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n November 20, NACWA will release
Navigating Litigation
Floodwaters: Legal Considerations for Funding Municipal
Stormwater Programs
during its National Clean Water
Law Seminar. The white paper provides analysis on the
types of legal issues impacting stormwater funding programs – and
presents an overview of trends that are emerging based on the out-
comes of key cases.
In the absence of a federal rule, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has turned its focus to strengthening local stormwater
programs, and more onerous requirements will likely arise on a permit-
by-permit basis. More revenue and rate increases will be needed to
comply with these complex and costly regulatory requirements. This
environment of rising rates makes the stormwater program landscape
ripe for legal challenges.
When opposition to a fee program reaches the courts, there is always
the potential that a program or fee could be struck down, leaving a
utility legally responsible to comply with the CleanWater Act (CWA)
yet unable to administer and fund the program. It is imperative that
stormwater utilities do their “legal homework” – including all relevant
laws and previous cases on point in their respective state – to ensure
the best chance of success for a fee program. Navigating Litigation
Floodwaters will help by equipping members with critical knowledge
and tools to inform and prepare utilities that are creating, implement-
ing, or defending a stormwater program, utility or fee.
The Association hopes to supplement this valuable member resource
with a more detailed, state-by-state analysis of the issue in the future.
NACWA looks forward to continued aggressive advocacy to defend
these fee programs and ensure their long-term viability. Following its
release, the white paper will be available for download on NACWA’s
page and is free of charge to Association members.
White Paper to Help Utilities Weather
Stormwater Challenges
NACWA is pleased to announce the return of its popular Legal Hot
Topics Web Seminar series. With a schedule of one web seminar per
quarter in FY 2015, this series is offered free of charge to NACWA
members and provides clean water utilities – and the attorneys that
represent them – with the latest insights and analysis on key clean wa-
ter legal issues. Topics covered during past seminars include nutrients;
biosolids; stormwater; construction law; and, CleanWater Act jurisdic-
tion – and an equally diverse and informative set of topics is anticipat-
ed for the coming year.
The series of legal web seminars for FY 2015 will be held on the follow-
ing dates and times:
y
y
December 10, 2014, 2:00 - 3:00 PMET
y
y
March 18, 2015, 2:00 - 3:00 PMET
y
y
June 17, 2015, 2:00 - 3:00 PMET
y
y
September 16, 2015, 2:00 - 3:00 PMET
The December 10 web seminar will feature discussion of recent de-
velopments under federal law that give clean water utilities greater
protections for security vulnerability assessments, and will include
an examination of evolving legal issues under the Combined Sewer
Overflow Control Policy impacting municipal utilities. Topics for fu-
ture webinars will be announced closer to the event dates. Be sure and
mark your calendars now for these exciting offerings, and keep an eye
on your email inbox and on NACWA’s homepage for more information
about registration.
Legal Hot Topics Web Seminars Return
