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NACWA Takes Lead on Stormwater Advocacy
NACWA continued its aggressive expansion into the stormwa-
ter arena over the past year, securing passage of a significant
piece of legislation guaranteeing federal payment of municipal
stormwater fees, representing the municipal utility perspective
in crucial discussions with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) over the forthcoming national post-construc-
tion stormwater rule, and engaging in other regulatory devel-
opments impacting municipal separate storm sewer systems
(MS4s). NACWA’s strong advocacy efforts on stormwater
issues have further cemented the Association’s reputation as
the leading national advocacy voice on behalf of municipal
stormwater utilities.
NACWA Legislative Victory Requires
Federal Payment of Stormwater Fees
NACWA ended the 111th Congressional Session with a key
victory requiring federal agencies to pay local stormwater
charges. The victory marked not only the culmination of a
nearly year-long, focused effort to overturn a decision by the
General Services Administration (GSA) that federal facilities
located in the nation’s capital are not responsible for paying
municipal stormwater fees – but also important achievement
in NACWA’s years-long advocacy on this issue. The GSA
decision asserted their position that the District of Columbia’s
fees were an unconstitutional tax levied by a local municipal-
ity on the federal government – and thus deprived the District
of nearly $3 million in funding for its stormwater mitigation
programs. When GSA announced its decision, NACWA
quickly got to work with the office of Senator Ben Cardin
(D-MD), Chair of the Senate Water & Wildlife Subcommittee,
and helped craft legislation to address the issue. The legisla-
tion clarifies that the Clean Water Act requires federal facilities
to pay for reasonable, non-discriminatory charges levied by a
municipality to support a municipality’s stormwater mitiga-
tion program. The legislation passed by unanimous consent
in both chambers in the final moments of the 111th Congress.
NACWA was pleased to work with Senator Cardin, former
Senator George Voinovich (R-OH), and Senator James Inhofe
(R-OK), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment & Public
Works Committee, to push through this bi-partisan legislation
solving a significant issue for stormwater utilities.
Focus on Stormwater Regulatory Issues,
Provides Key Municipal Perspective
In addition to work in Congress, NACWA has also actively
engaged EPA on stormwater concerns. Central among NAC-
WA’s regulatory stormwater work has been engagement with
EPA during development of the Agency’s new stormwater rule.
NACWA submitted formal written comments to the Agency
numerous times regarding the rulemaking process, including
as part of a formal federalism consultation in December 2010,
and met with senior EPA staff on multiple occasions to ensure
that the municipal stormwater community’s voice is being
heard as the rule is developed. The new rule is likely to mark
a paradigm shift in how urban stormwater is managed in the
United States, with a focus on the use of green infrastructure
and other low impact development techniques to retain a
significant portion of stormwater runoff on-site. NACWA’s
engagement with EPA on this issue has emphasized that while
the MS4 community is supportive of innovative approaches
to better control urban wet weather flows, it is critical that
the rule also be sensitive to the significant regulatory and
economic stresses that municipalities all across the county are
currently facing.
NACWA is particularly focused on minimizing the economic
cost of the rule to clean water utilities at a time of economic
hardship, especially those costs associated with a potential
requirement that cities retrofit areas of existing impervious
surface over a short period of time. NACWA’s Stormwater
Management Committee has played an important role in
guiding the Association’s efforts on the rule and will provide a
valuable forum to discuss the rule’s potential impacts on clean
water utilities. The stormwater rule will be the most signifi-
cant new clean water mandate to impact cities over the last
decade, and NACWA is committed to continued aggressive
advocacy on behalf of MS4s.
NACWA has been active on other stormwater regulatory is-
sues over the past year, as well. Most notably, the Association
reacted very strongly to a memo issued by EPA in November
2010 instructing MS4 permit writers to increase the use of
numeric effluent limits in municipal stormwater permits. The
memo, which was developed without any input or consulta-
tion from the regulated community, overturned long-standing
EPA policy and could have imposed significant additional
regulatory and economic burdens on MS4s to meet permit
limits. NACWA responded by leading a municipal coalition
including the National Association of Flood & Stormwater
Management Agencies (NAFSMA) and the American Public
Works Association (APWA) in sending a letter to EPA in Janu-
ary 2011 criticizing both the legal and procedural aspects of
the November 2010 memo and demanding that the document
be withdrawn. As a result, EPA agreed in March 2011 to
provide an opportunity for public comment on the docu-
ment and to consider revisions or withdrawal. EPA’s decision
to reconsider its actions regarding the memo demonstrates
the important role NACWA plays in advocating on behalf of
the nation’s MS4 utilities. The Association looks forward to
maintaining a strong national presence on stormwater issues
in the coming year.