» Clean Water Current Archive

April 10, 2009

EPA Administrator Jackson to Speak at NACWA/WEF Clean Water Policy Forum

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has confirmed that she will speak at the 2009 National Clean Water Policy Forum sponsored by NACWA and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) May 3-6 at the Washington Renaissance Hotel, adding to a growing list of high-profile policymakers and experts who will come to share their ideas about the future of clean water. She is scheduled to appear at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, May 4. Also scheduled for the Policy Forum is Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, who is the principal advisor to President Obama on environmental policy and whose office works with federal agencies and other White House offices to coordinate environmental policy. In a separate session, climate change will be the topic in a discussion to be led off by Joseph Romm, editor of climateprogress.org and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, who was named by U.S. News and World Report as one of the eight “most influential energy and environment policymakers in the Obama era.” Later, a panel of key congressional staff members from both parties will discuss current and upcoming legislation that will affect the clean water community. In addition, the directors from each of the EPA’s key water program offices will give updates on the Agency’s regulatory and scientific efforts in the clean water arena.

This impressive list of speakers and panels makes the Policy Forum the place to be in early May to hear the latest on clean water policy from the top decisionmakers. The cutoff for reserving a room at the special conference rate of $289 per night has been extended to Monday, April 20; act now because rooms are filling fast. To reserve your hotel room today, simply call the Renaissance Washington Hotel at 202.898.9000.

EPA Administrator Jackson Seeks “Integrated Approach” to Water Challenges; Praises Higher Funding
On a related note, in one of her first public appearances since becoming EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson spoke April 8 of the need for an “integrated approach” to addressing clean water issues and called the $6 billion in stimulus funding and proposed $4 billion in the fiscal year 2010 budget for water and wastewater infrastructure “incredible statements about the importance of reinvesting in the… meat and potatoes of water protection.” Jackson spoke at a symposium to promote the Frontline documentary “Poisoned Waters” to air April 21 on PBS, which also featured the EPA’s first administrator Bill Ruckelshaus.

Jackson also indicated her strong support for a legislative fix to clarify the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act saying “we need to know what our jurisdictions are, and we would benefit from something broader rather than narrower.” In discussing the need to clarify the jurisdiction of the act, she spoke of the important role wetlands play in achieving clean water, adding that “no one does it better than Mother Nature.” EPA should also be looking at “tomorrow’s solutions,” without “always believing we can engineer things through the end of the pipe.”

Pete Silva, Civil Engineer, Nominated to Head EPA Water Office

President Obama selected Peter Silva, a civil engineer currently working as a senior policy advisory for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, to be the next EPA assistant administrator for water. Silva has worked in the water and wastewater industry at the municipal level for more than 30 years and has a strong understanding of the challenges cities face in meeting their clean water needs. He also served as the vice chair of the California Water Resources Control Board where he worked closely with NACWA member agencies on a variety of water issues. One NACWA member representative described him as “pragmatic and personable” and said he “understands the challenges municipalities face. I think he is a great appointment for the POTW community.” He also served under President Clinton as a board member of the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission (BECC), which focuses on water quality challenges along the U.S. border with Mexico. EPA Administrator Jackson praised the selection of Silva to be the next head of the water office, acknowledging his “strong wastewater background” and his experience in addressing waters that cross multiple boundaries. NACWA has already contacted Silva to congratulate him and will meet with him after he is confirmed, which will likely occur in June.

NACWA Reviewing OMB Stimulus Package Guidance, Buy American Provisions Clarified

The White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) released its interim final guidance April 3, further clarifying the Administration’s thinking on key provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA or stimulus package), including the “Buy American” provisions. Also discussed in the document are the state reporting requirements and the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage provisions.

In two conference calls on the topic last week (see the April 3 Clean Water Current), NACWA members raised several key concerns on the potentially chilling effect of the Buy American provisions. These provisions generally require that all iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in ARRA projects be manufactured in the U.S. NACWA is doing a more detailed review of the OMB guidance but initial discussions with several key stakeholders show that it may allay some municipal concerns. For example, the guidance states that there are no requirements regarding the origin of components and subcomponents in manufactured goods used in the project as long as the manufacturing occurs within the U.S. Based on discussions with key stakeholders, NACWA believes final “manufacturing” could be synonymous with final assembly in the U.S. This could mean that treatment plant projects that use foreign components may be exempt so long as final assembly takes place within the U.S.

