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A Clear Commitment to America’s Waters
4
Law Seminar
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Integrated Planning, Consent Decrees a Key Focus
Front and center on the
Seminar
agenda will be an examination of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent integrated
planning framework – including its potential legal impact on munici-
pal clean water utilities. EPA officials and legal experts will discuss
the key elements of the framework, explain how it might be used in
both an enforcement and permitting context, and outline the most
important considerations for clean water utilities and their attorneys
when pursuing an integrated planning approach. Related to this will
be a panel discussion on recent developments in clean water enforce-
ment actions and consent decrees, including the emerging possibility
of a more flexible approach from EPA. This analysis will examine, as
a major component, innovative municipal enforcement agreements
from the past year – including consent decree modifications – and
how utilities can leverage these legal developments to pursue addi-
tional enforcement flexibility.
Nutrients to Receive Critical Attention
Nutrients will also receive attention at the
Seminar,
given the
growing legal challenges presented by nutrient impairment. The
agenda will include an overview of ongoing nutrient lawsuits with
national implications, including those in the Mississippi River
Basin and the Chesapeake Bay. Panelists will also explore the re-
lationship between state and federal roles over nutrient criteria, as
well as look at potential opportunities and legal considerations for
addressing nutrients through water quality trading.
Other topics to be covered include a review of the top Clean Water
Act (CWA) legal cases of the past year; an examination of the CWA
and its interaction with other federal environmental statutes like
the Endangered Species Act and Superfund laws; a discussion of
emerging legal issues impacting municipal stormwater litigation
and enforcement; and a look at key legal considerations for innova-
tive solutions embodied in the water resources utility of the future,
such as energy production, water reuse, and green infrastructure.
Additional information on the
Seminar
, including a
and details on registration and hotel accommodations, is
available on NACWA’s
. Continuing Legal Education (CLE)
credits – including ethics credits – will also be available, and a list
of CLE information by state is available online. The hotel registra-
tion deadline is October 23, 2012.
E
arlier this year, NACWA launched its blog,
and a dedicated online networking and knowledge sharing
community,
These intiatives provide im-
portant opportunities for clean water utilities and NACWA
Affiliates to be a prominent part of the larger water quality conversa-
tions happening nationally. And that is exactly what is happening.
Discussions initiated on
Engage™
including recent posts regarding
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) response to an
National Resource Defence Council (NRDC) petition seeking to
include
as part of secondary treatment. Several
member organizations offered to provide influent and effluent data
on nitrogen and phosphorus, posed questions, and provided resourc-
es. In the
, one discussion is focused on numeric
and/or TMDL wasteload allocations. These offer a
sampling of the dozens of discussion that have been started in these
and other groups on
Engage™
.
Blog Post Launches Discussion
A recent post on
, sparked a lively discussion. The
post,
Flushable Wipes, Clogging Pipes
, stated, “There are no require-
ments that a product must meet to be labeled flushable, and prod-
ucts labeled as flushable may still cause problems in the sewer
system because they do not disperse nearly as rapidly as toilet pa-
per.” One respondent noted, “At my last authority we had a lot of
problems with “flushable” wipes, both from day cares and retire-
ment facilities.” Another wrote, “Let’s hope this generates a lot of
hits and builds momentum for a universal “NO FLUSH” label and
instructions on all products that do not meet the INDA/EDANA
Flushability Guidelines.” INDA and EDANA represent the non-wo-
ven fabrics industry in the U.S. and Europe respectively.
New Engage™ Interest Groups Planned
Clean water utilities and NACWA Affiliates are encouraged to log-on
to
NACWA Engage™
today and join your clean water colleagues from
around the country for discussions and ideas. New interest groups
are being rolled out in October. Indiviuals may also subscribe to the
The Water Voice
, and be the first to read about what NACWA is think-
ing about and discussing. Comments and questions about these
sites can be directed to
NACWA’s Director, Social
Media & Communications.
NACWA Blog, Online Community Invite Discussion