Clean Water Current Archive

August 29, 2008

NACWA to Testify at Senate Environment Committee Hearing on Biosolids

Former NACWA President Christopher Westhoff, an assistant city attorney and public works general counsel for Los Angeles, will testify on behalf of the clean water community at a Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee hearing Sept. 11 on the management of biosolids.  NACWA has been working aggressively with the committee to ensure that the hearing includes a balanced panel of witnesses and to provide important information about the need for cities to have the flexibility and discretion to make biosolids management decisions based on local needs.  Westhoff will reiterate that land application is a safe and effective way to manage biosolids if done according to procedures laid out in EPA’s Part 503 rules under the Clean Water Act.  Interest in the biosolids issue picked up after several media outlets ran a series of articles by the Associated Press (AP) that contained a number of misrepresentations and inaccuracies regarding land application, many of which have since been clarified.  NACWA has also learned that Ben Grumbles, EPA assistant administrator for water, will appear on the first panel and that witnesses representing a range of interests, including land application opponents, would be on the second panel.

NACWA Encourages Members to Contact Senators and Urge Introduction of SRF Bill

NACWA has learned that the Senate EPW Committee has ramped up its work on legislation to reauthorize the drinking water and clean water state revolving loan fund (SRF) programs in the final weeks of the 110th Congress.  Although there has been talk of an early September introduction and mid-September markup, no dates have officially been set yet, and discussions are ongoing between majority and minority EPW staff.  The legislation contains $20 billion in total funding for the clean water state revolving fund (fiscal years 2008-2012); $1.35 billion in grants for sewer overflow control projects; and $50 million in grants for critical watershed restoration projects.  The draft legislation would also clarify that green infrastructure projects qualify for SRF funding and include provisions to create incentives for CWSRF applicants to use green infrastructure techniques — reflecting a letter (PDF) NACWA sent Jan. 28 to the EPW Committee urging the inclusion of these provisions.

Because the committee also has jurisdiction over drinking water, the reauthorization of the drinking water SRF will be considered simultaneously as a separate title within the legislation.  The drinking water SRF is expected to receive $15 billion over the same period with targeted grants for lead service line replacement in the District of Columbia, and for contaminant prevention, detection, and response efforts.  A stand-alone grant program would also be authorized to support research into and development of alternative technologies to improve both water quality and drinking water supply.  NACWA continues to urge its members to support the introduction of this bill as a step toward a long-term, sustainable funding solution.  The Association will continue to provide the membership with information on this legislation as it unfolds.

Head of Green Bay Sewerage District Discusses Nutrient Challenges, Increasing Mandates

Thomas Sigmund, executive director of the Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District (GBMSD), discussed a host of ongoing and emerging challenges facing his utility at a NACWA Utility Executives Perspectives Luncheon this week.  In particular, he focused on the move by state and federal regulatory agencies’ toward increasingly stringent phosphorous standards and the need for an approach that will address nonpoint, primarily agricultural, sources of pollution.  NACWA’s Utility Executive Luncheons are informal sessions  that feature a presentation by a utility executive about the specific local water quality challenges their agencies are facing and, perhaps more importantly, the innovative solutions they are using to meet those challenges. Sigmund said GBMSD is also grappling with legacy pollution issues from prior industrial activity and the challenges of determining responsibility and liability for water quality improvements.  He noted that for a medium-sized utility like Green Bay, the costs of ramped up regulatory and legal activity must be passed on to cash-strapped households who have difficulty paying the higher rates needed to address these issues.  Sigmund also offered his support for more federal funding and a trust fund with grants that can be distributed equitably.

The audience for Sigmund’s presentation included staff from a broad array of D.C.-based organizations that work closely with NACWA, including the National League of Cities, the National Association of Regional Councils, American Public Works Association, the American Society of Civil Engineers, Clean Water Action, the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, and the American Water Works Association.  These discussions offer a unique opportunity for these key organizations to learn about the important work the nation’s clean water agencies do every day and to ask basic questions that they may not feel comfortable asking in other, more formal settings.

Previous speakers have included Andrew Brunhart, then-general manager of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), and Karen Pallansch, general manager of the Alexandria Sanitation Authority in Virginia.  NACWA is pleased to have Dick Lanyon, General Superintendant of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago tentatively scheduled to provide the next luncheon address in October.  NACWA would like to schedule a Utility Executives Perspectives Luncheon approximately every two months and will be continuing this effort through 2009.  The Association is also seeking geographic diversity and looks forward to hearing from public member agency leaders interested in providing a luncheon presentation during scheduled trips to the D.C. area.  Please contact Adam Krantz at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 202/833-4651 if you would like to make a presentation at one of these events.