» Clean Water Current Archive

February 18, 2011

NACWA Legal, Legislative Advocacy on Sewage Sludge Incineration Ramps Up

NACWA held a conference call with its public agency members that incinerate their sewage sludge this week to discuss the landscape of EPA’s rulemaking process and several key Association initiatives. As the Agency seeks to finalize its sewage sludge incineration (SSI) rule by Feb. 21, NACWA is starting the process of creating a coalition of public agencies that incinerate their sewage sludge and is preparing to take the lead on litigation over the SSI rule once it is finalized. On the call, NACWA also outlined the actions of its Board of Directors earlier this month to approve a dual advocacy track for this legal advocacy, including preparing and filing an administrative petition for reconsideration of, as well as a legal challenge to, the entire SSI rule. The focus of the call centered on NACWA’s next steps toward creating a coalition of member and non-member agencies that incinerate their sewage sludge and the setting up of a legal advocacy fund comprised of contributions from coalition participants. There was strong support on the call for these initiatives. NACWA will provide members with additional information on the rule and these important legal advocacy efforts once the rule is finalized.

On the Congressional front, NACWA’s President, Jeff Theerman, Executive Director of the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewage District, and Association staff met with Missouri delegation staff last Friday, including staff for Senator Claire McCaskill (D), freshman Senator Roy Blunt (R), and Congressman Russ Carnahan (D). NACWA received positive indications of support for its position on SSIs and a willingness among these Members of Congress to convey a strong message to EPA on the SSI issue. NACWA is working with these and other Congressional offices to send a letter to EPA advising the Agency that it must follow the clear language of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and apply air emission standards under CAA Section 112 for publicly owned treatment works and not the more stringent standards under Section 129. In the short-term, NACWA is working with Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, to send a letter to EPA and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as soon as possible. In addition, NACWA is forwarding our concerns to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to alert them to this issue as that Committee undertakes a review of regulatory activity by the federal government, including EPA

President’s Budget, House Proposal Seek Cuts to Water Programs; NACWA Pushes Back

The White House’s proposed fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget released on Monday includes significant funding cuts to EPA, including the federal programs that support the Nation’s clean water and drinking water infrastructure. NACWA sent an Advocacy Alert (AA-04) to members this week on the President’s proposal, which includes $8.973 billion for EPA — a 13 percent decrease from the FY 2010 funding level.

The hardest hit EPA programs were the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF and DWSRF). The SRFs are slated for a combined $947 million cut including a $500 million reduction for the CWSRF and a $397 million cut for the DWSRF. Under the President’s proposal, the CWSRF would be allocated $1.5 billion and the DWSRF would receive $990 million in FY 2012. Following the release of the budget, NACWA issued a strong press release, stating that the President’s budget ignores local regulatory and financial realities and called on the Administration to rethink its regulatory and enforcement approaches in line with the very real financial constraints faced at all levels of government. A list of some of the key programs whose funding would also be cut is available in the table below.

A few notable programs did receive proposed increases in the President’s budget, including EPA enforcement activity, the Section 106 program for state CWA administration, and the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort.

In addition to the President having proposed his budget for FY 2012, Congress continues to grapple with its FY 2011 budget proposals. House Republicans, who were elected on a platform of reducing government spending, put forward an aggressive proposal that would significantly reduce federal funding to the SRFs, among numerous other cuts. The proposal being debated in the House (H.R. 1) seeks to cut funding to the CWSRF to $690 million and $830 million for the DWSRF.

NACWA has worked aggressively to counter this proposal by working to solidify support for the SRFs in the short-term, and for sustainable water infrastructure funding over the long-term. In the past few weeks, NACWA has held a new member briefing to highlight the need, importance and benefits of clean water infrastructure funding and has sent correspondence to the House urging support of the President’s FY 2011 budget request of $2 billion for the CWSRF and $1.287 billion for the DWSRF. This was followed by a letter from the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) reinforcing this message. As the negotiations move to the Senate, NACWA and the WIN coalition have been meeting with key Senate staff and sending similar correspondence. NACWA is also developing a “Dear Colleague” letter where individual Senators can go on record supporting water infrastructure investments. NACWA will keep members as key budget developments unfold.

NACWA to Comment as EPA Seeks Input into President’s Call for Regulatory Review

As NACWA’s Money Matters Summit and Fly-In approaches (see related story), the Association’s effort to have EPA take a new look at its regulatory priorities is clearly well-timed. EPA is inviting key stakeholders, including NACWA, to comment on how it should implement the directives contained in President Obama’s January 18, 2011 Executive Order (EO) 13563, “Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.” EO 13563 directs each federal agency to consider “how best to promote retrospective analysis of rules that may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome.”

The Executive Order also calls on every agency, including EPA, to develop “a preliminary plan, consistent with law and its resources and regulatory priorities, under which the agency will periodically review its existing significant regulations to determine whether such regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded or repealed to make the agency’s regulatory program more effective and or less burdensome in achieving its regulatory objectives.” The EO also specifically requires agencies to “identify and use the best, most innovative and least burdensome tools for achieving regulatory ends. It must take into account benefits and costs, both quantitative and qualitative [emphasis added].”

