» Clean Water Current Archive

September 3, 2010

NACWA Renews Objections to Proposed Nutrient Criteria for Florida

In response to a request for additional information and input, NACWA submitted comments Thursday on possible revisions to EPA’s proposed numeric nutrient criteria for Florida’s flowing waters.  The notice, released only two months before EPA’s deadline to finalize the criteria pursuant to the terms of a consent agreement, proposes to use a benchmark distribution approach for establishing criteria values for certain waters; realigns some of the stream regions in the state; and recommends using a different environmental model for evaluating downstream impacts.  NACWA’s comments raised concerns that an aggressive schedule, rather than sound science, was driving the development of the criteria and recommended that EPA seek relief from the October consent decree deadline for finalizing the first round of criteria. 

The benchmark distribution approach EPA is proposing a ‘modified reference condition approach’ and relies on statistics rather than a cause-and-effect relationship to determine a protective level of nutrients.  NACWA has been a vocal critic of the reference condition approach to nutrient criteria development since the late 1990s and reiterated the concerns it raised in its April 2010 comments on EPA’s original proposal for Florida which also relied on the reference condition approach.  NACWA and other stakeholders, including the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, have suggested that bioassessments be done before applying reference condition-based criteria to ensure that the statistics are relevant to the waterbody in question.  NACWA believes that including such a biological confirmatory step in the Florida criteria would be consistent with other state approaches, would help prevent unnecessary expenditures where biological conditions are not impacted, and ensure that controls are put in place when there is an impact.  

NACWA also reiterated its broader concern over how EPA’s new criteria will be implemented and how they will integrate with existing Clean Water Act programs.  First and foremost, NACWA remains concerned that EPA has not adequately addressed the impact of its new criteria on current, EPA-approved TMDLs in Florida.  NACWA believes that clarifying language is needed to indicate that the new criteria will not be applied to waters governed by current TMDLs until the state finds that the TMDL needs to be updated.  These and other related issues will be discussed at NACWA’s Nutrient Summit taking place later this month.  The Association will provide updates on the Summit discussions as well as on any developments in the criteria development process.

NACWA Seeks Member Input on EPA’s Draft Strategy for Achieving Clean Water

On April 15, EPA held its "Coming Together for Clean Water" conference in Washington, D.C., in which NACWA’s Executive Director Ken Kirk and then-President Kevin Shafer participated. The meeting was intended to be a discussion of approximately 100 experts from the water sector with the focus on developing sustainable strategies to address priority water sector challenges with a focus on healthy watersheds. According to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson the goal of the meeting was to help reach her goal “to see a huge leap forward in our nation’s water quality as we saw in the 1970s after the passage of the Clean Water Act”. Based on the views provided at this April meeting, and subsequent input, EPA has developed a draft "Strategy for Achieving Clean Water," which is available on EPA's web site at https://blog.epa.gov/waterforum/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Coming-Together-for-Clean-Water-Disc-Draft-Aug-2010-FINAL.pdf.  The draft Strategy sets forth potential action items the Administration is considering to take, including but not limited to:

• Assessing in a more systematic way the Nation’s water quality and complementing impaired waters listings with a list of healthy watersheds;

• Supporting legislation and considering administrative action to restore the Clean Water Act (CWA);

• Proposing changes to the federal water quality standard regulations (an issue that EPA is exploring through a series of Listening Sessions that NACWA will be participating in — see Advocacy Alert );

• More fully utilizing regulatory tools and enforcement to address a number of water quality challenges; and

• Using Agency authority robustly to protect and restore threatened national treasures such as the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.

The list of action items provides little sense of the priority that EPA places on any of the proposed actions nor is there any significant attention to the costs or the affordability impacts these actions may have.  With these thoughts in mind, NACWA invites members to send the Association any comments or input they may have on the draft "Strategy for Achieving Water Quality" to NACWA’s Adam Krantz at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by COB, September 13, 2010, so that NACWA can incorporate them in its comment effort.  The EPA deadline for comments is September 17, 2010. 

Key State, Local Groups Meet with EPA on Water Quality Standard Regulation Changes

NACWA participated this week in a meeting between EPA and representatives of the major state and local government associations, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, the Environmental Council of States, and the National Governors Association to discuss EPA’s planned revisions to its regulations governing the water quality standards program.  The Federalism Consultation meeting, generally required for any EPA rules that may impose costs over $25 million, provides the groups a formal opportunity to raise any concerns with EPA during the rulemaking process.  Given NACWA’s expertise and involvement in the issue, the Association was invited to participate. 

During the meeting, staff from EPA’s Office of Science and Technology briefed the groups on six targeted changes EPA had identified for rulemaking. EPA is currently in its information-gathering mode and is planning to issue a formal proposal next summer.  Much of the discussion focused on how EPA had selected the six focus areas and the potential costs for implementation.  Through internal deliberations and meetings with state and regional personnel, EPA narrowed the list of potential issues from the more than 100 that were considered back in 1998 when the Agency issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the standards program to the current list of six.  NACWA provided details on the new set of proposed revisions via Advocacy Alert 10-23.  The Association is planning to provide input into EPA’s information request.  While there is no formal comment period deadline, EPA staff will be meeting with their management in early to mid-October to identify its path forward before proceeding with development of a proposed rule.  NACWA will provide its comments to the Agency by the end of September and welcomes any input from the membership as set out in the Advocacy Alert.

NACWA Participates in Workshop to Define Climate Change Research Needs

NACWA and representatives from several of its member agencies participated in a workshop this week that focused on the needs of the drinking water and wastewater treatment community for research related to climate change and water.  The two-day workshop, A View of the Future for Research on Climate Change Impacts on Water, was sponsored by the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF), the Water Research Foundation, EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and NASA.  Following discussions about current research, workshop participants developed descriptions for potential projects in the areas of flooding and wet weather, water quality, coastal zone issues, water supply and drought, and the water-energy nexus. 

The research projects focused not only on scientific and technical information that is needed, but also policies and regulatory actions that could assist water utilities with adaptation to climate change.  NACWA and its members emphasized the technical research and regulatory needs related to a holistic watershed approach and the use of alternative methods for improving water quality, such as green infrastructure, which can help utilities adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  The goal of the organizations and agencies that sponsored the workshop is to use the project descriptions developed by the participants in future decisions about research funding.

After the workshop, NACWA also participated in a listening session on the National Climate Assessment hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and NOAA.  During the listening session, the federal agencies sought ideas on how to engage drinking water and wastewater treatment utilities in the Assessment and what types of information the water sector could provide for their consideration going forward.   The next National Climate Assessment report is due to Congress in June 2012.  The report is expected to have a new focus on how to use climate change research to support decisions related to adaptation and mitigation.