A Clear Commitment to America’s Waters
15
a carve-out in the CWSRF to the suite of UOTF-related innovative
technologies, in addition to green infrastructure and energy effi-
ciency. WRRDA’s embrace of these concepts eliminates the need for
TIRRF proceeding as a separate proposal.
WIFIA Established as Pilot Program
The WRRDA bill also includes a new investment tool for drinking
water and wastewater infrastructure projects known as the
Water
Infrastructure Finance & Innovation Authority
(WIFIA). WIFIA estab-
lishes a five-year, pilot program allowing the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to provide direct loans and loan guarantees
to drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects that cost at
least $20 million (or $5 million for water systems serving 25,000 or
fewer people). This pilot program would be separate from the SRF
programs, though State SRF programs can access these funds. The
Army Corps of Engineers has the authority to also provide loans and
loan guarantees for projects for flood damage reduction, restoration
of aquatic ecosystems, improvements to inland and intracoastal wa-
terway navigation systems as a separate program from that which
EPA will administer.
NACWA will stay engaged with EPA and State Revolving Fund ad-
ministrations as they work to implement these new policies.
WRRDA
C
alendar year 2014 started fast on the regulatory
front and the spring months have been no excep-
tion. In recent months NACWA filed comments on
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
proposed
Greenhouse Gas Inventory
and the Idaho Department of
Environmental Quality (IDEQ)’s human health water quality crite-
ria. NACWA, and representatives from member agencies, also partic-
ipated in the first meeting of the Flushability Technical Workgroup.
Revisions to Greenhouse Gas Inventory Recommended
NACWA submitted
to EPA in late March on the Agency’s
draft
(
Inventory
). In its comments, the Association asked for further clarifi-
cation and recommended that the Inventory not be used for regulatory
requirements. The annual inventory provides nationwide estimates
of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for various sectors, including
wastewater treatment, and is intended to be used only for informa-
tional purposes. The wastewater treatment category in the
Inventory
includes publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), septic systems, and
industrial wastewater treatment systems, and consistently ranks in the
top ten sectors for emissions of methane and nitrous oxide, although
wastewater emissions are much smaller in magnitude than for the
highest ranked categories.
NACWA has commented on the seven previous
Inventories
, and EPA has
made corrections and clarifications that have been requested by the
Association. In this year’s
Inventory
, EPA responded to a request made
by NACWA last year and included more information about the vari-
ables used in calculating nitrous oxide emissions for 2012 and previous
years. The Agency did not make any substantive changes in the emis-
sions calculations in this year’s
Inventory
, prompting NACWA to reiter-
ate its comments from previous years. The Association recommended
that EPA use a different methodology or a different nitrogen loading
rate to calculate nitrous oxide emissions, since loading rates, collected
by NACWA and available in literature, are lower than those used in the
Inventory. NACWA also asked EPA to clarify that the Inventory should
not be used for regulatory requirements, since industry-wide estimates
are not always applicable for facility-level emissions calculations,
such as those required in Clean Air Act permitting programs. The
Association will evaluate any changes made in the final 2012
Inventory
and will continue to monitor all EPA actions related to GHG emissions
fromwastewater utilities.
Idaho Human Health Criteria Effort Could Set Precedent
NACWA provided
on April 23 to the Idaho Department of
Environmental Quality (IDEQ) on the state’s ongoing negotiated rule-
making process to evaluate fish consumption rates and the overall pro-
tectiveness of Idaho’s human health water quality criteria. Water qual-
ity criteria to protect human health are generally developed to ensure
that fish and shellfish can be safely eaten by humans.
Several states, including Washington, Florida and Idaho, are currently
looking at whether their existing human health criteria are adequately
protective, with particular focus on the assumed amounts of fish that
humans eat. In Idaho, the state has initiated a negotiated rulemaking
to allow for an open and transparent process in which stakeholders
can actively participate. One of the approaches Idaho is considering
is the use of Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) in lieu of the current
deterministic approach for establishing criteria for toxic pollutants.
Idaho’s adoption of PRA could set a precedent for other states. PRA, in
lieu of using a single value for each of the parameters in the risk calcu-
lation, uses a distribution of parameter values and provides a resulting
distribution of risk, allowing for more refined and informed calcula-
tions. NACWA’s letter noted that PRA is a technically-sound approach
that represents the best science available for assessing risk – and that
it represents a significant technical advance that other states should
consider. PRA does not, however, solve all of the issues associated with
criteria development, and the Association’s letter stressed that rational
implementation policies and tools will still be needed.
The Association continues to work with its members in states where
Springtime Active in Regulatory Arena
