Clean Water Current Archive

January 9, 2009

House Forum Focuses on Economic Stimulus, Stresses Infrastructure Needs

The newly installed 111th Congress quickly got to work this week formulating a plan to jumpstart the ailing economy.  To lead off this effort, the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee convened a forum Jan. 7 to examine the nation’s economic situation and the need for a comprehensive jobs and economic recovery package.  The forum outlined the goals of the 111th Congress as it prepares to debate President-elect Barack Obama’s planned $775 billion economic stimulus package.  NACWA has continued to work aggressively to ensure that any package considered by Congress contain significant funding for wastewater infrastructure.  Timing remains unclear, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the state of our economy “demands that Congress act quickly to pass at the earliest date an economic recovery plan to provide immediate relief to Americans and to create or save millions of American jobs.”

Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) chaired the forum, which also featured economists and professors who pleaded for a broad fiscal stimulus plan amid warnings that the U.S. economy could face an even more severe recession without a massive federal investment.  The chairs of several other key House committees, including Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) and Appropriations, also participated.

Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), chair of the T&I Committee, presented details of his $85 billion-dollar infrastructure investment and job creation program , which requires funds to be invested in ready-to-go projects and discusses an aggressive timetable for the use of funds, including a 90-day, use-it-or-lose-it requirement for an undisclosed percentage of the money.  Oberstar argued that “This infrastructure investment creates family-wage construction jobs… and will be done in the United States because roads, bridges, transit and rail systems, airports, waterways, and wastewater treatment facilities are here, in our towns and cities.”

NACWA Urges Members to Contact Congress about Ready-to-Go Projects Immediately
NACWA has learned that some in Congress and the incoming administration are skeptical about how effective infrastructure investment can be as an economic stimulus because of concern that these projects cannot move forward fast enough to provide quick and meaningful benefits.  For this reason, NACWA strongly encourages its members to contact their representatives in the House and Senate and make the argument that infrastructure spending on water and wastewater projects can occur quickly and have the desired impacts on job creation and economic activity.  NACWA will be alerting members by email today to provide more detail and asking member agencies to take immediate action on this very important issue.  NACWA will continue to meet and work closely with congressional staff as the recovery package is developed.

Meanwhile, NACWA hosted a meeting with seven other leading water sector associations on Tuesday and is working on a joint letter to President-Elect Obama and House and Senate leaders urging them to include a significant investment in water and wastewater infrastructure funding in the final stimulus package (See related article).

NACWA Signs MOU with EPA, Dental Association to Improve Handling of Mercury

NACWA, the American Dental Association (ADA), and EPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding Dec. 28 committing the three organizations to work together to decrease mercury discharges from dental clinics by encouraging them to adopt ADA’s best management practices (BMPs) for dental amalgam waste.  Earlier this year, EPA decided not to develop national pretreatment standards for dental clinics due to the declining use of mercury in amalgam fillings and the many local efforts already under way to control this source.  The MOU seeks to further improve dental clinic handling of mercury in areas of the country where local programs have not already been developed.  NACWA stressed throughout development of the MOU that the agreement would not affect local clean water agency authority to impose more stringent requirements, if needed, to protect their treatment plants or the environment.  The MOU encourages dental offices to follow the ADA’s best management practices, which include installing and maintaining an amalgam separator and recycling of the collected amalgam waste.  The three MOU parties also committed to establishing performance goals and tracking the percentage of dental offices that install and use amalgam separators.  NACWA will work with ADA and EPA over the next year to ensure that meaningful goals for increasing the use of the BMPs among the dental community are established.

NACWA Hosts Meeting of Key Water Sector Organizations

NACWA officers and staff met with the leaders of seven other water sector organizations this week to discuss issues of concern and find areas of commonality around which to build a more unified advocacy voice in the coming year.  The meeting was organized by NACWA and included leaders from the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC), the National Rural Water Association (NWRA), the Western Coalition of Arid States (WESTCAS), and the WateReuse Association.

One key item on which the groups agreed was the need to send a letter this week to the transition team for the Obama administration urging support for the inclusion of $20-$40 billion for water and wastewater funding in the economic stimulus package (See related item).  Part of the discussion involved the extent to which the funding request should delve into the need for reforming, or at least providing more flexibility, to the clean water and drinking water state revolving funds.  The participants also shared how the economic downturn has affected their individual organizations and members.  Most indicated that the greatest impact has been to reduce member travel to conferences and training workshops, etc.  Drinking water and wastewater utilities that rely on service connections in growth areas have seen decreases in revenues because of the stalled housing market, but water and wastewater utilities generally have felt more insulated from the economic downturn.  However, most agreed that if the economic crisis continues, greater impacts will be realized later on.  Others view the economic situation as an opportunity to work more collaboratively with other organizations and to be creative in how they manage their operations, with some noting that they are seeing an increase in qualified applicants for open positions at their utilities.

Climate change, workforce challenges, chemical security, addressing 21st century challenges using a watershed approach, water sector data needs, and contaminants of emerging concern were also topics at the summit.  With climate change ranking near the top in terms of priorities, the groups identified certain areas for collaboration, such as developing adaptation strategies and working to mitigate utility carbon footprints.  In addition, AMWA said it is planning an international forum on climate change designed for utility managers that will take place in 2010 and would seek to collaborate with NACWA and the other organizations regarding this meeting.  NACWA also agreed to share the legislation it is drafting that promotes a watershed-based approach to handling outstanding water challenges in order to get a broader water sector-wide discussion on this issue.

