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The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) is pleased to provide you with the August-September 2011 Regulatory Update.  This Update provides a narrative summary of relevant regulatory issues and actions current to the end of September 2011.  Please contact NACWA’s Chris Hornback at 202/833-9106 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Cynthia Finley at 202/296-9836 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions or information on the Update topics.

Top Stories

NACWA Meets with EPA Administrator's Top Policy Advisors on Money Matters™ Campaign, Integrated Permitting

NACWA met September 12 with three of EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson's top political and policy advisors to discuss next steps for moving forward toward a viable approach to integrated Clean Water Act (CWA) permitting and regulatory prioritization pursuant to the Association's Money Matters…Smarter Investment to Advance Clean Water™ campaign.  NACWA's discussion was led by George Hawkins, General Manager of DC Water and Chair of the Association's Money Matters Task Force.  EPA was represented by Arvin Ganesan, Associate Administrator of the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations;  Bicky Corman, Deputy Associate Administrator for the Office of Policy; and Sarah Hospodor-Pallone, Deputy Associate Administrator for the Office of Intergovernmental Relations.

The meeting exemplifies the type of high-level attention NACWA's effort is receiving and receptiveness to infusing some flexibility and viable compliance schedule prioritization into the CWA.  The effort is also benefitting from the growing pressure on the Administration from several groups, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA, formerly ASIWPCA), to help struggling cities and states facing an ever-expanding and costly regulatory regime.  George Hawkins provided an excellent example from his own utility, which is dealing with a sewer overflow consent decree, Chesapeake Bay nutrient control, and aging infrastructure that demands ramped up investment, among other issues.  NACWA also shared its September 9 letter , which followed up on an August 30 discussion with EPA water and enforcement office staff, outlining its recommendations to EPA for immediate next steps on this effort.

The meeting ended with the promise from EPA to bring the issue directly and promptly to Administrator Lisa Jackson for a discussion on next steps and to get back to NACWA quickly.  In addition, Acting Assistant Administrator for Water Nancy Stoner will be having an initial informal discussion with several NACWA public agency leaders on what an integrated permit would look like when they gather for the Clean Water America Alliance's Urban Water Sustainability Leadership Summit in Milwaukee on October 3.

Money Matters Task Force Meets, Encourages NACWA to Pursue Legislation

NACWA’s Money Matters Task Force also held a conference call September 22 to discuss these recent developments from EPA. At the heart of this discussion was a September 20, 2011 letter from EPA to the U.S. Conference of Mayors committing the Agency to explore integrated CWA permitting approaches. In line with previous discussions between NACWA and the Agency, letter states that “EPA will increase its efforts to work with you and other stakeholders to identify municipal leaders that are committed to developing and implementing timely and effective integrated plans that may serve as a model for the future,” adding that the Agency looks forward to discussing “opportunities for comprehensive plans that allow municipalities to address all of their CWA requirements with effective and affordable solutions.” NACWA has also learned that EPA will be forwarding a memo to its Regional Offices in the near future stating that it is pursuing this effort; however, the details of the substance of this memo are unclear at this time.

The members of the Money Matters Task Force felt that the September 20 letter signaled an important willingness on the Agency’s part to consider the type of compliance schedule prioritization and holistic affordability approaches that are at the heart of the Money Matters™ campaign. At the same time, the members agreed that EPA had not yet provided any specific objectives or hard deadlines for action – making it critical to continue with an aggressive push on behalf of our legislation. As such, NACWA will continue to pursue its goal of a bipartisan introduction in both the House and Senate before the end of the calendar year.

NACWA believes there is a unique opportunity available to make progress on this issue and will continue to pursue all legislative and regulatory avenues aggressively.  In addition to the meeting with EPA, NACWA hosted a stakeholders meeting with key municipal, state, engineering, rural, and other groups on September 12, with the majority of the groups expressing support for the effort, including the American Public Works Association, ACWA, the Water Environment Federation, the National League of Cities, and others.  NACWA will keep members informed of progress on this effort.

