenges

The 2008 National Clean Water Policy Forum sponsored by NACWA and the Water Environment Federation (WEF), May 4-7, was a great success and offered members of the clean water community an opportunity to meet with policymakers and help set the nation’s clean water agenda.  Attending the meeting were several members of Congress, congressional staff, top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) officials as well as representatives from environmental groups, the agricultural community, and other organizations during an election year.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, discussed his plans to introduce clean water trust fund legislation this summer as a way to “get the conversation going” on viable ways to address the water and wastewater infrastructure funding crisis.  Rep. Blumenauer has been working on this legislation for several months and has reached out to several stakeholder groups, including NACWA, for input.  Janine Benner, of Blumenauer’s office, discussed the draft bill while participating on a legislative panel along with several other congressional staffers during the Policy Forum.  She said that Blumenauer is using the Water Infrastructure Network’s (WIN) clean water trust fund bill as the basis for his legislation and envisions six potential funding sources: a fee on bottled beverages, fees on flushable items, a corporate environmental tax, an industrial dischargers permit fee, fees on agricultural chemicals, and fees on certain pharmaceuticals that can impact water quality.  NACWA and WIN have provided input into this process and will continue to work closely with Blumenauer on this important legislative initiative.

Staff members for the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee also spoke during the Policy Forum about infrastructure funding, pointing to the “systematic disinvestment in water resources by the federal government.”  They agreed that the existing funding gap cannot be filled simply by raising rates at the local level and that renewed federal support is a key component of addressing growing needs.  However, a House Appropriations Committee staffer warned that the budget picture for fiscal year (FY) 2009 is not likely to be any better than in FY 2008 and said innovative ways to fund infrastructure will be needed in addition to yet another likely decline in federal money for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF).

Meanwhile, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee still has not introduced legislation reauthorizing the CWSRF.  NACWA has met with committee staff who said that EPW is looking at three markups for the remainder of the year and has set one aside for a reauthorization bill.  The House overwhelmingly passed a similar bill, H.R. 720 in March 2007 that would provide $14 billion over four years for the CWSRF.  NACWA continues to urge the Senate EPW to introduce and pass legislation to reauthorize the CWSRF, noting that the program enjoys broad bipartisan support.  However, other high profile issues are attracting the attention of Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and others on the committee, including trace levels of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, land application of biosolids, and climate change (See related articles).

NGOs Discuss Additional Opportunities for Collaboration at the Policy Forum

Two issue panels at the Policy Forum focused on collaborations between the clean water community and state and local entities as well as with key environmental organizations.  Funding, nutrient controls, the overflow legislation, and a focus on watershed-level efforts generated lively discussions.  A representative from the U.S. Conference of Mayors discussed the development of a water resources management hierarchy similar to that for solid waste, which follows the sequence to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  A similar model for water might focus on reducing consumption through conservation and water reuse/recycling.  The panel of environmental and citizen advocacy groups called for more collaboration on issues such as Farm Bill reauthorization to boost funding that will benefit water quality (See related story), efforts to ensure strong effluent limitation guidelines (ELGs) to curb runoff from construction sites and concentrated animal feeding operations, and efforts to ensure the upcoming transportation bill contains funding to address stormwater.

Key Federal Officials Discuss Emerging Clean Water Issues

The issue of pharmaceuticals in water was also highlighted during the Policy Forum.  Suzanne Rudzinski, deputy director of EPA’s Office of Science and Technology, outlined the Office of Water’s approach to the issue.  Namely, she said that EPA is working to improve the underlying science, increase communication, promote stewardship through partnerships, and only look at regulatory action when appropriate.  Robert Hirsch, the associate director for water at the USGS, also discussed what his agency is doing to address pharmaceuticals and other personal care products (PPCPs) that end up in the nation’s waters.  However, budget cuts at his agency are affecting its ability to collect data and provide real-time water quality information.

Climate Change

NACWA Meets Key Senate Staff to Discuss Climate Change Cap-and-Trade Bill

NACWA continues to meet with staff of the Senate EPW Committee on America’s Climate Security Act of 2007 (S. 2191), which uses a cap-and-trade program to reduce current emissions by approximately 15 percent by 2020 and 60 percent by 2050.  Sen. Lautenberg, who chairs the EPW Subcommittee on Transportation Safety, Infrastructure Security, and Water Quality, has recognized the potential impact of climate change on the management of water resources and is working on an amendment with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the full committee, which would provide about $2 billion through the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency Block Grants program for municipal energy efficiency projects, including those at clean water agencies.  NACWA has also learned from EPW Committee staff that language is being considered that would provide federal funding for adaptation programs.  This would address the gamut of industries’ adaptation efforts and will likely include clean water agencies.

