» Clean Water Current Archive

June 18, 2010

NACWA Meets with Senior EPA Staff on Sanitary Sewer System Rulemaking Effort

NACWA met this week with Jim Hanlon, Director of the Office of Wastewater Management, and other senior Agency staff to discuss EPA’s effort to gather input on the need for national regulations governing the management of sanitary sewer systems.  EPA announced in a June 1 Federal Register Notice that it was seeking information on a list of issues surrounding collection system management, sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs), and peak excess flow “blending” through a series of listening sessions and a written comment period.  During the meeting, Hanlon confirmed that his office is recommending to senior EPA officials that regulations be developed for sanitary sewer systems and indicated that the Administrator herself has been briefed on the issue.

NACWA also learned that the draft 2001 SSO rule, which was never published and was formally withdrawn by the Bush Administration, will be a 'data point' in EPA's new effort, but will not serve as the foundation for a new rulemaking effort.  Instead, EPA will be relying on other resources including The Sewer Overflow Community Right to Know Act (H.R. 2452), which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 2009, and the Core Attributes of Effectively Managed Wastewater Collection Systems (slated for release next month) for its decision-making process.  EPA is using the listening sessions and public comment period to determine exactly what elements it should include in the rule for sanitary sewer systems – and whether to address blending by itself or as a part of the larger rulemaking effort (see related story below).  NACWA indicated its preference for a holistic approach that addresses blending and SSOs together.  The input received between now and the close of the comment period on August 2 will factor heavily in EPA’s decision-making process.  Hanlon indicated that his office has no specific schedule at this point for the rule, but hopes to make significant progress toward issuing a proposed rule and potentially seeking finalization before the end of the current administration.

NACWA SSO Rule Focus Shifts to Comment Effort, Listening Sessions

NACWA’s sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) workgroup held a conference call this week to discuss next steps in the wake of EPA’s recent announcement that it plans to move forward with developing a policy for sanitary sewer systems (see related story).  The discussion resulted in the decision to shift the workgroup’s previous deliberations on, and work toward drafting, a potential petition to EPA for an SSO rulemaking into the basis for NACWA’s written comments to the Agency on its Federal Register Notice seeking input into the development of a national sanitary sewer system policy.  The workgroup is ramping up its work to develop comments in line with the August 2 deadline, with the goal of sharing a draft comment document more broadly for additional input in July.

The workgroup also discussed the Association’s participation in EPA’s scheduled series of listening sessions. NACWA staff will be attending each listening session, providing NACWA's perspective at the July 13 session in Washington, D.C., and coordinating with its members to ensure a unified message at each of the scheduled sessions.  In line with this, the workgroup is currently reviewing a set of written talking points for these listening sessions that NACWA will be distributing to the full membership on Monday.  NACWA’s Facility & Collection System Committee will discuss the issue further when it meets in July during NACWA’s Summer Conference & 40th Anniversary Annual Meeting in San Francisco.  NACWA will continue to keep the membership updated on this effort.

NACWA Advances Clean Air Act Legal Arguments on Incineration with EPA Attorneys

NACWA briefed the lead EPA Office of General Counsel (OGC) attorney working on the Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 129 maximum achievable control technology (MACT) emissions standards for sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs) Thursday on the Association’s legal arguments that SSIs are more appropriately regulated under Section 112 of the CAA.  NACWA argued that the Clean Water Act (CWA) definition of a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) includes POTW-operated SSIs and highlighted that EPA has consistently determined that SSIs are more appropriately regulated under CAA Section 112.  NACWA also noted that POTW-generated sludges are not ‘from commercial or industrial establishments or the general public’, a key applicability provision for Section 129 standards, but are in fact generated by the publicly owned wastewater authority.  While EPA is not likely to change direction before the proposed rule stage, NACWA is asking that the Agency seek comment on these issues to ensure they remain as potential options at the final rule stage.  The proposed MACT standards for SSIs are expected to be released in the next few weeks, although the rule package has not yet been sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review.  NACWA will be discussing these issues at the Biosolids Management Committee meeting in July during NACWA’s Summer Conference & 40th Anniversary Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Money Matters Affordability PR Campaign Takes Shape

NACWA’s Communications & Public Relations (PR) Committee leaders met this week with the public affairs consulting firm that is providing strategic direction for the Association’s Money Matters campaign on Clean Water Act affordability issues.  The discussion clarified the key next steps to take place over the next several months to help bolster NACWA’s legislative, regulatory and legal efforts to ensure a new, more flexible approach to EPA affordability determinations.  These steps include three key actions: 1) creating and distributing a brief member survey to gather key information/case studies on affordability challenges being faced by the clean water community; 2) developing effective messages around the issue of affordability that can help engender support from a broad array of stakeholders; and, 3) drafting and printing an effective “leave-behind” document that incorporates the messaging and case-study information for use by NACWA and its members with key local/state/federal elected and appointed officials, as well as other stakeholder groups. The ultimate goal is to gather the needed information over the coming weeks and to finalize the leave-behind document in early September in order to ensure that this issue is raised in the context of the Congressional election cycle. This will help place municipal CWA affordability concerns as part of the election debate on economic issues and ensure that incoming Congressional members are immediately made aware of the issue as both a priority economic and environmental concern.  NACWA will be engaging the PR Committee and its broader membership on this effort going forward.  This initiative and related affordability issues will be a key topic of discussion on next week’s Money Matters web seminar (see related story) and at the upcoming Summer Conference in July in San Francisco.

Web Seminar Next Tuesday to Highlight CWA Affordability, Enforcement Issues

Clean Water Act (CWA) affordability issues have been front and center recently in the media and for good reason.   States and municipalities continue to struggle with a financial downturn that is expected to linger for a significant period of time to come but national policy appears unable to ask the hard questions about what is (and what is not) the best way to reach shared water quality goals.  As a CNN Money article from today states “the layoff ax has hit public sector payrolls with force. . . . Since August 2008, some 231,000 state and local government jobs have disappeared — 22,000 last month alone, according to federal data.  The majority of the cuts are on the local level, which at 14.4 million workers is nearly three times the size of the state workforce.”

Clearly, money does matter especially at the municipal level and the registration for NACWA’s Money Matters . . . Making the Case for Affordability web seminar next Tuesday (June 22 from 2:00 – 3:30pm Eastern) is showing that communities from around the country believe now is the time for a reassessment of how EPA addresses affordability under the CWA.  It’s still not too late to gather your colleagues and tune in by registering today! For the price of a single registration ($250 for member agencies; $350 for affiliate members), your assembled staff and colleagues can access the latest developments and learn from utility experience.  Be sure to not miss out on this informative event that features top EPA and municipal officials as well as leading legal and economic experts discussing viable solutions to meet the goals of the CWA in a manner that households and communities can support, advance, and afford.