» Clean Water Current Archive

June 19, 2009

Bill Providing Support for Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Introduced

New legislation, the Water Systems Adaptation Act of 2009, that would establish a competitive grant program at the EPA to support water, wastewater, and stormwater facilities trying to adapt to climate change, was introduced today by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif).  These grants would be used “to assist in planning, designing, constructing, implementing, or maintaining any program, strategy, or infrastructure improvement” in several categories, including preservation or improvement of water quality; increased energy efficiency or the use and generation of renewable energy; as well as water reuse and green infrastructure projects.

NACWA and a coalition of water associations and environmental organizations worked with Capps to develop the bill, which is intended to amend to the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), introduced by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), when it comes to the floor of the House, possibly next week.  Original co-sponsors of the measure include:  Reps. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Allyson Schwartz (D-Penn.), Doris O. Matsui (D-Calif.), Grace F. Napolitano (D-Calif.), and Jay Inslee (D-Wash.).  NACWA members are encouraged to contact their members of Congress to support the measure.  Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.  The bill will be posted on NACWA’s website soon. 

Senate EPW Moves Several Bills with NACWA’s Imprint on Them

The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee reported out three bills yesterday, dealing with clean water issues that benefitted from significant input from NACWA.  First was the Clean Water Restoration Act (S. 787), which seeks to clarify the jurisdictional reach of the Clean Water Act after two Supreme Court decisions created confusion about which waters could be protected.  The legislation removes the term “navigable” from the definition of “waters of the U.S.” and clarifies that a wide range of intrastate and interstate waters is covered by the law, consistent with EPA’s regulatory definition.  NACWA was concerned that manmade treatment ponds and constructed wetlands used in wastewater treatment could potentially be subject to NPDES permitting requirements under the new definition.  At NACWA’s request, language was included exempting these waste treatment processes from the definition of “waters of the U.S.”  No similar legislation has yet to move through the House, although action is expected soon.  

EPW also reported out the Sewage Overflow Community Right to Know Act (S. 937) on a voice vote.  The legislation establishes a monitoring and reporting system for all sewer overflows at permitted wastewater treatment facilities.  NACWA carefully negotiated the provisions of the bill with American Rivers.  The Senate legislation is identical to legislation passed earlier this year by the House of Representatives.  The full Senate is expected to act on this bill before the summer recess. 

Finally, the committee also reported out the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2009  (S. 878), to reauthorize the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act.  The legislation would require faster water quality testing and public notification in the event of contamination and would authorize increased spending of $60 million, up from $30 million in the current law, for those activities. With input from NACWA, the Senate bill includes language that would require rapid test method results to be made available within four hours rather than the two hours originally proposed.  The House T&I Committee approved similar legislation June 4 with a six-hour testing requirement.  NACWA will continue to track this legislation as it moves through Congress to ensure that rapid test method requirements reflect the best available science.

On a related note, the House Appropriations Committee approved the Interior and Environment Appropriations bill  for fiscal year 2010 with $10.46 billion for EPA, including $2.3 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF); $1.4 billion for the (DWSRF); $667 million for “Great Bodies of Water,” including $475 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.  The bill also includes language blocking EPA from implementing regulations requiring large industrial livestock operations from reporting their greenhouse gas emissions similar to what would be required for wastewater treatment operations.

NACWA Continues Advocacy as Peak Flow Issues Expand

NACWA continues to aggressively engage with EPA regarding the agency’s new stance on Clean Water Act permits that allow peak flow blending, including an expansion of EPA’s actions to certain permit holders in Region 10.  NACWA was aware of a handful of EPA interim objections to permits allowing blending in Region 7, but the Association learned this week that similar issues have been raised with permittees in Region 10.  This expansion confirms that EPA’s recent actions are not isolated incidents but are instead part of a new Agency strategy to deal with peak flow blending that is being slowly rolled out across the country.  Specifically, EPA is reinterpreting how its decades-old bypass regulation applies to the blending of peak flows by identifying any flows not receiving “secondary treatment” as a bypass, and requiring a no feasible alternatives analysis, before the blending can be included in a Clean Water Act permit.  A more detailed explanation of EPA’s current approach and NACWA’s response is available in Regulatory Alert 09-03, which was distributed to members last week.  NACWA has communicated its concerns in a letter  to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and also plans to meet with Peter Silva, President Obama’s choice to be EPA’s assistant administrator for water, once he has been confirmed.  NACWA will continue to keep the membership updated on any developments.

NACWA’s Work on Security Continues to Move Forward

Legislation establishing a wastewater security program at EPA was introduced this week by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.  The Wastewater Treatment Works Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2883) was introduced in response to legislation making its way through the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee that would divide federal oversight of security issues at drinking water and wastewater facilities between two different federal agencies – the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the EPA.  NACWA worked closely with T&I subcommittee staff to move H.R. 2883, arguing that wastewater utilities should be under the jurisdiction of EPA just as drinking water facilities are.  NACWA and the drinking water community have argued that security programs for wastewater and drinking water facilities should be under a single federal agency and not have to meet the mandates of separate federal agencies.  NACWA sent a letter  in support of H.R. 2883 and a separate letter  to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), signed by several water associations, urging her to support having a single federal agency oversee security programs dealing with water and wastewater facilities.  The other organizations joining NACWA on the letter were the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), the WateReuse Association, the Water Environment (WEF), the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA), and the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA).

