» Clean Water Current Archive

March 13, 2015

Integrated Planning Gets Boost in FY16 EPA Budget Request

The Administration included $13 million in its FY16 Budget Request for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help communities develop plans under its Framework on Integrated Stormwater & Wastewater Planning Approach . The funds will provide both grants and technical assistance to selected communities to pilot integrated planning and demonstrate the approach’s effectiveness in helping communities affordably meet their Clean Water Act obligations without compromising environmental and public health goals. NACWA had urged the set aside for integrated planning and will work with Members of Congress to ensure its approval in EPA’s final budget later this year. In addition, NACWA, along with a coalition of water sector associations, submitted a letter  to House and Senate Budget Committee leaders urging support of key federal programs that promote local investment in water and wastewater infrastructure, including the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program, Tax-exempt Municipal Bonds, and the Water Infrastructure Financing Innovations Act.

Have Your Representative Sign the Muni Bond ‘Dear Colleague’ Letter

The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) is leading an effort to gather signatures on behalf of a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter  in the House of Representatives opposing proposed roll-backs to the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds in the President’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget proposal. To date, 80 Representatives have signed onto the letter. NACWA urges its Member Agencies to increase this number by contacting their Representatives today – and the USCM has extended its deadline to March 26. If your Representative is not on this list , please encourage them to sign on without delay. Additional details about the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter and the Association’s multi-year effort in opposition to scaling back this vital tax-exemption can be found in Advocacy Alert 15-02.

Input Sought on EPA Regulatory Review Initiative, NACWA Meets with EPA

EPA is requesting public input on the Agency's periodic retrospective review of its regulations under Executive Order (E.O.) 13563, Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review , and E.O. 13610, Identifying and Reducing Regulatory Burdens . The Agency is seeking answers to specific questions, which can be found, along with more detail, in Advocacy Alert 15-03. This process is an opportunity for utilities to suggest how to improve regulations that are not currently being addressed, or addressed sufficiently, in EPA’s Final Plan for Periodic Retrospective Reviews of Existing Regulations (Plan ). NACWA met Thursday with EPA’s Office of Congressional & Intergovernmental Relations to discuss the Plan and the Agency’s current list of regulations undergoing retrospective review. During the meeting NACWA raised concerns about the Agency’s proposed pretreatment standards for dental clinics, as well as the burden and cost impacts of EPA actions that are not regulations, in particular the Agency’s water quality criteria recommendations that are implemented by the states through Clean Water Act permits. NACWA also thanked the Agency for its ongoing work on integrated planning and water quality trading, including the request for $13 million in the President’s budget to support utility efforts on integrated planning. Comments on the proposal are due to EPA by April 8, and NACWA plans to provide input to the Agency based on member feedback. Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any input by March 27.

Oral Arguments Scheduled in Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials Rule Litigation

The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals has set oral argument  for May 11 in litigation over EPA’s final Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials (NHSM) Rule. NACWA has filed a legal challenge against the NHSM Rule, which classifies sewage sludge that is incinerated in sewage sludge incinerator (SSI) units as a solid waste. The NHSM Rule provides a key regulatory foundation for EPA’s recent, more stringent SSI Rule.

NACWA’s lawsuit , filed with support of the Association’s SSI Advocacy Coalition, argues that the rule’s treatment of sewage sludge is illegal and contrary to existing federal law that exempts domestic sewage from solid waste classification. If the Association is successful in overturning this portion of the rule, it will also strike a major blow against the SSI Rule. The court, however, is not expected to issue a decision in the case until late summer or early fall 2015. Accordingly, NACWA members with SSI units should continue to plan for compliance with the new SSI Rule by the March 2016 (or earlier in some states) compliance deadline. More information on the NHSM Rule case and NACWA’s legal advocacy on SSI issues is available on the Association’s Litigation Tracking webpage.

NACWA Shares Concerns on Key Water Quality Criteria with State Water Regulators

On Monday, NACWA participated in the Association of Clean Water Administrators’ (ACWA) Mid-Year Meeting in Washington, DC, providing the clean water community’s perspective during a session focused on water quality criteria and implementation. State officials set the tone for the discussion early, noting that EPA has been very active on the criteria front, oftentimes leaving the states to deal with implementation problems – a concern NACWA has underscored with several recent criteria. EPA officials, including Betsy Southerland, Director of the Office of Science & Technology in the Office of Water, outlined the Agency’s long list of current activity on the criteria front, including work on new criteria for viruses and selenium. NACWA provided perspective on the implementation challenges facing the clean water community as EPA’s revised ammonia criteria are rolled out, highlighting some of the outcomes from the Ammonia Criteria Workshop in October 2014. NACWA also noted that the upcoming criteria for viruses, which uses bacteriophage as an indicator, will likely have a major impact on the clean water community, although key questions remain.