EPA will be soliciting stakeholder input regarding the design of its plan via the Agency’s website through March 20, 2011. EPA will also provide opportunities for input through a public meeting in Washington, D.C. on March 14, and listening sessions in other parts of the country. These outreach efforts will allow the public to provide EPA with feedback on specific issues, impacts or programs. More information about these meetings will be announced soon. By late May, EPA will provide the public with its retrospective review plan, as well as the initial list of regulations it plans to review.

NACWA will be providing input into each of the EPA sessions and will be seeking input from members on these efforts as they progress.

Money Matters Campaign Advances with Key Legislative Initiative, New White Paper

With NACWA’s Money Matters Summit and Fly-In approaching, the Association is pleased to announce that two vital initiatives are currently underway to advance the campaign’s overarching goal of a new approach to regulatory prioritization and affordability determinations under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

NACWA is hiring Lajuana Wilcher, former EPA Assistant Administrator for Water and Secretary of Kentucky’s Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, to work with NACWA staff and a working group of members on draft legislation that would amend the CWA and create a new planning process to prioritize CWA regulations, including but not limited to wet weather and nutrient control. The legislation will ensure that municipal flexibility is maximized and that affordability and financial capability concerns are addressed based on complex and often shifting community conditions while also accounting for changing economic circumstances. This initiative will be announced at the Money Matters Summit on March 1 with the goal of having a final draft of the legislation — with input from key NACWA members and approval from the Board — by NACWA’s May Policy Forum in Washington, DC.

Also, NACWA will be releasing in advance of the Summit its Money Matters white paper titled Two Sides of the Same Coin . . . Increased Investment & Regulatory Prioritization. This white paper takes an economist’s approach, overlaying federal investment trends with some disturbing data on the apparent reversal of the water quality gains clean water agencies have achieved in the decades following the 1972 enactment of the Clean Water Act. The white paper also explores the economic benefits of a new approach to regulatory prioritization while also exploring the vital need for additional investment to help solve the underlying challenge of an aging clean water infrastructure system. NACWA will also be providing members with a glossy tri-fold that summarizes the key findings of this white paper, which can be used in tandem with the Money Matters two-pager, as a congressional leave-behind. These documents paint an effective and clear picture of the CWA challenges municipalities currently face and the solutions needed to get to the next generation of water quality improvements.

NACWA Joins EPA, Other Advocacy Groups to Discuss Green Infrastructure Issues

NACWA attended an EPA meeting today along with a number of other national NGO groups to discuss ways the Agency can reinvigorate its green infrastructure partnership and further efforts to promote the use of green infrastructure on a national level. The meeting marked an important opportunity for members of the original green infrastructure partnership, which included NACWA, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators (ASIWPCA), and the Low Impact Development Center (LID Center), to discuss with EPA how best to continue advancing the goals of the partnership’s 2007 Green Infrastructure Statement of Intent and 2008 Green Infrastructure Action Strategy .

Participants at the meeting discussed a number of ways in which EPA can further encourage the use of green infrastructure, including clarifying the appropriate regulatory and enforcement context of green infrastructure for wet weather management, sponsoring further research to better understand the impacts and benefits of green infrastructure use, and developing additional information on the cost of implementing and maintaining green infrastructure technologies, including information on ways to finance its use for communities interested in pursuing it. Additional information on EPA’s green infrastructure efforts is available on the Agency’s website. NACWA looks forward to continued work with EPA and the other partnership organizations on this important effort and will report to the membership on future developments.

Media Looks to NACWA on Range of Issues from Budget to Farm Bill

NACWA over the last two weeks has garnered significant media attention with key print and online media outlets looking to the Association as a resource on a wide range of issues, including the proposed cuts to EPA’s budget, Farm Bill reauthorization, and the growing importance of Clean Water Act regulatory reform. NACWA over the past two weeks has sent press releases to its list of over a thousand media contacts on the array of clean water concerns. Articles referencing NACWA have been circulated in local and national media outlets ranging from the Zanesville Times Recorder in Fort Wright, Ky., to online television outlets such as CBS47.tv and FOX23.com (Washington, D.C.). NACWA public agency members are encouraged to use the Association’s press releases as templates and tailor them to fit their specific local needs. NACWA’s news releases and a list of articles referencing the Association can be found on NACWA’s News & Media website.

The Money Matters Summit and Fly-In Is Just Ten Days Away; Register Today and Make Your Voice Heard!

There is still time to join NACWA in Washington, D.C., March 1-2, for a unique opportunity to bring the Money Matters message to those who can truly make a difference. EPA is beginning its work to comply with a Presidential Executive Order requiring the Agency to review its regulations and rethink its regulatory priorities (see related article). At the same time, Congress and the President are in the midst of vital budget negotiations making this a critically important time to make your voice heard as part of the Money Matters — Smarter Investment to Advance Clean Water campaign.

On March 1-2, clean water agency leaders, key stakeholders and experts, EPA enforcement and policy officials as well as key Congressional policymakers will come together to discuss real-world financial and affordability challenges – and plan a course for the future. The day-and-a-half Summit includes compelling dialogue on these critical issues as well as NACWA member meetings with their Congressional delegations as part of the “Fly-In” portion of the agenda taking place the afternoon of March 1. Again, if you need any help setting up meetings with your congressional staff now is the time to contact NACWA’s John Krohn, Manager of Legislative Affairs, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , for assistance. Registration and hotel information is available on NACWA’s Conferences and Professional Development webpage.