» Clean Water Current Archive

July 27, 2012

NACWA Testifies at House Hearing on Integrated Planning

The House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a hearing this Wednesday to explore the benefits of, and potential obstacles to implementing, EPA’s recently finalized integrated planning framework.  On the first panel, George Hawkins, General Manager of DC Water and a NACWA Board Member and Chair of the Association’s Money Matters Task Force, testified on behalf of NACWA.  Hawkins’ testimony  discussed the problems posed by EPA’s expensive and numerous mandates on DC Water’s ability to address their most urgent infrastructure needs.  Hawkins applauded EPA’s integrated planning framework as a step in the right direction, but pointed out that some communities lack the resources to even get to the negotiating table.  NACWA proposed that Congress provide some initial funding for pilot communities to develop integrated plans pursuant to EPA’s framework and noted that Congress extend permit terms to 25 years where this would help communities sequence their Clean Water Act projects more effectively.

Carter Strickland Jr., Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environment Protection and a NACWA Board member also testified. Strickland’s testimony focused on affordability concerns and the mounting difficulties low income communities are having with rising water and sewer bills.  In response, Congressman Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, discussed the importance of increasing federal funding for water infrastructure improvements and discussed his bill, H.R. 3145, which seeks to increase funding for the state revolving fund and establish a clean water trust fund as well as federal loan guaranty program.  Other groups testifying on this panel included the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the Association of Clean Water Administrators, and the Water Environment Federation.

Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), and Nancy Stoner, EPA’s Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water, testified on the second and final panel.  They noted that the framework was already making a difference, pointing to enforcement-related flexibility in cities such as Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Seattle and expressed the Agency’s plans to continue its efforts to build awareness regarding the integrated planning option.  NACWA will continue to work with Congress and EPA on advancing the integrated planning framework as well as the overarching goals of the Money Matters . . . Smarter Investment to Advance Clean Water™ campaign.

NACWA Meets with EPA to Discuss Implementation, Next Steps on Integrated Planning

In advance of Wednesday’s hearing (see related story), NACWA staff met with officials from EPA’s water and enforcement offices  Monday to discuss next steps now that the Agency has issued its final framework for integrated planning.  Based on discussions from the Association’s Summer Conference in Philadelphia last week, NACWA noted during the meeting that utilities are still skeptical that the framework will be helpful for a majority of clean water agencies.  Communities facing large, mandated programs to address combined sewer overflows that have not yet signed agreements with their states or  EPA, will find it easiest to take advantage of integrated planning.  NACWA members expressed concern, however, that those communities that have already signed consent decrees or are not facing massive spending requirements currently will find it more difficult to apply integrated planning to their situations.  During the meeting EPA again reiterated its interest in hearing from any communities that would like to use the framework.  EPA is planning to develop a set of questions and answers to address the most frequently raised issues on integrated planning and requested that NACWA provide EPA with any questions it has received from members regarding implementing the framework.  EPA also expressed its support for the potential workshops on integrated planning that NACWA is considering  holding over the next year.  NACWA will be collecting questions on the integrated planning framework and implementation over the next two weeks to provide to EPA.  Please send any questions you have to Chris Hornback at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

NACWA Files Opening Brief in SSI Legal Challenge

NACWA strongly set forth its case against EPA’s final Clean Air Act (CAA) emission standards for sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs) in a brief submitted this week.  The Association’s opening brief  in NACWA v. EPA, filed July 24 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, marks a significant step forward in the Association’s ongoing efforts to challenge the SSI rule.  The lawsuit, initiated by NACWA last year, seeks judicial review of both the legal and technical basis for the rule and requests that the court vacate the rule as a violation of EPA’s authority under the CAA.  EPA is scheduled to file it brief responding to NACWA’s arguments in mid-October.  Additional briefing, including NACWA’s reply brief as well as intervenors’ briefs, will be filed in November and December.  All substantive briefing will be completed by the end of December, with final documents submitted in early January 2013.  A final decision from the court is expected in May or June of next year.  Advocacy Alert 12-11, sent to the membership on Wednesday, provides background on the SSI rule and NACWA’s advocacy efforts, highlights key elements of NACWA’s opening brief, and outlines the anticipated next steps in the legal challenge.  Additional information regarding the SSI lawsuit can be found on NACWA’s Litigation Tracking web page, including other relevant pleadings and documents. NACWA also distributed a press release to the media notifying them of the filing of this brief in this important lawsuit.

NACWA Seeks Member Input on EPA Reporting Requirement Burden Reduction

NACWA is seeking input from its members on Clean Water Act or other EPA-mandated reporting requirements that could be streamlined or eliminated.  EPA has been directed by the Office of Management and Budget, through a June 22, 2012 memorandum , to identify and eliminate unjustified reporting and paperwork burdens.  Consistent with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Executive Order (EO) 13610 – Identifying and Reducing Regulatory Burdens – federal agencies are being directed to take meaningful steps to reduce paperwork and reporting burdens by, for example, eliminating redundant or unnecessary collections; using electronic communications, reducing the frequency of information collection; reducing record retention requirements; and maximizing the reuse of data already collected.  By September 10, 2012, EPA and all federal agencies must include in their regular reports required under EO 13610 at least three new initiatives to address reporting burdens.  EPA has been given a burden reduction goal in terms of hours of annual burden reduced and is looking for suggestions from regulated entities as to how to meet these goals.  If you have any suggestions for reporting or paperwork requirements that could be streamlined or eliminated, please send them to Chris Hornback at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

NACWA Participates in Continuing Discussions on Plan for Collecting Siloxane Data

Discussions continued this week in the negotiations on an enforceable consent agreement (ECA) for environmental monitoring for two siloxanes, D4 and D5, with a conference call between EPA, NACWA, and the Silicone Environmental Health and Safety Council of North America (SEHSC).  NACWA is an interested party in the ECA negotiations because of the detrimental effects of siloxanes on the exhaust stages of boilers, engines, and other equipment when biogas is used as a renewable fuel by publicly owned treatment works (POTWs).

The call this week focused on the appropriate number of POTWs to sample to collect sufficient data for an environmental risk assessment.  SEHSC proposed an ECA that includes five POTWs with different characteristics for sampling, while EPA stated during the conference call that their analysis suggests that 42 POTWs is an appropriate number to get a sufficient distribution of data.  EPA included factors such as population size, treatment types, and receiving body characteristics in its analysis.  NACWA staff and member representative Patrick Griffith of the Los Angeles County Sanitation District provided input on treatment technologies and the relative importance of the factors that EPA is considering.  EPA will be providing additional information on its justification for sampling 42 POTWs and another conference call will be held in two weeks to try to resolve this issue.  NACWA members that would like to provide input on the ECA negotiation process should contact Cynthia Finley at cfinley@nacwa.org.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer Poised to Introduce Clean Water Trust Fund Bill

In addition to Rep. Tim Bishop’s comments on the need for clean water funding at the integrated planning hearing (see related story), NACWA, along with other members of the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN), met with Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) this week and learned that he intends to introduce legislation next week to establish a trust fund dedicated to clean water investments. Rep. Blumenauer, who is a member of the key House Ways and Means Committee, continues to champion this effort.  The bill will serve as a place-marker for further action in the 113th Congress next year.   NACWA will provide more details regarding the bill next week after reviewing the legislation once it is introduced.