Clean Water Current Archive

July 11, 2008

NACWA Provides Input to GAO on Trust Fund Revenue Sources

NACWA met this week with Government Accountability Office (GAO) staff, who are working on a report to identify viable revenue sources to support a $10 billion per year clean water trust fund.  Reps. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chair of the House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee; Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), chair of the T&I’s Subcommittee on Water Resources & the Environment; and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), member of the House Ways and Means Committee requested the report and directed GAO to complete it by Jan. 15, 2009.  The T&I Committee intends to introduce trust fund legislation in the House soon after.

GAO had only met with key Hill staff and the EPA before meeting with NACWA, which shared the various studies on revenue sources it produced through its Clean Water Funding Task Force.  GAO’s staff were particularly interested in the six revenue sources that have been identified by Blumenauer in trust fund legislation that he has been drafting with help from NACWA and the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN).   NACWA emphasized the importance of finding revenue sources that are fair, equitable, and firewalled and pointed out that municipalities currently bear about 95 percent of the water infrastructure funding load.  NACWA will be providing the GAO staff with a list of recommended organizations, as well as NACWA public agency members, to contact as they continue to gather information for the report.   Based on this initial conversation, NACWA is confident that the GAO will produce a detailed, timely, and serious report that will help inform overall trust fund advocacy efforts.

NACWA Files Brief in U.S. Supreme Court on Use of Offset Analyses in Permitting

NACWA filed a brief July 3 urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review an October 2007 appeals court decision prohibiting the use of offset analyses by EPA and state permitting authorities when issuing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for new dischargers to impaired waters.  In the brief, filed jointly with the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) and the California League of Cities, NACWA outlines the serious public policy concerns raised in the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Carlota Copper v. Friends of Pinto Creek, an important case involving permits for discharges to impaired water bodies.  Specifically, the Ninth Circuit’s decision may amount to a de facto prohibition on the construction of new wastewater treatment facilities discharging to impaired waters and result in potential complications with water quality trading programs.  Additionally, the brief points out that the lower court ruling directly conflicts with Cities of Annandale and Maple Lakes, a 2007 decision from the Supreme Court of Minnesota upholding the use of an offset analysis in permitting determinations in which NACWA was a participant.  The Supreme Court will decide whether to accept review of the case in the coming months.  NACWA will continue to track the litigation and report on any developments.

NACWA Urges Senate Appropriations Committee to Increase Funds for SRF

NACWA and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) sent a letter July 7 to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Environment (EPA budget), urging increased funding for the clean water state revolving fund (CWSRF) in the EPA fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget.  Specifically, the letter requested that, at a minimum, the Senate fund the CWSRF at the $850 million level approved by the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee on June 11.  This would represent an increase of nearly $300 million from President Bush’s request of $555 million for FY 2009.  The FY 2008 budget for the CWSRF was $689 million.

The full House Appropriations Committee markup has been delayed, however, because of three GOP amendments aimed at expanding domestic energy production by opening up Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska for oil drilling, allowing for exploration of oil shale, and opening up U.S. waters to offshore oil drilling.  Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, called the attempt a “cheap, political stunt,” and is now threatening to shut down the entire appropriations process and instead move to one mega-omnibus appropriations bill to be moved early next year after President Bush leaves office.  If Congress chooses this option, a continuing resolution will have to be passed to ensure the government continues to operate in the interim.  The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Environment has not yet scheduled its markup, but NACWA will keep membership posted as we learn more.  The Association will continue to urge members on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to restore the CWSRF to its historical funding level of $1.35 billion in FY 2009.

NACWA, Coalition to Comment on Draft Regulations for Key Farm Bill Program

NACWA is reviewing and plans to comment on draft regulations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that would implement the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP), created in the recently enacted 2008 Farm Bill.  The draft is being circulated for comment among various stakeholder groups.  NACWA participated in a conference call this week with the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) to discuss the draft and submit a letter signed by the water sector groups supporting the program, but seeking clarification on a number of issues.  The water sector groups want to ensure that the regulations specifically identify water and wastewater organizations as partners eligible to enter into an agreement with USDA to implement an AWEP project.  Under the current draft, the term “partner” includes “a unit of state or local government” as well as “a water district or water agency.”  In addition, the groups want to ensure that the list of eligible activities under the program include things of importance to the water sector, such as manure management.  NACWA and the other groups also plan to sign on to a draft letter being sent by conservation organizations supporting the program and highlighting ways to improve the draft regulation.  NACWA will continue to work closely with its partner organizations in the development of this important program and welcomes comments from its public agency members on the draft regulation.  Please direct comments or questions to Susie Bruninga 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 .

NACWA wishes a safe trip for everyone traveling to Anchorage for next week’s 2008 Summer Conference & 38th Annual Meeting!