Clean Water Current Archive

December 12, 2008

NACWA Continues to Ramp Up Efforts in Support of Stimulus Funding

NACWA's ongoing efforts to build support for the inclusion of $10 billion in grants for ready-to-go wastewater infrastructure projects in the economic recovery package received a boost Dec. 11 when Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, said grants would be the most effective form of financing water and wastewater infrastructure projects.  Dicks, whose subcommittee has jurisdiction over the EPA budget and the clean water state revolving fund (CWSRF), made his comments at a House Appropriations Committee Hearing on the economic recovery package after NACWA had met with his staff.  NACWA also had a positive meeting this week with key Transportation & Infrastructure Committee staff who remain supportive of a significant wastewater infrastructure funding component in the House stimulus bill.  The Association is also meeting with numerous  congressional staff and representatives from other organizations to urge support for NACWA’s position on the stimulus package.  To justify its request for $10 billion in grant funding, NACWA has generated a list of more than $9 billion in ready-to-go projects submitted by public clean water agencies across the country.  Because it seems likely that the CWSRF will be the mechanism used to distribute stimulus package funding, NACWA continues to urge its public member agencies to take the steps necessary to get their projects on the CWSRF priority lists and intended use plans.  Also, it is imperative that members contact their congressional representatives in support of stimulus funding and share their lists of local, ready-to-go wastewater infrastructure projects with them.

NACWA is also continuing to support a 15-percent set aside for green infrastructure projects in the stimulus package.  These include projects that optimize water conservation and reuse; incorporate low-impact, stormwater management techniques that preserve, restore or mimic natural hydrology; and advance energy capture and reuse.  NACWA has identified more than $1 billion in ready-to-go green infrastructure projects.  The Association continues to seek additional member input both for traditional, as well as its green infrastructure, ready-to-go (within 120 days) projects lists.  Members can contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by email or at (202) 833-4655 for more information or to submit project lists.

Deadline for 2008 NACWA Index Survey is Dec. 19, Complete Online Today

The deadline for completing the survey for the 2008 NACWA Index is next Friday, Dec. 19.  The NACWA Index has been published annually since 1992 to track average residential service charge increases and how they compare to inflation.  This is the only source for this type of information and is used by wastewater agencies and a wide variety of policymakers and experts as a key indicator of the rising costs associated with meeting the nation’s clean water needs.  The Index survey results, which will be distributed to members in March 2009, will compare national service charge changes on an annual basis since the mid 1980s and provide a look to the predicted service charges and rate increases nationwide over the next five years. 

The one-page Index survey takes only a few minutes to complete either online at www.cleanwatercentral.org or through the custom survey form which was forwarded to member agencies on October 31 as Member Update 08-17.  The survey requests the average annual single-family residential sewer service charge and service population of each NACWA utility respondent, as well as information on future rate changes.  The more responses NACWA receives the more representative the Index is of the wastewater treatment community as a whole, so we ask that you please complete your survey by Dec. 19.  Please contact NACWA’s Chris Hornback at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information about the survey or to receive a copy of your agency’s customized form.

NACWA, Fellow Environmental Groupss Discuss Potential Collaboration

NACWA met with representatives from American Rivers, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Clean Water Action this week for a broad-ranging discussion on potential areas for collaboration in preparation for the incoming Obama administration and the 111th Congress.  Several key initiatives that were very active last year will be again be prominent, including legislation on sewer overflow monitoring and notification, reauthorization of the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act, and on Clean Water Act jurisdiction.  NACWA’s efforts to improve these pieces of legislation last year have put the association in a good position to be able to work with the activist community on these issues as they get taken up by Congress in 2009.  NRDC remains interested in finalizing the proposed blending guidance based on an agreement negotiated with NACWA and also wants to work with the Association on moving once again toward a comprehensive policy for sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). 

The issue of nutrients remains contentious, given NRDC’s petition to have EPA set secondary treatment standards for nutrients and NACWA’s documented concerns with this approach.  Both groups, however, agreed this was a major issue that required consistent dialogue moving forward.  There was also broad agreement that wastewater treatment needed to be accounted for in climate change legislation, including increasing funds for adaptation efforts as well as research and development.  Additionally, these groups and NACWA will be working closely together on ensuring that wastewater infrastructure projects, including green infrastructure projects, are a significant component of the stimulus package.  NACWA will continue meeting with these groups on a regular basis to ensure that the clean water community’s concerns are advanced.

NACWA Reaches Out to Waxman on Climate Change, Chemical Security Issues

NACWA sent a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) this week congratulating him on his selection as incoming chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and outlining the Association’s major concerns regarding two issues in which the committee will have a leading role — climate change and chemical security.  The letter said the Association is eager to work with Waxman, his staff, and the 111th Congress to address the issues.  NACWA reiterated its belief that climate change is “fundamentally a water resource management issue with potentially severe consequences if not addressed in a science-based, common-sense manner” and outlined the association’s efforts to date to address this challenge.  The letter also pointed out that NACWA has been working with the House Homeland Security and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees on legislation to reauthorize the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Act, whose provisions will expire in October 2009.  “While we fully understand the need to ensure the strongest protections possible for chemical facilities and the communities near them, we continue to believe that public wastewater treatment agencies should not be included in the same regulatory regime as for-profit chemical manufacturers,” the letter said.  NACWA will set up meetings with the committee to address these important issues in the 111th Congress.

NACWA Web Seminar Focuses on Economic Downturn

More than 150 member representatives logged onto NACWA’s web seminar Thursday on the effects of the economy on the nation’s clean water utilities.  NACWA President Marian Orfeo, director of planning & coordination for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority in Boston moderated, The Economic Downturn – Impacts & Opportunities, which focused on the impacts and potential opportunities for nation’s clean water agencies resulting from the ongoing economic downturn.  The featured speakers were two municipal finance experts, John Friar, executive professor of entrepreneurship at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., and Tom Paolicelli, executive director for the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority, N.Y.  Friar discussed his research on the economic downturn citing data from a recent NACWA survey that many municipalities are finding difficult to refinance existing projects and are delaying capital improvement projects as well as hiring new employees.  He also noted with many building projects on hold municipal building projects may reap the benefits of the economic downturn. John is working with NACWA on a white paper on his survey findings.  Tom Paolicelli discussed how New York City is coping with the downturn, acknowledging that “. . . the disconnect between the treasury and the municipal market is huge.”  Paolicelli also survey the web seminar participants on how agencies plan to pay for capital projects and their needs to access to the bond market in 2009.  Forty-one percent of those responding reported that they would need to access revenue bonds in 2009 for capital projects.

NACWA’s 2009 Winter Conference, Controlling Chaos: Managing Capital Costs in an Uncertain Economic Environment, scheduled for Feb. 3 - 6, 2009, at the Westin Buckhead Atlanta in Atlanta, Ga. will build upon the web seminar discussion.  The conference will explore the drivers requiring clean water agencies to reprioritize capital spending and examine the factors critical in improving the efficiency of current spending.  Registration and the conference agenda are available online at www.nacwa.org.

Make your plans to attend today!  Online registration is now available.  Be sure to reserve your hotel room today by contacting the Westin Buckhead Atlanta at 404.365.0065 to guarantee the special conference rate of $209 single/double. Watch your mail and visit NACWA’s website, for the most up-to-date information on the 2009 Winter Conference.