Biosolids Management

EPA Plans to Deny SSI Reconsideration Petition, NACWA’s Legal and Legislative Advocacy Efforts Advance

NACWA has learned that EPA is planning to deny the Association’s administrative petition for reconsideration and stay of the Agency’s final sewage sludge incineration (SSI) rule.  As a result, NACWA is shifting its legal and legislative advocacy efforts on the issue into high gear.   EPA has verbally informed NACWA that it intends to deny the Association’s late May reconsideration request regarding EPA's authority to regulate SSIs under the more stringent requirements of Clean Air Act Section 129 and the Agency's use of data from less than 12 percent of existing SSI units to develop the new emissions standards.  EPA continues to review one additional issue that NACWA raised in the petition regarding the Agency’s failure to consider variability characteristics in sewage sludge.  An answer on this outstanding issue is expected at any time.  The Agency has also verbally informed NACWA that it will not grant an administrative stay of the final SSI rule.  A formal written response from EPA outlining these denials is expected soon.

While NACWA is disappointed that EPA chose not to grant reconsideration of key elements of the final SSI rule – or to stay the rule – the Agency’s decision is not entirely unexpected.  NACWA is already hard at work on both legal and legislative advocacy efforts to push back against the rule.  These efforts will now increase in intensity given EPA’s planned refusal to grant reconsideration.  On the legal front, NACWA filed a request for a judicial stay on September 19 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, asking the court to put implementation of the rule on hold until such time as the court reviews the merits of NACWA’s lawsuit challenging the regulation.  NACWA is also ramping up its legislative efforts to secure congressional support for NACWA’s position on the SSI rule and has meetings scheduled with key Congressional offices in the coming weeks to pursue this approach.  Additional information on NACWA’s SSI advocacy is available on the Litigation Tracking section of the Association’s website.  NACWA will continue to keep the membership updated on developments with this issue.

EPA Announces Schedule for Dioxin Assessment

EPA announced at the end of August that it plans to complete the non-cancer portion of its “Reanalysis of Key Issues Related to Dioxin Toxicity and Response to NAS (National Academy of Sciences) Comments,” and post the final non-cancer assessment to the Agency’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) by the end of January 2012.  EPA has been working to update its understanding of the cancer and non-cancer impacts of dioxins for more than a decade.  The cancer portion of EPA’s re-assessment will be finalized as “quickly as possible” following the completion of the non-cancer component.  NACWA has closely tracked this effort given its potential to impact the regulation of biosolids.  EPA has previously ruled that dioxins in land-applied and incinerated biosolids do not require regulation under the Part 503 regulations.  In both cases EPA relied only on cancer-related information, finding that levels of dioxins in biosolids do not pose a risk to human health.  With potential revisions to the cancer slope factor and the addition of non-cancer effects, EPA may need to revisit its previous determinations regarding dioxins in biosolids.  In addition, EPA continues to stress in its communications that one of the major sources for dioxins in the food chain is through releases from soils and sediments, making the issue very relevant for land application.

Major concerns remain over EPA’s work on the dioxin re-assessment.  Industry groups, including the American Chemistry Council, are raising concerns regarding the age, and therefore the relevance, of the information EPA is reviewing, noting that the bulk of the analysis was done nearly a decade ago.  EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) has spent the past year reviewing EPA’s reanalysis document as a result of this ongoing criticism.  The SAB’s August 2011 report found that EPA had addressed many of the issues raised by the NAS when it reviewed the original re-assessment from 2003, but a top issue remaining is EPA’s assumption that dioxin toxicity is linear – that there can be toxic effects at any concentration of dioxin down to zero.  Other experts have pointed to new evidence suggesting that dioxin toxicity may not be linear, which could have a major impact on EPA’s ultimate findings.

At this point there are no immediate actions planned related to biosolids, but NACWA will continue to track EPA’s efforts to evaluate what if any impacts there may be for biosolids in the future.

