Clean Water Current - September 21

September 21, 2012

Steering Committee Begins Work on Utility of the Future Blueprint for Action

NACWA, the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) began work this week on the Water Resources Utility of the Future (UOTF) Blueprint for Action initiative with the project’s Steering Committee holding it first conference call on Monday. The Steering Committee is made up of nine members – three each representing the partnering organizations – and is tasked with providing high-level oversight to ensure that the Blueprint achieves the goals set out in the proposal framing the project. Tom Sigmund, NACWA Utility Management Committee Chair, with the Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, and NACWA President Suzanne Goss, with Jacksonville JEA, are the Association’s member representatives on the Steering Committee.

During the conference call, the Steering Committee underscored the timeliness of this effort and also agreed to the recommended membership of a Task Force that will provide the technical input into, and review of, the Blueprint as it progresses from outline to final form. The Task Force members are leading experts from an array of backgrounds, including the public sector, academia, consulting/engineering firms, and technology developers and manufacturers. Tom Sigmund, who also serves on the Steering Committee, will chair the Task Force.

Drafting of the Blueprint for Action is underway and the publication is anticipated to be finalized by January 2013 in order to serve as an informative post-election outreach vehicle to the Administration, Members of Congress, states, and other key stakeholders. NACWA will update members regularly as this project proceeds.

NACWA has Strong Presence at White House Green Infrastructure Conference

A large contingent of NACWA utility members participated in a Sept. 20 conference hosted by the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and EPA to explore the use of green infrastructure in managing stormwater and urban wet weather flows. The conference brought together key stakeholders from the utility, engineering, environmental/conservation communities, and the public sector, to examine both the opportunities and challenges facing green infrastructure – as well as how to better encourage and implement it as a viable stormwater management approach. Conference participants engaged in robust discussion focused on defining the range of benefits of green infrastructure practices; identifying barriers to these practices; finding opportunities for funding, financing and valuing green infrastructure; and developing steps that government and others can take to promote greater implementation of green technologies to manage urban stormwater.

The municipal clean water utility community had a strong voice throughout the day’s discussions, ably represented by a number of NACWA members pursuing a variety of innovative green infrastructure solutions. Among the NACWA utility members present were the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the Philadelphia Water Department, DC Water, the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, Onondaga County, NY, and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. Conference participants also heard from senior CEQ and EPA leadership, including Nancy Sutley, Chair of CEQ; Bob Perciasepe, EPA Deputy Administrator; Nancy Stoner, EPA Assistant Administrator for Water; and Cynthia Giles, EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement & Compliance Assurance.

The Association was part of a planning committee that assisted CEQ and EPA in developing the conference, and is pleased so many utility representatives were invited to take part in the event. CEQ and EPA will be sharing the outcomes and recommendations from the conference later this year via a conference report or white paper, and NACWA looks forward to working with them to help shape that document.

NACWA Submits Brief Supporting Rehearing of Key Nutrients Case

NACWA filed a brief Sept. 21 urging a federal appellate court to reconsider its recent decision in a closely-watched nutrient case with national implications. The Association’s brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Upper Blackstone v. EPA supports a Petition for Rehearing filed Sept. 14 by Association member the Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement District (UBWPAD) in litigation over controversial nutrient limits in the utility’s discharge permit. The First Circuit issued a ruling last month denying the utility’s challenge to the disputed permit (see August 10 Clean Water Current for more details), leading UBWPAD to request reconsideration of the decision.

NACWA’s brief filed this week supports rehearing of the case, arguing reconsideration is necessary because the original ruling wrongly decided two questions of significant national importance to municipal clean water utilities. First, the brief contends the court incorrectly found that EPA and other permitting authorities must issue new discharge permits under the Clean Water Act every five years. The brief points out that current regulations allow for continuance of expired permits where necessary for a variety of reasons, and that the ability to administratively continue permits is critical to the effective operation of the permitting system. Second, the brief argues the court misinterpreted EPA’s regulation on how permitting authorities derive numeric permit limits based on narrative water quality standards. Since this is the first federal appellate court to examine this issue, the brief highlights the importance of making sure the court’s decision is correct.

