» Clean Water Current Archive

December 18, 2009

House Approves $2 Billion for Water in Jobs Bill; NACWA to Seek More Funds in Senate

The Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) would each receive $1 billion under the Jobs for Main Street Act of 2010 (H.R. 2847) approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday.  NACWA and the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) pushed for the inclusion of water and wastewater funding in the bill that Congress intends as a means to address the persistent unemployment rate by creating jobs for infrastructure projects around the country.  The legislation passed the House by a vote of 217-212 and will likely be taken up by the Senate after the holidays.

The proposed spending package for the DWSRF and CWSRF contains provisions similar to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) enacted earlier this year.  Specifically, the House language waives state matching fund requirements and requires that states distribute at least half the funds in the form of principal forgiveness, negative interest loans and/or grants.  NACWA played a critical role in advocating for these additional subsidization requirements.  The package requires 20 percent of funds be directed towards green infrastructure, water or energy efficiency and other environmentally innovative projects provided there are sufficient applications to do so.  In addition, the Buy American and Davis/Bacon prevailing wage provisions are included.  See Legislative Alert 09-17 for more information.

NACWA will urge the Senate to boost the funding levels for water and wastewater infrastructure in the Jobs bill.  While $2 billion is far less than what is necessary to meet the ongoing infrastructure need, when added to the $6 billion awarded under the ARRA, the roughly $3.5 billion provided in the fiscal year (FY) 2010 EPA appropriations package, and FY09 appropriated monies that states received earlier this year, Congress will have awarded nearly $15 billion to water and wastewater infrastructure projects, marking a significant shift in spending from previous years.  Please contact Patricia Sinicropi at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or John Krohn at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions.

NACWA Releases Enforcement White Paper

NACWA released its Clean Water Act Enforcement: Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century white paper this week, urging EPA to move beyond traditional enforcement efforts and focus on issues such as a watershed approach, increased federal funding for water infrastructure, and revised affordability guidance to better address our nation’s continuing water quality issues.  The paper, distributed to the NACWA membership via Legal Alert 09-05, provides the Association’s perspective on the current clean water enforcement approach and responds to EPA’s recent Clean Water Enforcement Action Plan, as well as series of newspaper articles and congressional hearings focused on Clean Water Act (CWA) enforcement efforts.

The white paper outlines the flaws in the current “business as usual” enforcement model focused on point sources and argues that, contrary to EPA’s position in its Action Plan, this paradigm will not solve the country’s complex water quality problems.  Instead, NACWA contends that meaningful water quality improvements can be achieved through a comprehensive watershed approach to permitting and enforcement that would allow for a more complete understanding of the diverse pollution sources and better targeting of enforcement actions towards those dischargers that have the most significant impact.  The paper also highlights the importance of increased federal funding for water infrastructure to improve water quality and argues for a return to the critical federal, state, and local government partnership that helped achieve water quality improvements over the past three decades.  The paper further examines the issue of affordability, explaining that the current approach is not sustainable.  Namely, existing affordability guidelines must be revised to create a more holistic, equitable, and flexible way for determining how much a given community can afford to spend on clean water improvements.

NACWA has forwarded a copy of the white paper to every member of Congress via a cover letter and also shared the document with key officials at EPA.  The white paper was also sent to the media via press release.  NACWA looks forward to using the paper as part of its ongoing advocacy efforts to protect its members from unnecessary enforcement actions and to refocus policymakers on the need for a watershed approach, increased federal funding for water infrastructure, and realistic affordability principles and guidance.

NACWA to File Comments on Draft Stormwater Information Collection Request

NACWA will file comments early next week on EPA’s draft Information Collection Request (ICR) for municipal separate stormwater sewer system (MS4) utilities and provide feedback both on EPA’s general approach in the ICR as well as on specific questions included in the ICR’s MS4 questionnaire.  NACWA’s comments, developed by the Association’s Stormwater Management Committee, express concern about the amount of time and staff resources MS4 utilities will need to spend completing the MS4 questionnaire and suggest EPA consider ways to shorten the survey.  The comments recommend ways EPA can improve the overall accuracy of the data collected and make the data more meaningful.  Additionally, the comments provide suggested wording and technical changes to specific questions on the questionnaire for improved clarity, including changes to the definitions of many of the terms used in the survey.  The draft ICR is EPA’s first step in an extended regulatory process over the next three years to revise the national stormwater rule.  NACWA through its Stormwater Management Committee will be actively involved in advocacy efforts related to development of the rule, starting with the comments submitted regarding the draft ICR.  A copy of the comments will be available on the Stormwater Management page of NACWA’s website by Dec. 23.