The bill moving through the House Homeland Security and the House Energy and Commerce committees, the Chemical Facility Antiterrorism Act of 2009 (H.R. 2868), would reauthorizing the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program.  Unlike the T&I subcommittee bill, H.R. 2868 would direct that security of wastewater treatment facilities fall under DHS, while protection of drinking water facilities would be within the jurisdiction of EPA.  At the hearing, Phillip Reitinger, DHS deputy undersecretary for national protection and programs directorate, and Sue Armstrong, DHS director of the Infrastructure Security Compliance Division in the Office of Infrastructure Protection, said they “believe that there is an important gap in the framework for regulating the security of chemicals in the United States, namely drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities.”  While they offered few specifics in responses to members’ questions, they assured the committee that DHS would attempt to work with EPA on streamlining proposed regulations and recommendations.  At the hearing, NACWA distributed the letter sent to the House T&I Committee supporting H.R. 2883.  NACWA believes that housing security programs for wastewater and drinking water at one agency would provide consistency and avoid duplicative, burdensome regulatory frameworks that could be costly for both ratepayers and taxpayers with no discernable benefit.  NACWA will continue to advocate for a common-sense approach to protecting the nation’s vital water infrastructure and will inform members of developments as they happen.

NACWA Continues Dialogue, Briefs Congressional Staff on Watershed Act

NACWA continued its outreach efforts for its 21st Century Watershed Act this week by holding an indepth discussion with key stakeholders and by briefing congressional staff members on the proposed framework of the draft bill.  NACWA’s Strategic Watershed Task Force developed the draft legislation to amend the Clean Water Act and enable a holistic watershed approach for improving water quality, which will recognize all sources of pollution and prioritize problems and solutions.  The bill proposes a framework similar to the state implementation plans (SIPs) under the Clean Air Act that provide for more state and local leadership in developing plans to improve water quality, water quantity, and habitat issues within a watershed. 

LaJuana Wilcher, former EPA administrator for water, facilitated the session and provided an overview of the draft bill.  Representatives from key environmental organizations provided valuable comments and committed to continue working with NACWA to further develop this legislation and find consensus. 

NACWA also met with staff from the office of Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), who expressed an interest in applying the successful elements of the Clean Air Act to the Clean Water Act, and with staff from the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.  The congressional staffers expressed interest in the 21st Century Watershed Act and in seeing the legislative language once the drafting process is complete.  NACWA will continue to work with stakeholder groups, with a focus next on states perspectives, to reach a level of consensus as soon as possible so that the bill can move forward.

NACWA Members Invited to Participate in EPA Webcast on Buy American Issues

NACWA members can register for a free EPA webcast on how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s (ARRA) Buy American provisions will affect the implementation of clean water and drinking water state revolving fund (DWSRF & CWSRF) projects.  The webcast, Complying with ARRA Buy American Provisions for SRF-Funded Projects, is taking place Monday, June 22, from 2:00 - 4:00 pm EDT and is intended for SRF assistance recipients and contractors, consultants, and manufacturers involved in SRF projects.  Those participating will have the opportunity to submit questions on Buy American issues.  The speakers will include Peter Shanaghan, EPA’s team leader of the DWSRF Team, and Bob Bastian, EPA’s senior environmental scientist on the CWSRF Team.  Topics include categorical national waivers; project-specific waivers; and the available quantity and quality manufactured good/substantial transformation waiver process. To register for this webcast, copy and paste the link below into your Internet Explorer web browser: https://www.eventbuilder.com/event_desc.asp?p_event=4o12b5j3.  If you experience any technical difficulties or have any questions about the registration process, please contact EventBuilder’s customer care line at 1-800-290-5900.

NACWA will also be holding an additional conference call in the coming weeks as part of its series of member agency calls on ARRA later this month in order to provide a forum for members to discuss their experiences with ARRA implementation, including but not limited to Buy American concerns.  A Member Update will be sent out soon with a date, time and call-in information for this conference call.  NACWA urges members to share their stimulus package stories on our website so that we can continue to ensure that Association advocacy on stimulus package issues reflects the most up-to-date member information.

Hotel Deadline for NACWA Summer Conference is June 23!

Be sure to make your travel plans now for NACWA’s July 14-17 Summer Conference and 39th Annual Meeting, 2009 The New Regulatory Climate. . . Clean Water Agencies Prepare to Act.  The deadline for the special conference rate of $189 at the InterContinental Milwaukee is only available until Tuesday, July 23, so call the hotel directly at 414/276-8686 today to make your reservations.  The conference will feature many excellent speakers and panel presentations, including a panel titled “Public Enemy Number One: Nutrients.” EPA’s Office of Water is currently focused on nutrient issues, including the contribution of nutrients from treatment plants to the nation’s waters, and this is likely to remain a priority in the new administration.  Speakers on this panel will discuss the petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) for EPA to change the definition of secondary treatment, NACWA’s Critical Issues Action Initiative (CIAI) project to assist EPA with evaluation of this petition, EPA’s new work in the water quality standards area, and current work with wastewater utilities to address nutrient pollution.  More information about the Summer Conference is available on NACWA’s website at www.nacwa.org/09summer.