» Clean Water Current Archive

January 24, 2014

NACWA, AMWA to Host Resilience Summit; EPA Explores Integrated Planning Model for Climate Change

Following a number of discussions with key officials at EPA, including a meeting in October 2013 with Administrator Gina McCarthy, NACWA and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) will be collaborating to co-host a Water Resilience Summit during Water Week 2014. The Summit will bring together a select number of key municipal, state, federal, and industry leaders to explore the climate resilience challenges that water and wastewater utilities face and develop viable collaborative approaches and solutions. NACWA and AMWA met with EPA yesterday to discuss the objectives of the Summit and begin the process of selecting the appropriate participants from EPA and other key federal agencies to participate in discussions on where policymakers and utility leaders are heading on climate adaptation/resilience planning and implementation. The Summit will be an invitation-only discussion on April 9-10 in Washington DC. 

In line with the Water Resilience Summit, Bob Perciasepe, Deputy Administrator of the EPA, announced yesterday that he is interested in adopting a new model to help communities better adapt to the impacts of climate change. The new model would be based on EPA’s integrated planning process, which NACWA helped to advance to assist municipalities better prioritize expensive Clean Water Act requirements.  Looking at integrated planning in a climate context is one of the concepts that will be explored in greater depth at the Summit.  NACWA will continue to keep members updated on the development of the Summit and this new model as discussions with AMWA and EPA continue.

A number of other events are also planned for Water Week 2014 including the NACWA-WEF-WERF National Water Policy Forum & Fly-In (April 7-9); the Water Infrastructure & Innovation Expo (April 9); the U.S. Water Alliance’s U.S. Water Prize Ceremony & Reception (April 7); AMWA’s 2014 Water Policy Conference (April 7-9); the Washington, DC premiere of Water Blues – Green Solutions (April 9); and a growing list of other meetings and events. NACWA will soon launch a Water Week 2014 website that will include comprehensive information on all events. Association members should plan now to be in Washington during this incredible opportunity for the entire water sector to make its voice heard.

DC Water Consent Decree Modification Proposal Uses Green Infrastructure

DC Water hosted a Green Infrastructure Summit public meeting this week to brief interested stakeholders on the details of their recently proposed consent decree long-term control plan (LTCP) modification and green infrastructure program.

The hybrid proposal eliminates one planned tunnel in the Rock Creek watershed, and shortens another planned tunnel along the Potomac River. In return, DC Water is guaranteeing investment of $90 million in green infrastructure (GI) in the Potomac River and Rock Creek sewersheds, which is one of the largest financial commitments to GI in the country. Though the proposal requests a seven year extension of the original consent decree, the GI installation would start almost immediately and continue through the end of the consent decree terms – beginning to reduce combined sewer overflows more quickly than a purely “gray” solution would. DC Water does not propose any modifications to the current projects planned in the Anacostia sewershed – and will complete construction of the deep tunnel system. The water quality improvements outlined under the revised hybrid approach will be comparable to those under the original decree, but with the additional benefits afforded by GI.

The path for DC Water to propose these innovative modifications to its consent decree was outlined in late 2012 when the utility, District of Columbia city government, and EPA signed a Green Infrastructure Partnership Agreement . This document, inspired in part by the integrated planning process strongly supported by NACWA, outlined the process by which DC Water could develop a consent decree modification incorporating more GI elements and less gray infrastructure requirements. If DC Water is successful in securing a decree modification, this approach could serve as a model for other communities seeking modification of their existing decrees.

DC Water is accepting public comment on the plan until March. NACWA will submit comments, and supports the hybrid green and gray infrastructure approach proposed, backed by thorough technical, environmental, and affordability analysis.