NACWA previously submitted a brief in this case at the merits stage, and is hopeful the court will agree to reconsider its original ruling. A copy of NACWA’s brief filed this week will be posted online soon on the Litigation Tracking webpage. Additional information and background on the case is available there as well.

Sequestration to Take 8.2% Bite Out of EPA

Late last week, the Administration released its analysis of the impact of automatic cuts to federal programs as a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA). The BCA required automatic cuts of $1.2 trillion to most discretionary and non-discretionary programs over ten years in the absence of an alternative budget that Congress could negotiate. The automatic cuts are referred to as sequestration and will take effect January 2013, unless a new budget agreement is reached.

The Administration’s analysis shows that EPA will see reductions of approximately 8.2% below FY 2012 spending levels to $719 million. These cuts will occur more or less across the board and include an 8.2% cut to the CWSRF, which will be funded at $1.348 billion. For more information on the sequestration and budgetary process, please see this week’s Advocacy Alert.

NACWA Provides Comments, Participates in Meeting on Study of Siloxane Impacts

NACWA submitted comments

this week as an interested party in the enforceable consent agreement (ECA) negotiations involving the collection of environmental monitoring data for two siloxanes, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5). Siloxanes are used in the manufacturing of many personal care products, including makeup, and often cause problems for clean water utilities that use biogas from anaerobic digestion to generate power. NACWA has been participating in the ongoing ECA discussions about these two siloxanes, including negotiations over the number of wastewater treatment plants that should be included in a data collection effort to evaluate the impacts of these chemicals in the environment. The Association’s comments provide a rationale for its recommended number treatment plants to include in the sampling effort and detail the costs associated with siloxane removal at utilities utilizing biogas. NACWA and member representative Patrick Griffith of the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts participated in the latest ECA meeting this week, during which the number of POTWs to sample and the factors to consider when choosing POTWs were again discussed in depth. EPA has continued to propose using population served as a primary factor for choosing POTWs, while NACWA and other interested parties maintain that influent siloxane concentrations will likely not depend on population, but on other factors such as industrial contributions and dilution from stormwater and infiltration. The Agency is considering the written comments and this week's discussion, and the negotiations will continue in the next few weeks.

WEFTEC Bound? Don’t Miss the Hot Topics Breakfast on October 2

Make your plans to attend the NACWA/WEF Hot Topics Breakfast, Tuesday October 2, during WEFTEC in New Orleans. Nancy Stoner, Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water, will headline the breakfast meeting and discuss priority issues and initiatives for her office. Following initial remarks, Stoner will then be joined by senior EPA officials from the water and enforcement offices for a roundtable on the latest regulatory developments. Confirmed speakers include Betsy Southerland, Director, Office of Science & Technology; Denise Keehner, Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans & Watersheds; Randy Hill, Acting Director, Office of Wastewater Management; Deborah Nagle, Director, Water Permits Division, Office of Wastewater Management; and Loren Denton, Chief, Municipal Enforcement Branch, Water Enforcement Division, as well as other key EPA staff. The EPA staff will also be available to answer your questions. The Hot Topics Breakfast will begin at 8:00 am. We invite you to RSVP today.

