» Clean Water Current Archive

Febrary 19, 2010

NACWA Meets with EPA Water Chief, Urges EPA Action on Blending

Representatives from NACWA Member Agencies and staff met Thursday with Assistant Administrator (AA) for Water Pete Silva to discuss the continuing issues surrounding peak flow blending and how blending should be addressed in Clean Water Act (CWA) permits.  As the AA for Water continues to be briefed on the issue, the water office is moving closer to deciding what its next steps will be.  Senior EPA staff at the meeting indicated that a series of options for proceeding on blending would be presented to AA Silva in the next 30-45 days.  The decision on next steps, however, will ultimately be made by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, whose office has already expressed an interest in the issue.  Although options will be discussed in the next month or so, NACWA anticipates the briefing for the Administrator and subsequent discussions could take more time given the long and complex history surrounding the blending issue.

The objective for this week’s meeting was to demonstrate to EPA that there is significant confusion among the regions and states on how blending should be addressed in CWA permits and urge the Agency to clearly decide how it is going to address the issue.  While EPA did not provide the specific options they may consider for moving forward, finalizing the 2005 proposed peak flows policy is clearly among those options.  A consideration for EPA management will be whether the Agency should begin work on a broader sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) rule under which the blending issues could be included.  No action — in other words not finalizing the policy and continuing with business as usual — continues to be another option, but this would likely not be the recommendation that EPA staff would provide to its management based on discussions at the meeting.  NACWA asked whether the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) would again present a roadblock, as it did when the 2005 proposal was first released, if the Agency decides to finalize the 2005 proposed policy.  EPA indicated that they may not need to go through OMB again to finalize the policy.

Significant Issues Identified for Resolution
NACWA noted during the meeting that there are significant unresolved issues regarding the proposal that would need to be addressed before it could be finalized.  Chief among those issues is how to handle parallel treatment systems.  NACWA Member Agency representatives provided their perspective on how parallel treatment systems, that achieve levels of treatment comparable to secondary treatment, are being objected to by EPA Region 7, citing the bypass regulations and seeking to require the agency to conduct a no feasible alternatives analysis.  The Association highlighted the fact that EPA's current position — that blending is a bypass — is a significant and new interpretation of the Agency's bypass regulations.  As recently as 2003, EPA indicated that it would not consider blending to be a bypass.  The Agency’s new position seems now to be based on their interpretation of a proposed policy that has yet to be finalized.  NACWA and its members in attendance made it clear that EPA’s actions have led to regions and states interpreting peak excess flow blending as a bypass, marking a significant change in policy that needs to be clearly articulated through a final policy document before it can be used in CWA permitting decisions.

NACWA will be following this very closely over the next few weeks and will report on any new developments.  The Association will not lend its support to moving forward with any policy on blending until unresolved issues are addressed and does not support EPA’s current approach of implementing a draft policy.  Should the Agency fail to explain its new interpretation in a clear and final policy statement, NACWA leaves all advocacy avenues open, including legal action, as it represents the interests of its members.

Facilitated Session on Watershed Act Yields Path Forward

On Thursday, NACWA convened a group of stakeholders to discuss and further refine the Association’s draft 21st Century Watersheds Act.  Organizations represented included the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Agencies, the Illinois Department of Environmental Protection, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Water Environment Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, American Rivers, the Environmental Law and Policy Center, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  NACWA's President Kevin Shafer, Executive Director of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, and Charlie Logue, Chair of NACWA's Watershed Task Force and Director of Technical Services for Renewable Water Resources in Greenville, S.C., were on hand to represent NACWA’s interests and voice the municipal agency perspective.

The day-long session delved deeply into NACWA's proposal and modifications that might be necessary to attract support among the stakeholders present, as well as a broader array of potential supporters.  The participants agreed that the basic watershed concept embodied in NACWA's legislative proposal was something they could support and were enthusiastic about the general direction of the legislation.  There was agreement, however, that in the current political climate a statement of principles should first be developed to largely mirror the objectives of the legislation.  These agreed upon principles could then be used to attract additional supporters to the effort.  NACWA will draft a preliminary principles document and will share it for comment with the groups in attendance at Thursday’s meeting.  The Association committed to reconvene the group in the spring – and to add other organizations representing a broader base of municipal and nonpoint source stakeholders to the discussion.

Recovery Act Deadline Passes Successfully: All CWSRF Funds Under Contract

On Tuesday, February 17, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) marked its one year anniversary, which was also the deadline for each State and the District of Columbia to have the $4 billion provided to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) under contract.  Over 1,860 agreements have been executed with over 81% of the projects under construction already and 100% of these funds under contract.  This represents a significant success for the clean water community as states and localities overcame initial delays and challenges to have all funds committed by this week’s deadline.

NACWA members were integral in securing CWSRF funding in the ARRA, as well as ensuring that key provisions, such as the additional subsidization requirements and green reserve set-aside, were included in the Act.  It appears that both of these initiatives will likely remain a part of the SRF program as they have been included in the Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations bill and the President’s Fiscal Year 2011 budget request.

NACWA is in the process of developing a state-by-state electronic report that tracks the implementation of the ARRA’s CWSRF funds.  The report will provide key details such as the state’s total CWSRF allocation, the types of projects funded, number of SRF recipients, size of the communities receiving funds, and percentage of subsidization given through low interest loans and principal forgiveness.  The Association expects this report to be completed in March, once final data from EPA become available.

NACWA Requests Member Input on EPA Effluent Guidelines Plan

NACWA will be submitting comments on EPA’s Preliminary 2010 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan  (Preliminary Plan) and invites members to provide input for these comments.  The Preliminary Plan describes EPA’s strategy for the development of best management practices (BMPs) for unused pharmaceutical disposal at hospitals and other health care facilities.  Because it has already collected a significant amount of information about disposal practices at health care facilities, EPA is no longer planning to conduct a formal survey of these facilities, and will move directly to developing BMPs.  NACWA has supported BMPs for pharmaceutical disposal in the past, but the Association will also urge EPA to make public the information that it has collected.  More information about the Preliminary Plan and unused pharmaceutical management is contained in NACWA’s Advocacy Alert 10-06.  Members with comments about unused pharmaceutical disposal from health care facilities, or any of the other categorical reviews described in the Preliminary Plan, should contact Cynthia Finley at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 202/296-9836 by February 24.

National Environmental Policy Forum Agenda and Registration Now Available Online

As the Federal government continues to place water quality issues high on its agenda, NACWA encourages its members to plan now to be in Washington, D.C. for the 2010 National Environmental Policy Forum, April 18-21 at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel.  Members may now review the Policy Forum agenda and register at NACWA’s Conference and Meetings webpage.

The Policy Forum will feature high level water quality discussions on watershed management, nutrient control, infrastructure funding, climate change and wet weather issues of concern to all NACWA members, especially in the current environment of increased enforcement and regulatory activity being pursued by the EPA.  This year’s Policy Forum will feature key Washington policymakers such as EPA Deputy Administrator Robert Perciasepe, United States Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Congressman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) and many others.  The popular Technical Roundtable Breakfast is scheduled for Wednesday morning providing members with the opportunity to meet directly with key personnel at EPA after being briefed by Office of Water leadership on the Agency’s regulatory priorities for the coming year.

As part of this year’s Policy Forum, NACWA has set aside time in the agenda for members to meet with their congressional delegations to raise issues of significance to their utility – and the clean water community as a whole.  We encourage you to make time for these critical meetings.  Should you need assistance securing appointments and Capitol Hill, please contact John Krohn, NACWA’s Manager of Legislative Affairs at 202-833-4655 or via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We look forward to seeing you in Washington in April.