Deadline for 2008 NACWA Index Survey Extended to Jan. 23

The deadline for completing the 2008 NACWA Index survey has been extended until Jan. 23 to give clean water agencies more time to submit their data.  Additional responses are needed to ensure the survey’s results reflect national trends.  The survey takes only minutes to complete online at www.cleanwatercentral.org, or through the custom survey form which was forwarded in October to member agencies through Member Update 08-17.   If you are unsure whether your agency has completed the survey, please contact Chris Hornback at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  The NACWA Index has been published annually since 1992 to track average residential service charge increases and how they compare to inflation.  This is the only source for this type of information and is used by wastewater agencies and a wide variety of policymakers and experts as a key indicator of the rising costs associated with meeting the nation’s clean water needs.  The more responses NACWA receives, the more representative the Index is of the wastewater treatment community as a whole.

Water Sector Releases Results of Security Metrics Reporting

A report , Water Sector Measures Analysis, released this week by a number of water sector organizations on the security metrics developed by a Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC) workgroup showed that utilities “as a whole, exhibit substantial attentiveness to preparedness, awareness, and resiliency from potential security threats and natural disasters.”  The report was requested by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  NACWA participated in this workgroup, and NACWA’s Security and Emergency Preparedness Committee gave input about the metrics and the voluntary reporting system.  The water sector has been very proactive in taking security measures and developing the security awareness of utilities, and the sector is the first to complete the metrics process.  This type of reporting will be conducted annually, and the results will be used to inform EPA and DHS about the state of security measures in the water sector.

DHS Briefs Trade Associations on Infrastructure Protection

NACWA participated in a briefing given by DHS to trade association members of the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC) on the importance and progress of infrastructure protection measures.  Robert Stephan, assistant secretary for infrastructure protection, expressed his appreciation for the role the trade associations have played in raising awareness among their members about improving security and in communicating the needs and concerns of their members to DHS.  The CIPAC was instituted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to provide a forum for communications between the government and private sector that would be closed to the public, enabling sharing of potentially sensitive information for the benefit of DHS and the private sector.  (Public utilities are considered part of the private sector by DHS.)  The organizations were given new information on new DHS and other government programs that can help the private sector improve their security and emergency preparedness.  These documents will be posted on NACWA’s website next week.

NACWA Participates in EPA Climate Change Workshop

NACWA participated in the Jan. 6-7 First National Expert and Stakeholder Workshop on Water Infrastructure Sustainability and Adaptation to Climate Change, which focused on research needs for utilities seeking information on adaptive management and capital planning, and how practical decision tools can be developed in both the short- and long-term using existing and future research.  The Workshop, hosted by EPA’s Office of Water and Office of Research and Development, was attended by utilities, academics, consultants, associations, EPA staff, and other regulators.  Representatives from NACWA member agencies played key roles, presenting utility perspectives on climate change adaptation.  Participants emphasized the importance of coordinating research conducted by EPA and other institutions and that both utilities and the public should be educated about how the water sector will have to adapt to potential changes in the climate.  The workshop also focused on other research needs, such as downscaling climate models to local levels, better understanding the uncertainties associated with climate change, and developing evaluations for the net environmental benefits of water quality improvements such as combined sewer overflow (CSO) control, advanced nutrient removal, and green infrastructure.  EPA will prepare a summary report of the Workshop, and which NACWA will forward to members, the Association will keep members informed of EPA actions regarding climate change and adaptation research.

Applications are Now Available for NACWA’s 2008 Peak Performance Awards

Applications for the 2008 Peak Performance Awards are now available and NACWA member agencies are encouraged to submit their nominations as soon as possible.  As announced in this week’s Member Update 09-01, the Peak Performance Awards program acknowledges member agency facilities for excellence in wastewater treatment as measured by their compliance with their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements.  The deadline for submissions is April 10, 2009.  More information on the Peak Performance Award program, including its standards and how to apply, can be found on the NACWA website at www.nacwa.org/peakperformance.

Join Us in Atlanta for NACWA’s 2009 Winter Conference – Hotel Deadline is Jan. 23!

NACWA’s 2009 Winter Conference Controlling Chaos:  Managing Capital Costs in an Uncertain Economic Environment, is fast approaching!  Join your clean water colleagues February 3-6, 2009 at the Westin Buckhead in Atlanta, Ga.  This year’s Conference will explore the critical perspectives on the current economic roller coaster, examine the management of utility capital programs in uncertain times and how utilities are changing the way they plan their capital spending to stretch their limited resources.  The knowledge and perspectives shared will quite possibly be more relevant to the needs of your utility today than any other information currently available.   Space is limited- additional information on the Winter Conference including a detailed agenda and online registration is available on NACWA’s website.  Also, be sure to contact the Westin Buckhead Atlanta at 404.365.0065 before Jan. 23 to secure your room at the special group rate of $209.  We look forward to seeing you in Atlanta!