Clean Water Current - March 7, 2008

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House Committee Approves Chemical Security Bill That Covers Water Sector Facilities

The House Homeland Security Committee marked up and reported out the draft Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2008 in a party-line vote of 15-7 March 6. The bill has not been formally introduced yet, but the language approved by the committee would reauthorize and make permanent the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) issued in 2007and would, for the first time, cover water and wastewater utilities. A summary (PDF) is available on the committee’s website.

The committee adopted two amendments from Rep. Paul C. Broun (R-Ga.) that are of significant interest to wastewater utilities. The first would prohibit the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from requiring inherently safer technology (IST) for public water and wastewater facilities without providing funding. The draft bill currently allocates only $100 million to cover these costs. The other amendment prohibits DHS from shutting down a public water or wastewater utility unless there is a “clear and present danger” of a terrorist attack. Both amendments attempt to address some of NACWA’s concerns with the bill; however, NACWA continues to believe that water and wastewater utilities should not be covered by security requirements intended for private sector chemical facilities. The Association will continue to push for an exemption in the bill.

NACWA Responds to Comments at Earlier Hearing
On Feb. 26, the committee held a separate hearing where witnesses, including those from DHS and one water utility, supported the inclusion of water and wastewater facilities in the bill. In response, NACWA sent a March 5 letter (PDF) to Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Peter King (R-NY), the chair and ranking member, respectively, of the full committee, explaining that water and wastewater facilities should remain exempt. The letter pointed out that water wastewater utilities have already spent significant resources on voluntary measures to assess their vulnerabilities and secure their facilities. Moreover, the water sector continues to work with both the EPA and DHS on improving security methods and protocols and is viewed as a model for other industrial sectors.

NACWA also met this week with key staff on the House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee to discuss jurisdictional concerns with the chemical security bill. The T&I Committee has jurisdiction over the Clean Water Act and wastewater infrastructure, both of which would be affected by the draft CFATS bill. The legislation in the Homeland Security Committee also would subvert EPA’s role in chemical security issues at public water and wastewater utilities. NACWA reiterated to the T&I staff its members’ position that EPA should retain jurisdiction for water sector security. NACWA also provided T&I Committee staff with the summary (PDF) of an October 2007 survey, sponsored by NACWA and other water sector organizations, providing aggregated responses from nearly 2,200 water and wastewater utilities regarding their use of chlorine gas and methods for securing their facilities.

The CFATS bill is expected to be formally introduced next week, but both majority and minority staff members have hinted that the legislation is not likely to go anywhere this year. Meanwhile, Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials, introduced a bill (H.R. 5533) yesterday that would confirm that committee’s jurisdiction over security issues at drinking water facilities. In the Senate, the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee is also expected to exert jurisdiction, although no security legislation has been introduced. NACWA will continue to meet with key staff in both the House and Senate to urge an exemption for wastewater utilities and for EPA to retain its primary role in water sector security.

NACWA, Sector Partners Developing New Resources for Effective Utility Management

Since the signing last May of a statement of support embracing tools and measures for an effectively managed utility, NACWA and its partners, the American Public Works Association (APWA), the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), and EPA have continued to work on additional resources for integrating these concepts into their own utility management efforts. Representatives from the seven collaborating organizations met today to discuss the ongoing work, including the development of an online resource toolbox and EPA’s recent release of a brochure (PDF) publicizing the effort. Later this year, a primer providing an overview of the attributes and keys to success will be made available to utilities. The primer will include a self-assessment tool to help managers evaluate their utilities’ performance in the context of the attributes.

The attributes provide a comprehensive set of desired outcomes related to operations, infrastructure, customer satisfaction, community welfare, natural resource stewardship, and financial performance and are not intended to be addressed in any particular order. Rather, they can be viewed as a set of opportunities for improving utility management and operations. The primer makes it clear that all utilities, regardless of their existing management efforts, will be able to benefit from the concepts outlined in the attributes and keys to management success. The primer will also include a set of measures for tracking a utility’s progress and tips for getting started with an internal measurement program.

The collaborating organizations will release the online toolbox shortly after the primer is made available, which will provide one-stop shopping for all the relevant resources (e.g., guidance documents, handbooks, technical training, etc.), categorized according to the attributes and keys to management success. As noted, EPA has also released a brochure on effective utility management that will provide the thousands of utilities not represented by one of the six water sector organizations with information about the attributes and the ongoing work related to water sector utility management. NACWA members interested in obtaining hardcopies of the brochure should contact Chris Hornback at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . More information on the effective utility management effort is available online.

Policy Forum Invited Speakers Include Key Members of Congress, Top EPA Officials

The 2008 National Clean Water Policy Forum, sponsored by NACWA and the Water Environment Federation (WEF), promises an outstanding agenda this year with provocative speakers. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee; Reps. Jim Oberstar, chair of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), member of the House Ways and Means Committee; EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and Ben Grumbles, EPA assistant administrator for water, have been invited to share their views and plans for the nation’s clean water utilities.

With the presidential and congressional elections in full swing, you will not want to miss the discussions of how the outcomes of these races could affect clean water policy for generations to come. An updated agenda and registration materials for the Policy Forum is now available on NACWA’s homepage (www.nacwa.org) by clicking on the Register Now icon. Be sure to reserve your hotel room today by contacting the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel at 202.347.3000 to guarantee the special conference rate of $285 single/double occupancy.