The OMB guidance is also extremely important because EPA will be using it to develop its own guidance regarding the review of applications for waivers from Buy-American requirements. The EPA guidance will ultimately be the most important statement regarding how the Agency will apply the Buy-American provisions. NACWA has confirmed that it and other key municipal organizations will have an opportunity to review EPA’s guidance before it is finalized.

NACWA will craft a more detailed Legislative Alert on the OMB interim final guidance soon. Although the OMB guidance is 175 pages long, its provisions on Buy American, however, are fairly brief and can be found in Appendix 9, Section 176.60. A 60-day comment period will begin once OMB’s interim final guidance is published in the Federal Register, which is expected to occur in the next several days. NACWA plans to submit comments and encourages members to have their counsels review the key portions of the document and respond to OMB and copy NACWA’s This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any concerns (Buy American or other) as well as any comments/suggestions public agencies may have.

NACWA Provides Comments to EPA on Greenhouse Gas Inventory

NACWA recommended changes to the methods EPA uses for estimating methane and nitrous oxide emissions from centralized wastewater treatment operations, in comments submitted April 9 on EPA’s draft Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2007 (Inventory). NACWA recommended that EPA summarize the emissions value for each of three types of contributors in the wastewater treatment category identified in the draft Inventory, rather than using the current breakdown of “domestic” and “industrial” treatment. The wastewater treatment category consists of centralized, septic system, and industrial treatments. The change is especially important when dealing with methane emissions because septic systems are the largest contributors — about 84 percent — within the wastewater treatment category. NACWA met with EPA on April 3 to discuss its Jan. 16 comments on the expert review draft of the Inventory. The public review comments contain the same arguments presented previously, with clarifications based on the meeting with EPA. NACWA’s Critical Issues Action Initiative (CIAI) provided the funding for these comments and for NACWA’s continued work on the Inventory.

NACWA Comments on Antimicrobial Pesticide Data Requirements

NACWA submitted comments April 3 to EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs on a suite of new and revised data requirements for antimicrobial pesticides. NACWA supported EPA’s proposal to require additional data on the impacts of antimicrobial pesticides on the wastewater treatment process and the environment when a pesticide is first registered for use with the Agency or during the registration review process. The comments noted that publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) are not designed to remove pesticides and that treatment plant effluent and biosolids have been found to contain pesticide residues. NACWA highlighted the importance of source control for discharges of harmful substances as the best option for ensuring that adverse environmental impacts are avoided, stating that effective evaluation of the true impacts of pesticides during the registration process is necessary to assess whether the manufacture and use of these substances will negatively affect the environment and the wastewater treatment process at POTWs. NACWA’s letter also provided more detailed comments on the proposed tiered assessment methodology and highlighted where additional testing and consideration of impacts (including in land-applied biosolids) may be warranted. The proposed data requirements will only impact a small quantity of the antimicrobials in use and NACWA will continue to press for more aggressive assessments of water quality impacts associated with EPA-approved chemicals and pesticides.

House and Senate Approve Budget Resolutions

The House and Senate last week each approved fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget resolutions. The House-passed resolution would limit total federal spending to be $3.6 trillion in FY 2010, while the Senate passed a budget resolution of $3.53 trillion. Though both of these resolutions represent a slight decrease from the President’s budget proposal, each version would permit full funding of Obama’s request for $10.5 billion in EPA funding next year, including the $2.4 billion appropriations request for the clean water state revolving fund (CWSRF). Conference negotiators are now using the two-week congressional recess that began this week to work on combining the House and Senate versions into a joint budget resolution, which will serve as a non-binding document that sets funding guidelines for the overall federal budget. NACWA will continue to work with key staff on the House and Senate appropriations committees in the coming months as they craft the FY 2010 appropriations bills and asks that its public agency members contact their representatives and senators to ensure that there is support for the CWSRF funding level contained in President Obama’s budget request.