7
age for a more heavy-handed, EPA-led approach. NACWA
weighed in on the secondary treatment issue and continues to
track developments elsewhere, including the ongoing debate in
the Chesapeake Bay. At the same time, EPA’s action in Florida
to promulgate federal NNC for that state has raised the ire
of key Congressional leaders, resulting in pending legislation
that would curtail EPA’s role in several key CWA programs.
NACWA continues to be a valuable resource for Congress and
testified in June on the Association’s concerns regarding EPA’s
current approach. The Association also crafted a coalition
letter on the NNC issue, urging EPA to better acknowledge the
innovative approaches many states are developing to address
nutrients.
Nutrient Advocacy Expands to the Courtroom
NACWA added a legal component to its advocacy on nutrient
issues during the past year, entering litigation cases in Florida
and Massachusetts that have the potential to set dangerous
national precedent with regard to EPA’s regulation of nutrient
under the Clean Water Act. NACWA’s participation in these
cases is part its ongoing efforts to directly engage EPA on
nutrients issues that have the potential to directly impact on
clean water agencies – and ensure that clean water utilities are
not required to spend significant financial resources on nutri-
ent removal with little or no resulting environmental benefit.
In April 2011, NACWA moved to participate in Florida
Wildlife Federation v. EPA, which challenged numeric nutrient
criteria developed by EPA for freshwater lakes, streams and
rivers in Florida. NACWA entered the litigation both to sup-
port the Association’s Florida members in their challenge to
the final November 2010 criteria, and to present the national
clean water utility perspective in a case that could have legal
ramifications in other parts of the country. NACWA previ-
ously submitted comments on the criteria and the litigation
provided an additional opportunity to weigh in on this critical
issue and build upon previously comments on the criteria. In
June 2011 NACWA filed a brief in the case questioning EPA
authority to promulgate the nutrient limits and arguing that
the Agency’s actions in Florida are fundamentally inconsis-
tent with the limited role provided in the Clean Water Act for
federal involvement in establishing water quality standards.
NACWA’s brief further stated that EPA’s development of
nutrient criteria for Florida inappropriately seized the state’s
primary role in establishing the limits, and will also have signif-
icant national implications by setting a negative precedent for
the potential federalization of nutrient water quality standards
beyond Florida.
NACWA followed this litigation engagement by supporting
Association member the Upper Blackstone Water Pollution
Abatement District in a lawsuit appealing the nutrient limits
in their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) discharge permit. The case, filed in the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston, challenges both the
flawed scientific methodology used by EPA to develop nutrient
limits, as well as the timing of the limits included in the utility’s
permit. NACWA’s role in the litigation reiterates the Associa-
tion’s long-standing position that the inclusion of nutrient lim-
its in discharge permits must be based on sound science and
a demonstrated link to water quality improvement. NACWA
will also express significant concerns with EPA’s requirement
for Upper Blackstone to spend an additional $200 million on
nutrient upgrades before an initial upgrade project of $180
million was completed, or its reduction in nutrient loadings
achieved. This serves as a perfect example of the need for bet-
ter regulatory prioritization. Consistent with the Association’s
ongoing
Money Matters
™ campaign, NACWA’s participation in
the litigation stresses the importance of allowing clean water
agencies to make smarter investments for maximum environ-
mental benefit with limited municipal resources. NACWA will
NACWA Continues to Build
Support for Watershed Approach
NACWA is continuing to build support for its vision of
a holistic watershed approach to prioritize and address
the most significant water quality impacts in ways that
are cost-effective and environmentally-beneficial. The
twelve
Principles for a Viable Watershed Approach
,
based on the recommendations of NACWA’s Strategic
Watershed Task Force, have now been endorsed
by six other organizations: the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC); the Association of State
& Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators
(ASIWPCA); the Water Environment Federation
(WEF); the Environmental Law & Policy Center; the
National Wildlife Federation; and, the American Water
Resources Association. NACWA is currently advancing
the watershed approach through its Money Matters™
campaign and legislation on both the national and
state levels, with emphasis on regulatory prioritization
mirrored in the Principles – and the recommendations
of the Strategic Watershed Task Force – as an essential
part of a watershed approach.