Rep. Capps Reintroduces Legislation to Support Community Resiliency

Representative Lois Capps (D-CA) re-introduced the Water Infrastructure Resiliency & Sustainability Act , which would help drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities prepare for the impacts of climate-related risks to our water supplies. Drought, sea level rise, and severe storms, all of which would significantly impact water systems and availability, are expected to grow more frequent and severe due to climate change. Under the legislation, drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities could apply for EPA matching funds to implement projects that address the most significant climate-related risks and benefit the largest numbers of water users. Utilities may use the federal matching funds on projects that build resiliency to changing hydrological conditions, including through water conservation and efficiency measures; enhancing water management through source water protection and green infrastructure; or, facilitating the use of advanced technologies – such as water reuse and recycling – to increase available water supplies. NACWA, along with several water sector associations, helped develop the legislation and have sent a letter  in support of it.

Energy-Water Nexus Discussed at Advanced Energy Economy Institute

NACWA, this week, took its Water Resources Utility of the Future message to a gathering of private sector clean energy company representatives at a meeting of the Advanced Energy Economy Institute. In doing so the Association showcased the growing role public water sector utilities are playing to advance U.S. energy independence goals by reducing energy consumption and producing energy at their plants. The dialogue ranged from partnering on anaerobic digester and combined heat and power projects, to the co-location of large energy producers and other large water users near public wastewater utilities. There was also a lot of interest in partnering on public policy issues, such as EPA’s Clean Power Plan, to ensure that water sector energy efficiency or production projects can mitigate reduction requirements on the power sector.

New Sample EIM Applications Available

To assist 2015 applicants in the development of their applications for NACWA Excellence in Management recognition, four new samples have been added to the award information material. Visit the Excellence in Management page for more information on eligibility/criteria, the Attributes & Activities, levels of recognition, and how to apply for this prestigious recognition program. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 202/833-1449 with any questions regarding this program. The deadline to apply for the Excellence in Management Recognition Program is April 1.

Upcoming Events and Workshops – Make Your Plans Today

There’s something for everyone at upcoming NACWA events:

• 2015 Hot Topics in Clean Water Law Web Seminar
  March 18, 2015, 2:00 – 3:15 pm ET
  Designed to provide clean water utilities with the latest insights and analysis on key clean water legal issues, these Web Seminars are offered free of charge to NACWA members and offer a great opportunity to keep up with the most important developments in clean water law right from your desk. This second Seminar of the series will be addressing compliance and remediation.
• National Water Policy Forum, Fly-In & Expo
  April 13 – 15, 2015, Westin Washington, DC City Center, Washington, DC
  The anchor event of Water Week 2015, is presented by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) – and new this year – the WateReuse Association. This is the time to join your clean water colleagues to make your voice heard in Washington and access the latest legislative, regulatory, and legal developments. Won't you add your voice – or those of a delegation from your utility, state or region?
• Wet Weather Consent Decree Workshop
  April 29 – 30, 2015, Hyatt at The Bellevue, Philadelphia, PA
  Join us for a Workshop offering intensive and insightful sessions on the current state of play in the wet weather consent decree arena. Through analysis of real world case studies, available tools, effective negotiation strategies, and areas of evolving regulatory flexibility, this day-and-a-half Workshop will equip clean water agencies with the most up-to-date consent decree information and resources to renegotiate existing decrees or negotiate new decrees that best serve their communities and the environment. Whether your utility or client is under an existing decree, currently in negotiations with regulators, or potentially subject to future enforcement, this workshop is for you. Register today.
• National Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Workshop & Training
  May 12 – 15, 2015, Hyatt Regency Greenville, Greenville, SC
  This year’s Workshop program will focus on topics that promise to be important for pretreatment programs in the future, as well as issues that are currently affecting these programs. EPA staff will provide the latest updates on National Pretreatment Program initiatives, and Matt Arduino from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) will discuss the Ebola virus and other potential risks to wastewater utility workers. Panel presentations will address the proposed dental amalgam separator rule, management of pretreatment programs, emerging contaminants updates, best management practices for industrial users, and more!

NACWA Blog of the Week:
The Utility of the Future at Work: Biomethane as New Sources of Energy & Income

Guest bloggers Dale Mullen and Doug Lamb from NACWA Legal Affiliate, McGuire Woods, LLP, discuss the move toward more sustainable energy management, and onsite energy development for the clean water utility of the future. Is this in the plans for utilities across the country? Read on to find out more.