» Clean Water Current Archive

December 14, 2012

NACWA, Key Groups Urge Feds to Protect Tax Exempt Bond Status during Fiscal Cliff Talks and Beyond

With the federal government now focused on measures to raise revenue to avoid the fiscal cliff and comprehensive tax reform poised to be a major issue for the 113th Congress, there is a renewed focus on the possibility of eliminating tax exempt status for municipal bonds.  A growing array of organizations in Washington, DC, are becoming increasingly vocal in demanding that Congress and the Administration maintain tax exempt status, which has existed since the enactment of the federal income Tax Code in 1913. NACWA has added its voice to an increasing chorus of concerned groups, including the Government Financing Officers Association, the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Governors Association and other key state and municipal organizations, urging policymakers to “do no harm” to this essential infrastructure financing tool.

NACWA believes that Hurricane Sandy (see related story) serves as a stark reminder regarding the role of tax-exempt financing in not only rebuilding damaged infrastructure but also in ensuring its resiliency going forward.  Making it more difficult and costly to issue municipal bonds would cause public utilities —  and their ratepayers  —  to get less of a bang for their investment buck while also limiting local job creation and economic expansion at precisely the wrong time.  NACWA will be sending a strong letter regarding this issue to the Hill next week and will be urging its members to do the same throughout the fiscal cliff and ongoing budget and tax reform discussions.  If you have any questions regarding this issue please contact Adam Krantz at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

NACWA Urges Feds to Provide Funds for Clean Water in Hurricane Sandy Relief Package; Encourages All NACWA Members to Contact Congress

NACWA sent a letter this week to Congress urging them to include in an emergency appropriations package sufficient funds to help repair the municipal wastewater treatment plants impacted by Hurricane Sandy.  The letter supports the President’s request of $60.4 billion in emergency aid, $600 million of which would go to the affected region’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds to help utilities build resiliency to confront future extreme weather events.  While much of the damage from Hurricane Sandy was unavoidable, the storm serves as a painful reminder that the country’s wastewater infrastructure is in dire need of upgrade and repair; a message that NACWA is seeking to ensure reaches all members of Congress.

NACWA is urging all of its utility members to reach out to their U.S. Representatives and Senators to further emphasize the need for this recovery funding and additional, national measures that would help improve utility resiliency in the face of climate change and extreme weather.  The Water System Resiliency and Sustainability Act is one example of federal legislation that would target assistance to water and wastewater utility resiliency efforts and NACWA encourages you to request that your Members of Congress co-sponsor this important bill if they have not yet done so. Please contact Hannah Mellman at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have any questions or if you have any feedback from your Members of Congress regarding this issue.

NACWA Provides Input to EPA on Key Elements Being Considered as Part of Stormwater Rule

NACWA submitted a letter to EPA this week to provide additional input as the Agency moves into the final development process for a new national post-construction stormwater rule.  The letter provides a summary of NACWA’s current thinking regarding the anticipated rulemaking, including comments on some key elements under consideration for inclusion in the rule such as stormwater retention performance standards for new development and redevelopment projects, expansion of federal regulatory stormwater jurisdiction, and retrofits for areas of existing impervious surface.  The letter summarizes many of the comments and suggestions NACWA has already made to EPA over the last two years during the rulemaking process, such as expressing deep concern over the potential inclusion of a retrofit requirement as part of the rule proposal.  But the letter is also supportive of some suggestions made by EPA last month in a meeting with NACWA and other groups (see Nov. 9 Clean Water Current for more information) about possible flexibilities in the rule, including the option of delayed implementation to allow a “phase in” period for communities to adopt  the necessary codes and ordinances for on-site stormwater retention.

EPA is currently working towards a June 2013 deadline to release a draft version of the rule proposal for public comment.  In order to meet that deadline, the Agency will likely need to complete its internal work on the rule by late February or early March so that the proposal can begin the interagency review process at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  The next few months will be a critical time for EPA to finalize the proposal, and NACWA’s letter is timely and meant to inform the Agency as it enters this critical final phase.  NACWA will continue to advocate with EPA on this important regulatory effort and will keep the membership updated on developments.  Additional information on the Association’s stormwater advocacy is also available on the Stormwater Management section of NACWA’s website.

