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» Clean Water Current Archive
November 9, 2012
NACWA Urges Obama Administration to Focus on Critical Clean Water Issues
NACWA sent a letter  to President Obama and key Agency leaders this week congratulating them on the election outcome and urging them, especially in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, to ensure that clean water issues are at the top of their environmental agenda. The letter reminded the Administration about the ongoing importance of the Association’s Money Matters . . . Smarter Investment to Advance Clean Water™ campaign and the need to build on EPA’s integrated planning framework in a manner that provides clean water agencies with maximum flexibility to meet Clean Water Act requirements. In the letter NACWA urges the Administration to fight for existing funding, such as the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, and to re-engage as a long-term funding partner to meet ever-expanding regulatory requirements. As the letter states:
“By EPA’s own estimates, over $500 billion will be needed in drinking and wastewater infrastructure investments during the next twenty years to ensure Americans have safe and clean water just to meet current regulatory standards. In addition to maintaining and updating basic infrastructure – pipes and treatment plants – that ensure clean and safe water each and every day, municipal clean water agencies confront costly new regulatory challenges including:
- Nutrient control
- Mercury requirements
- Clean Air Act mandates impacting sewage sludge incineration
- Emerging contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals
- Urban stormwater run-off; and
- Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs)”
The letter goes on to encourage the Administration to engage in a dialogue on climate-driven concerns and opportunities. It also emphasized the vital importance of beginning a long-term dialogue on the range of new opportunities in the energy, reuse, green infrastructure, and resource recovery arenas, among others, that fall under the umbrella of the NACWA/Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF)/Water Environment Federation (WEF) Water Resources Utility of the Future effort. NACWA noted that the sector is increasingly united on the need for national attention to clean water issues. NACWA is sending the letter to all key staff within the Administration, Congress and key stakeholders and will keep members apprised of any developments as they occur.
NACWA Provides Final Input as EPA Considers Response to NRDC Nutrient Petition
NACWA wrote Betsy Southerland, Director of the Office of Science & Technology in EPA’s Office of Water, this week to reiterate the Association’s position regarding the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) 2007 petition seeking to modify the secondary treatment regulations to include removal requirements for nitrogen and phosphorus. The November 9 letter outlines both legal and technical considerations for Southerland and her office as they work to develop a response to the petition. NACWA has written to EPA about the petition on several occasions, but this most recent letter focused on several key legal points the Agency should consider as it develops its response, and included a more detailed technical analysis of the assumptions NRDC makes in its original petition. While NACWA continues to believe that EPA does not have the authority to add nutrients to the secondary treatment regulations, the letter points out that even if the Agency does have such authority, it has broad discretion to decide the scope and content of the secondary treatment regulations. NACWA’s letter also outlines how NRDC’s arguments that ‘minor retrofits’ to existing plants could achieve significant reductions ignore key facts and the technical limitations of existing wastewater treatment plants. EPA has committed to responding to the petition by December 14 and NACWA will alert the membership as soon as the Agency releases its response.
NACWA Meets with EPA on SSOs, Peak Flow Treatment Next Steps
NACWA staff met with key EPA Office of Water staff this week, including Deborah Nagle, director of the Water Permits Division, regarding sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) issues. The Association set up the meeting to discuss remarks Nagle had made during WEFTEC on ways to relieve some of the pressure regarding SSOs and peak flow treatment or blending. Nagle indicated that her staff is currently reviewing the notes from its day-and-a-half long July 2011 SSO workshop. During the 2011 workshop, the utility and non-governmental organization (NGO) group participants voiced broad-based support for a comprehensive approach to addressing SSOs.
During this week’s meeting, EPA staff reiterated that work on an SSO rulemaking was not an option for the near future, but indicated that they are evaluating some possible next steps stemming from the feedback at the July workshop. EPA emphasized its desire for more immediate consideration of ways to address blending and sidestream treatment and their application in the permitting context. The Agency wishes to continue working with all of the groups represented at the earlier workshop, including NACWA, and has committed to releasing the notes from the workshop in the near future.
NACWA Hosts Meeting to Discuss Stormwater Rule
NACWA organized and hosted a meeting Nov. 7 between EPA and a number of municipal and local government associations to receive an update on the Agency’s work to develop a new national post-construction stormwater rule. As part of the meeting, EPA provided a presentation on their rulemaking effort, including the concepts currently under consideration for inclusion in the rule and the anticipated schedule for rule development.
During the presentation, it became clear that many of the ideas EPA has previously discussed as possible components of the rule are still under active consideration. In particular, EPA is actively looking at performance standards for discharges from new and redeveloped sites that would require a greater amount of stormwater to be retained onsite. The Agency is also considering an expansion of the existing federal stormwater regulatory program, as well as requiring some large regulated municipalities to manage stormwater runoff from existing sites through a retrofit program. At the same time, EPA is exploring ways to provide substantial flexibility under the rule, including the possibility of allowing some delayed implementation of the requirements to permit municipalities to enact the necessary codes and ordinances for onsite retention. EPA is expected to propose the rule for public comment in June 2013, with a final rule expected in December 2014.