Climate Change

NACWA, Water Associations Discuss Climate Change and Water Initiatives

NACWA met on September 15 with other water sector associations, including the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the American Water Works Association (AWWA), and the Water Research Foundation (WRF), to discuss current legislative and EPA activities related to climate change and water.  The associations talked about the strategy for continuing to support the Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act of 2011 (H.R. 2738), introduced by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.).  NACWA and other organizations sent a joint letter of support for the legislation, which would establish a grant program through EPA for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater management agencies to increase resiliency or adaptability of their operations and infrastructure.  A Capitol Hill briefing on climate change adaptation challenges to the water sector is being planned by NACWA and other associations for later this year or early 2012.  The associations also discussed EPA’s Climate Ready Water Utilities initiative and the tools for utilities that are being developed as a part of this initiative.  EPA provided an overview of the Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT) to the associations on September 16, and the associations offered their feedback to EPA on the material presented.  The associations meet periodically to review their climate change efforts and find areas of collaboration.  The next meeting will be a discussion with David Travers, Director of EPA’s Water Security Division in the Office of Water, on EPA’s climate change priorities.  NACWA will inform members of the results of this meeting, which will likely be held in November, and keep members updated on any legislative or regulatory developments regarding climate change.

NACWA Seeks Additional Guidance from EPA on Status of Digester Gas

NACWA, the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA), and the California Wastewater Climate Change Group (CWCCG) met August 18 with EPA staff to discuss the potential impacts of a new EPA rule on the clean water community’s management of digester gas.  The regulatory status of digester gas generated during the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge was called into question by the final Identification of Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials that Are Solid Waste (76 Fed. Reg. 15456) rule, published March 21, 2011.  The rule, which became effective on May 20, was developed to assist EPA in the drafting of a series of Clean Air Act (CAA) rules for incinerators and boilers and defines as a solid waste any sewage sludge or biosolids that is combusted.  While the most obvious impact of this new definition is on the regulatory status of SSIs, it has also created confusion over the regulatory status of digester gas.  The Agency’s final solid waste definition rule and supporting background material suggest that these gaseous fuels derived from a solid waste (i.e., sewage sludge under EPA’s new definition), would themselves be considered solid wastes.  If these gaseous fuels are designated as solid wastes, any combustion of the materials, including burning for energy recovery or flaring, would be subject to the regulations for commercial and industrial solid waste incineration (CISWI) units or similar regulations on solid waste incineration.

During the meeting EPA confirmed what it had said in a May 13, 2011 policy letter – that the Agency has not changed its previous interpretations and that it did not intend to include these gases under its solid waste rules.  The May 13, 2011 clarification letter was sent to the American Forest and Paper Association and did not specifically mention digester gas.  NACWA, CASA, and CWCCG have requested written clarification that will specifically address wastewater digester gas and have begun working with EPA staff to collect the information needed to prepare the clarification letter.  NACWA Advocacy Alert 11-16 provides extensive background on this issue.  As EPA works to develop guidance targeted towards digester gas, NACWA is recommending to members that generate and burn digester gas in any manner to obtain a copy of the May 13, 2011 letter and maintain it in their files should the regulatory status of their gas operations be called into question.

NACWA also learned during the meeting that EPA is working on several other guidance documents relating to the solid waste definition rule.  EPA is nearing completion of a draft guidance on how comparisons should be made between contaminant levels in secondary material fuels (like biosolids) and traditional fuels when determining whether a particular secondary material meets EPA’s legitimate fuel criteria.  NACWA has requested an opportunity to review and comment on that draft as soon as possible.  In addition, EPA is working on further guidance regarding the petition process it established for stakeholders to get non-waste determinations from their EPA Regional Administrators.  More details on these aspects of the solid waste definition rule are available in Advocacy Alert 11-12.

Concurrent with this effort to seek additional guidance from EPA on the new rule, NACWA is working to address the more fundamental flaws in the rule through a comprehensive legal challenge to the entire definition rule.