NACWA Meets with EPA Office of Water Leadership to Discuss Key Agenda Items

NACWA met last Friday and again this week with Nancy Stoner, EPA’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Water, to discuss a variety of key advocacy-related items our members are focused on including integrated planning, the water resources utility of the future initiative, outreach to the agricultural community, and proposals to deal with wet weather challenges.  A number of EPA representatives attended the December 7 meeting including Ken Kopocis, Special Advisor to EPA and pending nominee for Assistant Administrator for Water.  NACWA discussed the Association’s efforts to convene workshops across the country on EPA’s integrated planning framework, which will bring together state and federal clean water officials with local utility managers to help interested utilities answer questions regarding how to craft an integrated plan.  Also on the agenda was NACWA’s utility of the future effort and ways in which this effort can complement EPA’s work on effective utility management and sustainable infrastructure initiatives.  In addition, NACWA reviewed the conceptual framework for a legislative proposal to help wastewater utilities better manage wet weather flows and discussed a recent dialogue that NACWA’s Executive Director Ken Kirk and EPA’s Ken Kopocis participated in and which was convened by the U.S. Water Alliance to discuss how to reduce point and nonpoint nutrient pollution in the Mississippi River Basin.

During another meeting with Stoner, Kopocis and other key Office of Water staff on Thursday, NACWA along with several other municipal water sector groups discussed a range of issues including integrated planning, stormwater, and the state revolving loan fund programs.  During the meeting EPA provided a brief update on its discussions with the U.S. Conference of Mayors on affordability issues.  While EPA has no immediate plans to update its 1997 guidance on affordability, EPA indicated that it is working to identify key issues relating to assessing a community’s financial capability that it might develop additional guidance on in the near future.

EPA Set to Issue Response to NRDC Secondary Treatment Petition Today

NACWA has confirmed that EPA will release its response to the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) 2007 petition to modify the secondary treatment regulations to include limits for nitrogen and phosphorus today.  At press time EPA had not yet made its response public and NACWA will post the response on its website as soon as it receives a copy.  As NACWA’s most recent letter on the petition outlined, EPA has a strong case to deny the petition outright.  However, NACWA believes that EPA will likely grant a portion of the petition – relating to EPA’s duty to publish information on the capabilities of secondary treatment from time to time – and deny the portion of the petition that requested EPA regulate nitrogen and phosphorus as a part of secondary treatment.  EPA’s response to the petition could likely spark a legal battle on this issue and NACWA will provide the membership with any updates as they become available

Deadline Approaching: Public Agency Members Asked to Complete the 2012 NACWA Index Survey by Next Friday, Dec. 21

Last month, NACWA sent out the 2012 NACWA Index Survey to all public agency members requesting responses by next Friday, December 21.  NACWA has published the Index annually since 1992 to track increases in the average annual single-family residential service charge measured against the rate of inflation and it has been a cornerstone of NACWA’s advocacy efforts ever since.  The results of the survey will be distributed to the membership in April 2013.

NACWA encourages all public agency members to participate and complete the survey by next Friday, December 21. An individualized one-page questionnaire, which should take less than 15 minutes to complete, was emailed to each NACWA public agency member’s primary contact. The survey can be completed online (http://www.cleanwatercentral.org/logon.asp) or via hard copy. For more information on the survey and directions to submit your response, please see the November Member Update.

Meeting Summary from EPA Sustainability Workshop Now Available

EPA has released the summary from a workshop it held in September to discuss water utility sustainability.  Representatives from the major water sector organizations, including NACWA, the American Public Works Association (APWA), the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), and the Water Environment Federation (WEF), along with state water regulators and infrastructure financing experts participated in the day and a half-long meeting.  EPA organized the forum to discuss ongoing sustainability efforts, identify any gaps in information or resources, and consider potential next steps for maintaining the current momentum among water sector utilities on sustainability.

EPA has had an interest in sustainable utilities for years and was a driving force behind the effort that led to the Effective Utility Management (EUM) attributes and keys to management success, which were developed collaboratively by representatives from the six leading water sector organizations in 2007. During the September 25-26 meeting, EPA reiterated that its continued activity in this area is intended to provide information on the benefits of sustainability, without a top-down federal push for utilities to adopt these practices. The Agency understands that continued progress is dependent on the ongoing engagement of the water sector organizations and convened the meeting in an effort to maintain momentum now that the EUM effort is more than five years old.

EPA is now formulating its plans for responding to the suggestions made during the workshop and NACWA will keep the membership informed of any activity in this area.