Clean water agencies will not be regulated under the current legislation as they fall well beneath the annual limit of 10,000 carbon equivalents set forth in the bill.  However, EPW staff have also stressed that POTWs will likely not be allowed to participate in the cap-and-trade market as they are not regulated entities.  NACWA’s view is that because POTWs can reduce their carbon footprint they should be eligible to receive emissions credits along with other federal funds for adaption and mitigation efforts.  The Association sent a letter on May 16 to all members of the Senate EPW Committee stressing this point and urging them to include language in any bill that addresses the needs of clean water agencies.  Several articles were published in the trade press in response to NACWA’s letter.  The Association will continue to meet with congressional staff to push for federal funding to cover adaptation costs as the Senate prepares to consider S. 2191 in early June.

Water Sector Releases Joint Climate Change Statement

In addition to its own letter on climate change, NACWA and other water sector associations sent a joint statement and letter to Congress May 21 about the impacts of climate change on wastewater, drinking water, and stormwater infrastructure.  This unified message will aid in NACWA’s advocacy efforts, which are focused on helping legislators and other policymakers understand that climate change is primarily a water issue, and that adaptation strategies will require more federal funding.

Water Quality

NACWA Discusses Drug Take-Back Programs with Key House Staff

Several NACWA members had the opportunity to brief key Capitol Hill staff on the issue of pharmaceuticals and community take-back programs during this year’s Policy Forum.  Though no plans have been made, some House staff expressed an interest in a possible hearing, similar to one held April 15 in the Senate, on pharmaceuticals in water.  At the hearing, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate EPW Committee, harshly criticized EPA for failing to identify and address the presence of pharmaceuticals in drinking water as required by the Safe Drinking Water Act.  The 1996 law requires EPA to develop a program for chemicals that can harm the natural balance of hormones in the human body.  Witnesses cautioned against spending large sums of money to regulate pharmaceuticals before the health risks are better understood.  NACWA will work with the committee to ensure its members understand the high cost of such testing given the uncertain risk associated with these compounds.

Wet Weather

House Committee Marks Up Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act

On May 15, the House T&I Committee unanimously approved the Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act (H.R. 2452), legislation to establish a national program for monitoring and reporting of sewer overflows.  The bill had already been approved May 7 by the T&I Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, after an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) was adopted.  The substitute amendment included revised language for the bill that was the product of several months of discussions between NACWA, American Rivers and key staff from the House T&I Committee and Rep. Timothy Bishop’s (D-N.Y.) office.  NACWA’s Board of Directors voted April 8 to support the negotiated language, which allows American Rivers to reference NACWA as a supporter of the bill but does not bind the Association or its members to any advocacy on behalf of H.R. 2452 going forward.  NACWA recognizes that the revised bill is not perfect and continues to work with American Rivers and committee staff to add clarity with regards to satellite collection systems, CSO communities, and EPA rulemaking.  The committee is considering the use of a substitute amendment with report language prior to the floor vote in the House to address these issues, and NACWA will likely seek member comments on the new language.

During the Policy Forum’s Capitol Hill Reception, Bishop, the primary sponsor of H.R. 2452, said the efforts of NACWA and American Rivers to develop the bill’s language outlining a national program for monitoring and reporting sewer overflows is a “welcome” collaboration because both organizations care about clean water, and the bill “will allow us protect the environment and public health while offering needed flexibility for [POTW] operators.”  He also echoed the need for additional federal funding.

Senate EPW staff have also expressed particular interest in the recently negotiated agreement between American Rivers and NACWA.  NACWA has learned during discussions with congressional staff that the Senate EPW Committee will likely also use the negotiated language rather than marking up Sen. Lautenberg’s bill (S. 2080).  It is unclear whether the Senate will move to mark up the legislation before the end of the year.  A detailed analysis of the changes to H.R. 2452 as a result of the NACWA/American Rivers negotiations and background can be found in NACWA’s Legislative Alert, LA 08-02.