Emerging Contaminants

NACWA Comments on EPA’s Proposal on Nanoscale Materials in Pesticide Products

NACWA filed comments on EPA’s proposed policy for addressing nanoscale materials in pesticide products, recommending that the Agency require manufacturers of these products to generate all necessary data for a complete evaluation of environmental effects.  NACWA continues to be concerned that the increasing use of nanoscale materials may have adverse impacts on the wastewater treatment process and the environment.  As stated in the comments, “The potential costs and additional taxpayer burden of mitigating these impacts could be significantly greater than the costs of generating data prior to registration of products containing nanoparticles.”  NACWA recommended that EPA use the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act’s (FIFRA) section 3(c)(2)(B) approach which uses Data Call-In notices (DCIs) to obtain information from manufactures.  This approach would allow EPA to require that manufactures of products containing nanomaterials generate all of the new data required to ensure that the environmental impacts of the nanomaterials are fully understood.  NACWA also recommended prioritizing data-gathering for products containing types of nanoscale materials that have already been shown to potentially harm wastewater treatment, such as nanosilver and nanocopper.  EPA would prefer to use section 6(a)(2) of FIFRA but this approach would only require manufacturers to submit data that they have already voluntarily generated.  NACWA argued that this approach would not allow EPA to require sufficient data to evaluate environmental risks.  NACWA will keep members informed of developments on this proposed policy as they occur.

Facilities and Collection Systems

NACWA to Help Coordinate Next Steps toward a Comprehensive SSO Rule

Building on the areas of agreement that were expressed by the stakeholder groups at the July 14-15 EPA workshop on SSOs, NACWA is planning to continue discussions with these groups on components of a potential SSO rule.  During an August 10 meeting with NACWA and other groups representing municipal interests, Jim Hanlon, Director of EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management, reiterated EPA’s commitment to moving forward with a comprehensive SSO rule.  Hanlon stated that he “personally would like to add clarity to these issues” and that the utility community “deserves answers” on how to proceed with the management of SSOs and peak wet weather flows.  EPA is still preparing a summary of the workshop discussion and plans to release it soon.  NACWA is continuing discussions with the other workshop participants, which EPA has encouraged, to develop further agreement on the issues involved with an SSO rule and to develop an outline of a path forward for a rule.  After EPA releases its summary of the workshop, NACWA will work with EPA to determine the areas that the Agency believes are critical for the stakeholder groups’ focus.

NACWA’s goal of obtaining a comprehensive SSO rule gathered additional momentum as key national, state, and municipal officials gathered at the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators’ (ASIWPCA) 2011 Annual Meeting and 50th Anniversary Celebration, which included an informative panel on SSO issues. Dave Williams, NACWA President and Director of Wastewater for the East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland, California, was joined by EPA’s Jim Hanlon, Director of the Office of Wastewater Management, and key officials from the State regulatory agencies in Oklahoma, Utah, and North Carolina.  There was significant support from the State representatives on the panel, and a broader array of State representatives at the meeting, for EPA moving forward with an SSO rule.  With some States already implementing their own SSO policies and others in the midst of developing SSO programs, it was clear that a consistent approach from EPA would be helpful to them with the caveat that such a rule recognize the work being done by these States.

NACWA also provided Ken Kopocis, the Administration’s nominee for EPA Assistant Administrator for Water, with documents outlining the Association’s position on a comprehensive SSO rule and expressed the desire to work with him on this critical issue once he is confirmed.  The Senate Environment and Public Work Committee approved the nomination on September 21, and Kopocis is now awaiting a confirmation vote in the full Senate.

Nutrients

NACWA, State/Regional Groups Highlight Concerns Regarding Numeric Nutrient Criteria

NACWA led an effort to encourage key state and regional organizations representing the clean water community to sign on to a letter that was sent on August 2 to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson regarding numeric nutrient criteria.  The letter was signed by NACWA, the Water Environment Federation (WEF), and 25 state/regional organizations.  It affirms the municipal clean water community’s dedication to addressing nutrient-related impacts, while underscoring key concerns with EPA's current approach for developing numeric water quality criteria.

While other groups have raised similar concerns, NACWA believes that this letter demonstrates the unified voice of the municipal clean water community at a critical juncture in national nutrient policy.  The clean water community continues to be the only major source of nutrients held accountable for its contributions in most parts of the country and has already invested billions of dollars of ratepayer money to address this critical water quality challenge.  While clean water agencies are committed to doing their fair share, there must be greater certainty as to the water quality outcomes from the tens of billions of dollars in additional investment that may be needed nationwide.   The letter notes that it is critical that EPA “enable the States to develop meaningful water quality goals…to help ensure that nutrient loading reductions are both cost-effective and sustainable and the investments municipalities make have a real and significant impact on water quality while maximizing overall environmental benefit.”  The letter also recommends that EPA “accept approaches that do not fit within its current mold for developing water quality criteria.”