NACWA and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) are collaborating to bring you the Utility Leaders Morning during WEFTEC 2012 in New Orleans. In addition to the Hot Topics Breakfast, the morning of Oct. 2 will also feature a Utility Executives Forum that will provide an opportunity for utility executives and invited guests to discuss management and leadership issues. The 2012 Utility Executives Forum will focus on opportunities for transformational change for water utilities and the sector broadly. The Forum begins at 10:00 am, just down the hall from the breakfast. Utility executives interested in attending the Forum should RSVP directly to WEF’s Arika Lawrence at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Draft Agenda Now Available Region 3 Integrated Planning Workshop

A draft agenda for the Region 3, Oct. 24, workshop on EPA’s integrated planning framework is now available. NACWA and the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA) are co-convening the Integrated Planning Workshop in an effort to bring utilities now exploring integrated planning and those communities that remain uncertain of the framework’s benefits, together with federal and state regulators to discuss barriers to implementation, roles and responsibilities and how to get started. The Washington, DC Workshop will serve as a pilot to determine how best to proceed with similar workshops in other key regions. Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia state officials have already confirmed their participation as have EPA Region 3 officials. EPA Headquarters leaders on this issue from the Office of Water as well as the Office of Enforcement & Compliance Assurance (OECA) are also confirmed to participate. Region 3 member agencies interested in participating or other NACWA members interested in observing should contact Chris Hornback at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

NACWA Hosts Delegation from China on Clean Water Issues

On Tuesday, Sept. 18, NACWA hosted a visiting group of delegates from China’s Ministry of Water Resources and Water Resources Commission who were traveling for the first time in the United States. Directors from these two government agencies met with organizations in the United States to learn more about how our clean water community works. Discussions included an overview of the Clean Water Act and how it is administered and implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the states; use of new technologies to meet water quality standards; and the level of water reuse and conservation in homes and businesses. The delegates asked many thoughtful questions about these issues and provided information about how their wastewater utilities manage clean water in China. The delegates said they appreciated learning more about wastewater treatment and water quality protection in the United States and felt they could use what they learned in their home country.

Law & Order: SPU Web Seminar Discusses Pretreatment Investigations

Yesterday, over 240 pretreatment professionals participated in Law & Order: SPU (Special Pretreatment Unit), a web seminar featuring two case studies about local pretreatment programs that investigated and pursued legal action against illicit dischargers. The seminar speakers included Chandra Johannesson from East Bay Municipal Utility District in Calif., Dave Snyder of Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Calif.; and, Joseph Johns of the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. Both Johannesson and Snyder reprised their case studies from their presentations at the 2012 National Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Workshop, while Johns provided the litigator’s view on how pretreatment professionals can work with their legal departments. To view a copy of the slides for this unique presentation – visit NACWA’s conference archives.

This Week on Engage™: Nutrients, Stormwater Issues Highlighted

It can be tough keeping up with all the discussions, resources, and announcements posted to the NACWA Engage™ online community for clean water professionals. Here are some highlights from the past couple of weeks.

One recent post in the Nutrients discussion group solicited input regarding EPA’s response to an NRDC petition seeking to include nutrient removal as part of secondary treatment. Several Member Agencies offered to provide influent and effluent data on nitrogen and phosphorus, posed questions, and provided resources.

In the Stormwater Management group, one discussion is focused on numeric effluent limits and/or TMDL wasteload allocations. In addition, resources were added, including a Federal court decision from Wisconsin finding that Indian/tribal properties are not required to pay municipal stormwater fees. A complaint filed in a lawsuit brought by Commonwealth of Virginia and Fairfax County, VA, challenging a stormwater flow-based TMDL also was posted to the group’s resources.

Engage Tip of the Week:

Did you know that you can add live feeds from NACWA’s Twitter account and blog, The Water Voice™ to your home page on Engage™? Go to the My Feed Center page and click on the blue “plus” signs to subscribe to: (1) NACWA Blog, The Water Voice™ and (2) Twitter/NACWA.

In other online activities, NACWA now has an article on Wikipedia. Members are encouraged to review NACWA’s article and provide any additional information that might be helpful. Members also should consider creating their own Wikipedia page that provides a description of their utility. Both tasks—supplementing existing articles and creating a new entry—require that individuals first create an account with Wikipedia. Signing up only takes a couple of minutes. If you have any questions about any of these features, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it via the link or at 202.530.2758.

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