» Update Archive

This edition of NACWA’s Legislative Update, current through March 2012, provides information on the activities of the 112th Congress of interest to the nation’s public clean water agencies.  For more detailed information regarding NACWA activities, click on the web links in selected news items or visit NACWA’s website.  Please contact NACWA’s Pat Sinicropi at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Hannah Mellman at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions or information on the Update topics.

ISSUE AREAS

Hot Topics

Senators McCaskill and Boozman to Introduce Legislation on Integrated Planning

Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and John Boozman (R-AR) have agreed to introduce a bill that would establish an integrated planning approach to help communities better address the growing financial and compliance challenges posed by Clean Water Act (CWA) regulations.  The legislation would allow municipalities to prioritize competing and costly Clean Water Act requirements taking into account the cost-effectiveness of each requirement and the water quality impacts expected to be achieved.

The bill is scheduled to be introduced in the Senate the week of April 16, prior to NACWA’s National Environmental Policy Forum.  Senator Boozman is scheduled to attend the Policy Forum’s Congressional Reception, and will be speaking to NACWA members about why he feels establishing an integrated planning approach is necessary as well as the bill’s prospects for passage.  For more information on the Policy Forum or the Congressional Reception, please see NACWA’s website.

NACWA is now working to get an identical bill introduced in the House of Representatives, and will be discussing with Congressmen Bob Gibbs (R-OH) and Tim Bishop (D-NY), Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, to be  be original co-sponsors.  NACWA will keep members apprised of any updates on both the House and Senate legislation as they develop.

Climate and Energy

NACWA, AMWA Speak to Adaptation Needs at Capitol Hill Climate Briefing

NACWA, the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), and Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) hosted a Congressional Briefing to highlight how drinking water and wastewater systems across the country are impacted by, and are responding to, changing hydrological conditions related to climate change.

Rep. Capps opened the Briefing by discussing her legislation, The Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act (H.R. 2738), which NACWA and AMWA helped craft. This legislation encourages innovative adaptation approaches at local utilities and provides financial assistance to systems facing high costs.

Following Rep. Capps’ opening remarks, several NACWA and AMWA members participated in a panel discussion, including Laura Wharton from the King County Department of Natural Resources & Parks, Wash., Ray Tremblay from Los Angeles County Sanitation District, Calif., Angela Licata from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, N.Y., and Pat Mulroy, Director of Las Vegas Valley Water District. The panelists discussed how their utilities are spending millions of dollars annually on additional operation and maintenance costs to become more resilient and better respond to things like salt water intrusion, more intense storms, and persistent drought conditions.

Kathy Freas with CH2M Hill moderated the event and discussed the 2009 NACWA/AMWA report on water and wastewater adaptation costs. Freas suggested the biggest adaptation challenge is the cost, which could be up to $1 trillion for water and wastewater utilities. The report, Confronting Climate Change: An Early Analysis of Water and Wastewater Adaptation Costs, is available on NACWA’s website .

NACWA will continue to work with AMWA and Rep. Capps’ to help mobilize bipartisan support for her bill. We will keep members apprised of any updates on this legislation as they occur.

Senator Bingaman Introduces Bill to Establish a Clean Energy Market, Biogas is Included

Senator Bingaman (D-N.M.), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released S. 2146, The Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012 , legislation to promote energy generation from a diverse set of low-carbon energy sources by establishing a Clean Energy Standard (CES).

A growing number of NACWA’s member utilities are generating energy from the biogas and biosolids produced during the wastewater treatment process.  Instead of purchasing their energy entirely from outside sources, these facilities are able to generate some or all of their own clean energy.  NACWA has been working to have the biogas and biosolids produced during the municipal wastewater treatment process credited under a CES for some time now.  This approach would allow wastewater treatment plants that generate clean energy from these sources to be eligible to receive potentially valuable clean energy credits.

Bingaman’s bill does include energy produced from biogas, including biogas produced as part of the municipal wastewater treatment process, making it eligible for clean energy credits.  However, energy produced using biosolids as a separate feedstock, for example as a supplement to cement kilns, was not included and NACWA’s efforts going forward on this issue will revolve around making sure it is added.  NACWA has already met with Senator Stabenow’s office and she has again pledged her support for this.  Members will be apprised of any updates on this bill as they occur.

Senator Bingaman himself acknowledged that it may be difficult to move this legislation through Congress during this election year.  Still, having energy from biogas and biosolids included as clean energy in this bill would set a precedent for future clean energy legislation as well as provide some momentum to wastewater treatment utilities that are advancing clean energy production projects. NACWA encourages members to weigh in with their thoughts on this legislation and how it might benefit your utility or changes you would recommend to the bill.  Please send any comments to Hannah Mellman at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Funding

Water Sector Coalition Urges Congress to Reject Reductions to the SRFs

A coalition of water sector groups, including NACWA, sent a letter urging Congress to maintain funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SDWSRF) at the Fiscal Year 2012 levels of $1,468 million and $919 million respectively. The Obama Administration has requested a combined $328,269,000 decrease in funding for the SRF programs for FY13. The other groups joining the coalition include the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA), the American Public Works Association (APWA), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), the American Water Works Association (AWWA), and the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA).