EPA’s continued insistence that States develop independently applied numeric criteria for both nitrogen and phosphorus for all waters is hindering progress and the letter urges the Agency to embrace and support the many innovative approaches being explored by the States.  While recent policy statements from EPA, including a March 16 memorandum outlining a nutrient control framework, suggest that States will have the lead on nutrient-related issues, the Agency has continued to insist that States must eventually develop numeric criteria for nitrogen and phosphorus for all waters.  States have begun to explore the use of a “weight of evidence” approach to evaluate more than just the concentrations of nitrogen or phosphorus before determining if a water body is impaired.  Nutrient control programs in the Chesapeake Bay and in Kansas, for example, operate without numeric criteria values for nitrogen and phosphorus and the municipal community, a broad group of stakeholders from all industry sectors, and state regulators are encouraging EPA to embrace these workable, alternative approaches.

Regulatory Prioritization

EPA’s Final Regulatory Review Plan Adds Momentum to Money Matters™ Campaign

EPA released its final regulatory review plan , in line with President Obama’s federal government-wide charge to ensure that regulatory requirements were being implemented cost-effectively and without unduly burdening the Nation’s struggling economy.  EPA’s 60-page final plan, Improving Our Regulations: Final Plan for Periodic Retrospective Reviews of Existing Regulations, maps out the Agency’s next steps in implementing the objectives of its review and contains some significant changes to the original draft, reflecting NACWA’s recommendations in its comments on the draft.  Most significant are statements made by EPA that point to a serious commitment on the Agency’s part to develop a workable approach to regulatory prioritization in line with NACWA’s Money Matters . . . Smarter Investment to Advance Clean Water™ campaign.  The section below is an excerpt from the key section of the report that discusses integrated wet weather permitting as well as across-the-board CWA regulatory prioritization:

2.1.10 ** Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) and integrated planning for wet weather infrastructure investments: providing flexibilities
Next steps: In fall 2011, EPA intends to initiate a process to conduct additional outreach with respect to how to improve the implementation of the CSO Policy.  In particular, EPA intends to support and encourage the use of green infrastructure as part of an integrated approach to reduce stormwater flows in the CSO system and develop an approach for prioritizing wet weather investments into integrated permitting or other vehicles with accountability. In addition, EPA intends to consider approaches that allow municipalities to evaluate all of their CWA requirements and develop comprehensive plans to meet these requirements. (Emphasis Added)

It is important to note that this language was not part of EPA’s original draft plan, but was incorporated because of a strong comment effort by NACWA and its members, including New York City and Chicago , and other key municipal stakeholders – including the U.S. Conference of Mayors – advocating on behalf of this issue.

The final regulatory review plan also addresses other key areas, including working toward a sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) rule, a study to better understand the cumulative costs associated with EPA’s regulatory program, and the review of requirements that are aimed at some individual NACWA members.  NACWA’s Advocacy Alert 11-20 provides a more detailed analysis of the final regulatory review plan.  The Association continues to hold discussions with EPA on this issue and will keep the membership informed with any updates (see first article on Money Matters™ under Top Stories).

Security and Emergency Preparedness

Water Sector Coordinating Council Discusses Future of Utility Security

The Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) held a web-based meeting on August 24 to discuss the future of security, resiliency, and emergency preparedness for drinking water and wastewater utilities.  NACWA’s representatives to the WSCC, Patty Cleveland, Assistant Regional Manager with the Trinity River Authority, Texas and a NACWA Board member, and Jim Davidson, Manager of Safety & Security with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Ohio, participated in the meeting.  Topics of discussion included the recent work of a Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC) Workgroup that examined the new Risk and Resilience Management of Water and Wastewater Systems standard that has been approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and how the Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool (VSAT), RAM-W, and SEMS tools could be updated to help utilities comply with this standard.  Jorge Monserrate of San Antonio Water Systems in Texas was the NACWA representative on this workgroup.  The WSCC also discussed a proposal by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to collect more information about the current state of security at water utilities.  The WSCC will meet again on October 26-27, and the Government Coordinating Council (GCC) will join a portion of this meeting.