NACWA Plans Update to Consent Decree Handbook

NACWA is always willing to provide comments on proposed decrees or other enforcement orders for Association members when such action would be helpful and appropriate. To support its members, the Association is also the process of developing a new 2014 Wet Weather Consent Decree Handbook. The first Handbook, released in 2003 – and two supplements released in 2006 and 2009 – have served as a valuable tool for municipal attorneys, managers, and staff to use during negotiations over federal or state enforcement actions. Since publication of the last supplement the consent decree negotiation landscape has changed drastically with new challenges and considerations coming into play related to integrated planning; climate/resiliency; aging infrastructure; energy efficiency/production; water reuse and reclamation; resource recovery; and, green infrastructure. It is incredibly important that agencies be equipped with the most up-to-date consent decree information, resources and analyses to renegotiate existing decrees or negotiate new decrees that best serve their communities and the environment. The new Handbook is scheduled for release in late April 2014 and will be followed by a workshop – also planned for April.

Save Your Pipes: Don’t Flush Baby Wipes Public Education Campaign Begins in Maine

The Maine WasteWater Control Association (MWWCA) and INDA (the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry) this week kicked off their Save Your Pipes: Don’t Flush Baby Wipes public education campaign, the first public/private partnership of its kind in the country on this topic. Two television ads are now being shown on cable channels in the Greater Portland area and will play for eight weeks. The ads and other educational information are available on the campaign website, www.SaveYourPipes.org. Before the campaign began, MWWCA and INDA conducted consumer research and sorted materials found in a pump station to determine what products were begin flushed in the Portland area. After the campaign, a second round of research and sorting will be conducted to determine if the campaign was successful in decreasing the number of baby wipes observed at the pump station and in changing consumer behavior and understanding. The campaign is funded primarily by INDA, with MWWCA, NACWA, and individual wastewater utilities also contributing.

Members of the MWWCA project team will be giving a presentation on how this campaign developed, including the pre-campaign research and materials-sorting events that have already been completed, at the New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA) Annual Conference next week (Session 13). At the end of the campaign, the conclusions and lessons learned will be made available, free of charge, to utilities, districts, and organizations around the country.

The Save Your Pipes: Don’t Flush Baby Wipes campaign may serve as a model for the larger Toilets Are Not Trash Cans! campaign that NACWA believes is needed to address all types of inappropriate products that are flushed or drained into the sewer system, including paper towels, feminine hygiene products, FOG (fats, oils, and greases), and pharmaceuticals. NACWA will be following the results of the Maine campaign and using the lessons learned to determine the next steps that the Association should take on the public education front.

NACWA’s First Clean Water Law Web Seminar Sparks Great Interest

Over 150 people tuned in for NACWA’s first Hot Topics in Clean Water Law web seminar this week. The Seminar featured a panel of expert clean water attorneys who covered several hot topics affecting the sector.

Chris Pomeroy and Justin Curtis from AquaLaw discussed the national implications of recent litigation on whether daily permit limits are required to implement a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) wasteload allocation for phosphorus. Dale Mullen, McGuireWoods LLP, and Chris Wilson, Greeley & Hansen, provided an overview of legal challenges to the land application of biosolids and policy considerations for the Utility of the Future. Karen Bennett, Hunton & Williams, presented on the Clean Water Act Section 402(k) permit shield defense and the potential impacts of a pending Fourth Circuit appeal. The presentations can be downloaded from NACWA’s website.

These web seminars are designed to benefit and inform both clean water lawyers and municipal managers. The next seminar will be held on Wednesday, March 19, 2014. More details will be provided soon.

NACWA’s Blog of the Week —
Money Matters: Bipartisan Legislation Highlights Affordability Challenges

NACWA has been working with a coalition of municipal organizations to ensure that clean water agencies’ affordability and financial capability concerns are a top priority for Congress and the Administration as part of the ongoing Money Matters . . . Smarter Investment to Advance Clean Water™ campaign. Last week, this effort took a major leap forward when Representatives Bob Latta (R-OH) and Tim Walz (D-MN) introduced H.R. 3862, The Clean Water Affordability Act . The Act helps clean water agencies advance clean water projects while minimizing the financial impacts on ratepayers and municipal budgets. Find out more about this important legislation impacting the municipal sector by reading on . . . Subscribe today to The Water Voice blog and don’t miss a post!