NACWA Members Provide EPA With Hands-on Look at POTW Incinerators

The City of Greensboro, N.C., and the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), both NACWA member agencies, hosted regulators from the EPA Office of Air Quality, Planning and Standards (OAQPS) this week to provide an overview of their incinerator operations.  OAQPS is working to develop maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards for sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs) under Section 129 of the Clean Air Act and has to meet a very tight, court-ordered deadline of December 2010 for finalizing the standards.  NACWA arranged the tours to ensure those developing the standards understand the unique aspects of sewage sludge incineration.

NACWA continues to advocate that SSIs are more appropriately regulated under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act, but is also working to ensure the OAQPS staff have the data and information they need to develop sound, reasonable MACT standards.  Unfortunately, as NACWA pointed out in its Nov. 17 letter to OAQPS Sector Policies and Program Director Peter Tsirigotis, EPA’s data request to nine clean water agencies falls well short of the data necessary to develop a national standard.  EPA’s request for data is also on an accelerated schedule and NACWA is working to ensure the nine utilities can secure an extension for submitting the required stack emissions data.  NACWA would like to express its thanks and gratitude to the staff of the City of Greensboro’s T.Z. Osbourne treatment plant and HRSD’s Williamsburg and Boat Harbor treatment plants.

NACWA Index Survey Responses Due ASAP

It’s not too late for you to complete the 2009 NACWA Index survey!  The Index has been published annually by NACWA since 1992 to track average annual single-family residential service charge increases as measured against the rate of inflation and provides valuable information for wastewater agencies and a wide variety of policymakers and experts.  The brief Index survey should take less than 15 minutes to complete through the new web response form.  The more responses NACWA receives, the more representative the Index is of the wastewater treatment community as a whole, so please complete them before the holiday season.  Additional information and other options for completing the survey are available via Member Update 09-18.

First of NACWA’s Flow Series Web Seminars to Address Stormwater Management

NACWA’s Flow Series of web seminars kicks off in January with an engaging presentation looking at the latest trends in stormwater management and providing important information for both stormwater and clean water utilities.  This informative web seminar, Stormwater Management: What Really Works?, scheduled for Jan. 13 at 2 pm EST, will look at how communities can develop and implement effective stormwater management techniques.   Melissa Keeley, an expert on stormwater management and a professor at George Washington University in Washington, DC, will be the featured speaker and will examine both the challenge of billing for stormwater services, and the potential for stormwater billing techniques to be used to encourage on-site stormwater management.  She will also discuss effective stormwater management techniques being used both in the United States and internationally.  These include traditional methods such as retention basins and holding ponds, but also newer, greener techniques such as rain gardens, vegetative swales, and green roofs.  She will particularly focus on how various policy incentives, including tax breaks or stormwater fee structures, can be used to encourage the use of green infrastructure as an on-site stormwater management technique.   Keeley will also review the challenges of engaging multi-agency support for green solutions to stormwater management and specifically explore these challenges in the context of the Green Area Ratio instrument.

As the impacts of stormwater on water quality impairment comes under more scrutiny and EPA prepares to  embark on a three-year rulemaking to revise national stormwater rules, it is becoming increasingly important for all clean water utilities to understand the role of stormwater in both wet weather flows and overall water quality issues.  This web seminar, along with the other seminars in the FLOW Series, will provide timely and relevant information for all of NACWA’s members.  More information on the FLOW Series, including registration information, is available on NACWA’s website.  Register today!

Look for NACWA’s “Advocacy Alerts” in Your Inbox Starting In 2010

In recognition of the increasingly interwoven nature of NACWA’s advocacy efforts, members will be receiving “Advocacy Alerts” on NACWA’s priority legislative, regulatory and legal issues starting in January 2010.  The new Advocacy Alerts will replace the Regulatory Alerts, Legislative Alerts, and Legal Alerts that members have been receiving.  NACWA’s Regulatory and Legislative Updates will continue to be delivered on a monthly basis.  Please keep in an eye out in your email inbox for these Advocacy Alerts starting next month!

This is the final issue of the Clean Water Current for 2009.  The next issue of the Clean Water Current will be published Jan. 8, 2010.  NACWA wishes all its members a safe and happy holiday and looks forward to a wonderful new year!