NACWA’s Security & Emergency Preparedness Committee Meets to Discuss Current State of Water Sector

NACWA’s Security & Emergency Preparedness Committee conducted a web-based meeting on September 22 to discuss the progress made by the water sector in the ten years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.  The meeting featured several guest presenters, beginning with Kevin Morley of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), who discussed the ANSI J-100-10 Standard for Risk and Resilience Management of Water and Wastewater Systems that AWWA helped to develop, along with input from several NACWA Members.  Curt Baranowski from EPA’s Water Security Division then gave a presentation on the Agency’s consideration of potential upgrades to VSAT and other vulnerability assessment tools based on the J-100-10 standard.  EPA is also developing the Water Health and Economic Analysis Tool (WHEAT) for wastewater utilities, including pilot testing at two NACWA member agencies.  An update on the current status of Water and Wastewater Agency Response Networks (WARNSs) was given by John Whitler, also of EPA’s Water Security Division.

A case study provided by Michael Hornbrook, Chief Operating Officer of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) and a NACWA Board Member, generated significant discussion among the Committee members.  The case study, “Planning, Preparation, and Practice Payoff: When the ‘Event’ Becomes Reality,” detailed MWRA’s response to when 10-foot-diameter coupling for drinking water pipes broke last year, resulting in a three-day boil water order for 30 communities.  This event provides an excellent example of how a water utility should implement a comprehensive emergency response program that includes other agencies.

Presentations from the meeting are available on NACWA’s website.  The Security and Emergency Preparedness Committee will meet in person at NACWA’s 2012 Winter Conference, February 12-15, in Los Angeles, and will hold several web meetings throughout the year.

Stormwater Management

EPA Delays Stormwater Rule Proposal by Two Months

EPA plans to delay the release of its national post-construction stormwater rule proposal by two months, moving the deadline from September 30 to December 2.  This development comes as EPA has increasingly fallen behind schedule in drafting the complex rule and failed to complete the necessary interagency review process in advance of the September 30 promulgation date.  The original September deadline was set in a 2010 litigation settlement between EPA and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  As it became increasingly clear that EPA was significantly delayed in crafting the rule, the parties began discussions about an extension and have agreed on the new December 2 date for release of the rule proposal.  The agreement is expected to be finalized in court this week, and NACWA will post a copy of the agreement on its website when it is available.

In a related development, members of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee sent a letter on August 17 to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson expressing concerns about the forthcoming stormwater rule proposal and urging EPA to provide Congress with a required report from the Agency regarding the cost and other issues related to its stormwater program.  EPA is required to provide Congress with the report prior to release of the rule proposal, and the two month extension should provide EPA with the time it needs to forward the report to Congress before December.  NACWA will share the report with its members once it is made available.

Water Quality

NACWA Raises Concerns over EPA Recreational Criteria Efforts

NACWA wrote a letter to Ephraim King, Director of the Office of Science & Technology in EPA’s Office of Water, September 14 expressing concerns over the Agency’s current direction in its efforts to revise the national recommended criteria for recreational water quality.  The letter raises some of the same concerns the Association raised in a previous letter , but also provides feedback based on discussions at a June 2011 stakeholders' workshop during which EPA provided an initial outline of its plans to revise the criteria.

NACWA’s primary concern, as outlined in the September 14 letter, involves the timing for the release of the final criteria recommendations and the planned implementation guidance.  During the June stakeholder meeting, EPA staff indicated that the final criteria would be released before any implementation guidance was ready, perhaps even before draft implementation guidance had been released for public comment.  NACWA’s letter notes that this is “a major concern given the complexity of implementing these criteria and the added challenge of overlaying new criteria on existing programs based on the 1986 criteria.”

NACWA’s letter also sought additional details on the Agency’s current thinking on the derivation of the new criteria and how that thinking may have evolved since the June stakeholder meeting.  Another major concern is the lack of information and clarity regarding EPA’s process for conducting a peer review of its methodology.  EPA has shared no information regarding the peer reviewers, the charge questions, or what materials were provided to the peer reviewers.  NACWA asked EPA to post these materials on its website.  NACWA members participated in a September 20 webinar on the criteria and will continue to track EPA’s efforts until the criteria are released for public comment in early 2012.