In a statement following the letter’s release, Ken Kirk, NACWA’s Executive Director said, “Sustained and increased investment in our water infrastructure is critical for economic growth and public health and welfare. By EPA’s own estimates water and wastewater facilities will need a half of trillion dollars over the next two decades to ensure these systems continue to provide clean and safe water to the American public. Communities can’t do this alone; the federal government must remain a partner in meeting these needs.”

Both the House and Senate have begun to hold hearings on the Administration’s budget requests for all the federal agencies, including EPA. NACWA will continue to advocate against any decrease in SRF funding levels and urges utilities to weigh in with Members of Congress to express support for these critical programs. If you have questions regarding this issue and would like to discuss how your utility could help with this effort, please contact Hannah Mellman, NACWA’s Legislative Manager at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Nutrient Issues/Farm Bill Reauthorization

Unique Coalition Finds Common Ground on Nutrient Run-Off from Agriculture

The Healthy Waters Coalition unveiled policy recommendations for addressing agricultural nutrient run-off  and improving water quality at a NACWA-hosted press conference that brought together a diverse group of municipal water and wastewater utilities, the agricultural community, state regulators, and conservation.  At the March 6, press event, the Coalition, spearheaded by NACWA, announced several policy recommendations that the 112th Congress should include as it reauthorizes the Farm Bill.  If included, the recommendations would significantly improve protection of the Nation’s drinking, recreational, and aquatic water supplies.

The event was attended by Ron Kreider, CEO of Kreider Farms in Manheim, Pennsylvania, who is tackling this issue of nutrient run-off straight on.  In his statement, Kreider said, “Our operations could add to the enormity of the challenge of managing the nutrient loadings in the Chesapeake Bay watershed…I feel strongly that I must do my part to preserve and protect the quality of the water that is so important to my community.”  Kreider is working with Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. to process livestock manure on his farm and reduce his nutrient footprint within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

“Our Nation cannot achieve its water quality goals unless our working lands also contribute to the solution,” said Ken Kirk, Executive Director, NACWA. “As a representative of municipal wastewater community, I know we must do our part; but so too must the agricultural community.”  Kevin Shafer, Executive Director of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and a NACWA Board Member, as well as Steve Hershner, Utilities Environmental Manager, City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, echoed this message from the perspective of the municipal ratepayer. Over a dozen groups provided brief presentations at the press event, including the Clean Water America Alliance, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, American Rivers, and the Water Environment Federation.

That same day, NACWA released a white paper report finding that opportunities in the agricultural sector offer affordable approaches to improve water quality and reduce excessive nutrient pollution. According to the report, Controlling Nutrient Loadings to U.S. Waterways: An Urban Perspective , which NACWA produced with financial support from the Water Environment Federation and the Turner Foundation, agricultural sources of nutrients have not been addressed sufficiently, especially compared to the Nation’s direct regulatory focus on reducing nutrients from municipal point sources.

NACWA’s report makes the case that it is far more economical to control agricultural runoff compared to additional reductions from urban point sources.  The cost to remove a pound of nitrogen or phosphorus from farm runoff and drainage is typically 4 to 5 – and sometimes up to 10 to 20 – times less than the cost to remove the same amount from municipal wastewater or stormwater.  More background about this event was discussed in the March 2 Clean Water Current.

RECENTLY INTRODUCED CONGRESSIONAL LEGISLATION

• Representative Bob Goodlatte (R- Calif.) introduced the Bay Area Regional Water Recycling Program Expansion Act of 2012 (H.R. 3910) on March 7 to expand the Bay Area Regional Water Recycling Program, and for other purposes.  The legislation currently has the following three cosponsors: Representative Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), Representative Tim Holden (D- Pa.), and Representative Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.).

• Representative Candice Miller (R-Mich.) introduced the Great Lakes Assurance Program Verification Act of 2012 (H.R. 4162) on March 7 to amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a Great Lakes basin initiative for agricultural nonpoint source pollution prevention.  The legislation currently does not have any cosponsors.

• Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) introduced a resolution designating March 11 as “World Plumbing Day” (S.RES.393) on March 8. The resolution was passed and had the support of four cosponsors.

• Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced the Preserve the Waters of the U.S. Act on March 28 to block EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers from issuing final Clean Water Act jurisdiction guidance.  The legislation currently has 26 cosponsors.

CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS

• The House of Representatives Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a hearing entitled Review of Innovative Financing Approaches for Community Water Infrastructure Projects -- Part II on March 21, 2012.  For more information on the hearing, please see the Subcommittee’s website.

• The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing entitled Environmental Protection Agency Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Hearing on March 22, 2012. For more information on the hearing, please see the Committee’s website.

• The House of Representatives Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a hearing entitled A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Request for the Environmental Protection Agency on March 28, 2012.  For more information on the hearing, please see the Subcommittee’s website.