Other groups participating in the meeting this were the National Association of Counties, the National League of Cities, the Water Environment Federation, the American Public Works Association, and the National Association of Flood & Stormwater Management Agencies. NACWA and these organizations agreed to maintain regular communication and coordination over the coming months regarding the stormwater rule, including the possibility of additional meeting with EPA and joint comments to the Agency outlining municipal concerns. The Association will also be submitting its own comments to EPA in the coming weeks. We will keep the membership updated.
NACWA Continues Lead Role in SSI Litigation
NACWA continued its aggressive advocacy this week in litigation over EPA’s final sewage sludge incinerator (SSI) rule, filing a brief Nov. 5 contesting calls from environmental activists for even more stringent SSI emission limits. The brief, filed by NACWA as an intervening party to the case, pushed back against arguments made by the Sierra Club, another party to the litigation, that the final SSI rule was not strict enough. The Association’s filing reiterates the key legal flaws with the SSI rule – namely that it was developed under the wrong section of the Clean Air Act (CAA) – and highlights Sierra Club’s fundamental misunderstanding about the proper statutory structure for appropriate regulation of SSIs. Additionally, the brief argues that EPA was correct to reject Sierra Club’s request for even more stringent “beyond the floor” emission limits as part of the final rule.
The Sierra Club also filed a brief on the same day, contending that EPA did use the right section of the CAA when setting the SSI rule emissions limits. The brief also suggests that if EPA’s technical basis for the SSI rule is found to be incorrect, the court should not throw out the entire rule, but instead simply require the Agency to develop new emission limits.
NACWA will be filing a reply brief in the case in early December, contesting both the Sierra Club’s arguments, as well as the position advanced by EPA in support of the SSI rule in a brief filed last month. Additional information on the case is available on NACWA’s Litigation Tracking webpage.
Little Change in Congressional Leadership on Clean Water Anticipated
With the 2012 election now behind us, little change is anticipated in the leadership of the key committees focused on clean water issues. On the House side, Congressman Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio) and Congressman Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), who currently serve as Chair and Ranking Member of the House Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee, are likely to remain in their posts. On the Senate side, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is expected to remain Chair of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, but the Committee’s current Ranking Member, Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who was term limited, will likely be replaced by Senator David Vitter (R-La.). Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) won re-election to a second term and will likely remain chair of the Water & Wildlife Subcommittee. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who is a leading voice on Clean Water Act affordability issues and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, will both be returning.
Congress is expected to return to Washington next week to begin a Lame Duck session to deal with the “fiscal cliff” – the term for a series of budget cuts and tax hikes that are set to take effect at the start of next year unless Congress and the Administration can work together on a deal. There is a possibility that Farm Bill reauthorization could be taken up during the Lame Duck, though most observers believe this will await action by the 113th Congress.
It is anticipated that President Obama’s re-election will inspire the NGO community to seek the finalization of key regulatory items, such as the stormwater rule, nutrient policy, Clean Water Act jurisdiction guidance, and a variety of air rules, all of which have direct impacts on the Nation’s clean water agencies. NACWA will continue to voice the concerns of the clean water community regarding these issues, and will keep members posted on developments in Washington during the Lame Duck session and into the 113th Congress.
This Week on Engage
The third installment of NACWA’s webinar series, Social Market Leadership, is now available on for viewing on Engage™. This six-part webinar series provides an overview of social media for clean water utilities. The first two, which were conducted earlier this fall, have also been posted and can be found under the Resources link on Engage™ . The remaining three webinars will focus on 1) Leveraging Facebook for Utilities; 2) YouTube and the Power of Video; and, 3) Social Media & Clean Water Utilities – Case Studies and Best Practices.
Also on Engage™, a discussion has been posted in the Water Quality Standards/Criteria groups seeking input on EPA’s plans to address ocean acidification through the TMDL program. The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a petition with EPA seeking federal water quality criteria in 15 states to protect against ocean acidification, which CBD links to excess carbon dioxide emissions.
Remember, all NACWA member organization staff have access to Engage™. NACWA members may use the same e-mail and password used to access the Member Pipeline on the NACWA website. You can reset your password online, or, if you need a new account, please
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NACWA Provides Input to Key Energy Conference
NACWA is a supporting organization of Total Energy USA, a new annual exposition and conference covering the full range of traditional and renewable energy issues. The Association was approached by Total Energy USA several months ago to help craft several water-energy sessions for the conference that highlight the work POTWs are doing in the energy field. The conference, held in Houston, Texas, November 27-29, will feature a keynote presentation by David Williams, NACWA’s immediate past president and director of wastewater at the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD). This presentation will explore renewable energy generation at clean water agencies nationally through the lens of EBMUD’s food waste-to-energy program. More information about his presentation can be found here.
In addition to the keynote presentation, Ben Grumbles, President of the U.S. Water Alliance will moderate a session on hydraulic fracturing and its direct and indirect effects on water use, supply and treatment. For conference registration and program information about the conference, please visit the event website.
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