» Clean Water Current Archive

April 9, 2010

NACWA Outlines Impacts of Solid Waste Rule on Biosolids with Budget Office

NACWA staff met with officials from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last Friday to discuss an U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rule that is expected to define biosolids that are combusted as non-hazardous solid wastes.  If finalized the definition, which is being developed to assist EPA in determining the appropriate Clean Air Act (CAA) regulatory regime for a list of incineration categories, will have an immediate impact on sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs) and may have broader impacts for other biosolids management options. 

NACWA has maintained consistent pressure on EPA over the past year in an effort to persuade the Agency that SSIs are more appropriately regulated under Section 112 of the CAA.  Regulation under Section 112 provides EPA more flexibility in developing emission performance standards and allows the consideration of economic impacts.  NACWA continues its efforts with EPA’s air office, highlighting the Agency’s historic treatment of SSIs under Section 112 – and specific directives from Congress to handle air emissions from publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities differently under the CAA. 

The rule currently under review by OMB will not only impact SSIs (by imposing the more stringent CAA Section 129 performance standards for burning ‘solid wastes’), but may have wider impacts on other management options.  At the meeting with OMB, NACWA highlighted the importance of this issue to its members, outlining the major financial impacts of regulation under Section 129 and underscoring how the proposal could further limit the options available for managing biosolids.  The rule defining solid waste must be completed by April 15 to enable the Agency to meet a court-ordered deadline.  NACWA has already secured Targeted Action Funds to prepare comments on the rule and to continue its efforts with EPA’s air office to seek a more reasonable approach to regulating SSIs.

NACWA, GAO Discuss Pharmaceuticals; Expert Report Touted in Time Magazine

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is beginning work on a report addressing the issue of pharmaceuticals in water.  At the request of the House Committee on Science and Technology, GAO is now working to refine the scope of its work and met with NACWA staff last Friday as an initial step in that process.  The report was requested in response to the series of Associated Press articles on the subject that ran starting in 2008.  GAO is collecting information on a broad array of issues including occurrence data, technologies for removing pharmaceuticals, disposal and pollution prevention issues and potential regulations.  In addition to the recent expert report, Pharmaceuticals in the Water Environment, commissioned by NACWA and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), NACWA provided GAO with a series of letters the Association has developed over the past several years on the need for better coordination among federal agencies on the regulation and handling of unused pharmaceuticals.  GAO also plans to meet with AMWA and the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) during its scoping process.  Although no timeframe was provided for completing the report, NACWA will get more details once the scoping process is complete and GAO begins work on the report.

In related news, an April 1 article on Time Magazine’s website titled "Flushed Away" cites the NACWA/AMWA report, noting that "at the highest levels ever detected for the antianxiety medication meprobamate, a person would have to drink 1.24 million gal. (4.7 million L) in a day to ingest even a safe therapeutic dose."  NACWA will continue to share the expert report broadly to ensure pharmaceutical-related issues are discussed in a manner that is science and data-driven.  

NACWA Efforts on Affordability, Jurisdiction and Watersheds Advance

NACWA held several meetings this week with key Congressional staff to discuss affordability issues and gain support for including language in the Fiscal Year 2011 EPA Appropriations bill requiring the Agency to review and update its 1997 document, Combined Sewer Overflows – Guidance for Financial Capability Assessment and Schedule Development, with input from stakeholders.   The Association is working with several members of the Ohio Congressional delegation, including Reps. Marci Kaptur (D), Steven LaTourette (R), Senator George Voinovich (R) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D) to urge the leadership of House and Senate Appropriations Committees to include the language.  This week, NACWA met with House and Senate Appropriations Committee staff to discuss the issue and with staff for the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee to gain the support from Rep. Jim Oberstar (D—Minn.), Chair of the T&I Committee, for this effort and received generally supportive feedback and advice to ensure the broadest possible support from both the appropriations and authorizing committee members.

During this week’s meeting with T&I staff, NACWA discussed a number of additional issues including the status of the Clean Water Restoration Act, Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction legislation that Chairman Oberstar intends to introduce the week of NACWA’s National Environmental Policy Forum (April 18-21).  The discussion centered on both the inclusion of the manmade waste treatment exemption, as well as clarification that  groundwater would not be subject to the reach of a broadened definition of waters of the US.  NACWA anticipates that both of these critical issues will be taken care of satisfactorily in the pending bill.  The Association also discussed the need for a hearing on watershed approaches.  As envisioned, the hearing – anticipated to take place this summer or fall – would include NACWA testimony highlighting its draft watershed bill and the growing importance of a more integrated approach to water quality management.  T&I staff indicated that such a hearing would be timely and that they viewed it as inextricably tied to the corresponding need for a long-term sustainable funding mechanism to address our nation’s watershed needs. 

Key Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Backs Trust Fund Bill

This week NACWA learned that Representative James Moran (D-Va.), the recently appointed Chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s Interior and Environment Subcommittee, will sign on as a co-sponsor of The Water Protection and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 3202) — the wastewater and drinking water infrastructure trust fund bill.  This development is significant because the Interior and Environment Subcommittee is responsible for providing annual funding for the EPA.  Chairman Moran’s support comes in response to NACWA meetings with the Representative on the trust fund and other issues, including affordability.  H.R. 3202 now has 32 co-sponsors.  NACWA expects additional Members to be added as co-sponsors in the coming weeks as Congress returns from the Easter recess.  The Association also encourages public agency members attending the upcoming National Environmental Policy Forum to set up meetings with their congressional delegations to discuss this bill, and other important legislative initiatives, while in Washington, DC for NACWA’s National Environmental Policy Forum, April 18-21.  If you would like assistance in doing so, please contact John Krohn at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

NACWA’s Pretreatment Workshop to Feature Story of Sable the Sewage-Sniffing Dog

NACWA’s National Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention (P3) Workshop will include a special presentation on what may become a future trend in detecting accidental and illegal sewer discharges:  using dogs to sniff out the sewage.  "The Nose Knows: A Shelter Dog Becomes a Sewage-Sniffing Dog," describing how "Sable the Sniffer," a German shepherd mix, has been sniffing out sewage discharges for two years, visiting over 200 municipal storm sewer system outfalls and conducting extensive upstream investigation work.  Sable provides immediate, cost-effective results that are about 90 percent accurate compared to traditional laboratory tests.  Plan to attend the Workshop to hear Sable’s story, and how two other dogs are joining the sewage-sniffing force! The Workshop will be held May 19-21, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix in Phoenix, Ariz.  Online registration, a complete agenda, and travel information are available on NACWA’s website.