» Clean Water Current Archive

May 17, 2013

2012 NACWA Index Finds that Sewer Charge Increases Again Outpace Inflation

The results from NACWA’s 2012 Service Charge Index survey are now available. The Index shows that for the eleventh straight year the increase in the average cost of wastewater services for a single-family residence has outpaced the rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).  The 2011-2012 increase is, however, the lowest in more than 10 years, during which time average residential charges increased an average of 5.6 percent per year.  In 2012, the average service charge increased by only 2.8 percent, while inflation increased by 2.1 percent over the survey period, with the average single family’s annual cost for wastewater services topping $410.  Similar to last year’s results, more than 75 percent of respondents to the NACWA Index survey reported having approved or planned rate increases for 2013, averaging about 5 percent and more than half of respondents already have approved or planned rate increases for 2014 through 2016.  The results from the NACWA Index survey indicate that the national average wastewater service charge will top $500 by 2016 and approach $550 by 2017.  In addition to the national summary report, a breakdown of results by EPA Region is also now available.  These results play a vital role in NACWA’s advocacy agenda on a range of issues from affordability and regulatory prioritization to the need for a stronger federal-state-local funding/financing partnership. Thank you to all the public agency members who took the time to complete the survey.

 Farm Bill Passes Senate Committee with Key Water-Related Provisions

The Senate Agriculture Committee approved a new, five-year Farm Bill, The Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 (S. 954). This bill retained language the Healthy Waters Coalition (HWC) advocated for in the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The language ensures that nutrient management activities receive priority conservation funding. It also allows farmers that are part of a partnership agreement to receive five-year contracts and special payments for nutrient management-related activities.

Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) offered an additional amendment to S. 10 which proposes two modifications to the RCPP. The first explicitly states that municipal water and wastewater entities are eligible partners under the RCPP. The second puts partnerships that execute innovative water quality and water quantity improvement measures on equal footing with a host of other conservation-based partnerships. The amendment was adopted by the full committee and will be included in the final Senate bill, which could come for a vote as early May 20.

On Wednesday, the House Agriculture Committee followed suit and passed their Farm Bill by the same name. While the House bill currently does not contain the nutrient-management related provisions contained in the Senate bill, the HWC will be working to ensure the nutrient management language is ultimately passed into law.

 NACWA Holds Successful Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Workshop

Over 160 pretreatment professionals convened this week at NACWA’s 2013 National Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Workshop featuring sessions with key EPA enforcement and regulatory staff, and discussions on emerging trends in pretreatment programs across the country.

A highlight of the Workshop was a presentation from Rob Wood, Director of the Engineering & Analysis Division in the EPA Office of Water’s Office of Science & Technology, about recent and ongoing effluent limitation guidelines development, including the dental amalgam separator rule. Although a rule has been drafted for over a year, EPA has not proposed it yet and no timeline was suggested. Rob also attended the Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Committee meeting on Thursday, where Committee members discussed dental amalgam separator programs and the significant work involved in implementing them. Members that do not have programs, particularly in small communities, expressed concern about the many new industrial users such programs would add to their pretreatment programs – often several hundred or several thousand dental offices – and the significant cost implications.

Fats, oils and grease (FOG) are a continuing problem for clean water agencies. During the session entitled Clearing the FOG: Different Strategies for Different Sources, panelists discussed different ways of attacking the problem. James Baginski, Regulatory Control Branch Head for the City and County of Honolulu, gave an update on their program and how they have decided to focus on the largest FOG contributors. Bob Baumgartner, Program Manager for Industrial Pretreatment at Clean Water Services, talked about the strategies used in Oregon to update the plumbing code to deal with FOG. Helen Cantril Dulac, with the Grease Abatement Program in the Pretreatment & Laboratory Services for Dallas Water Utilities, discussed their extensive public education program on FOG, which involves school outreach, videos, bill inserts, and door hangers in targeted areas. Dan Parnell, Source Control Manager for the City of Gresham, talked about how to use data to set up an effective FOG abatement program in a small city or on a limited budget. Dan’s most important message was to “get other people to do your work for you,” by involving plumbers and pumpers.

Workshop attendees were also very interested in the presentations from Adriane Borgias, Spokane River Water Quality Lead for the Washington State Department of Ecology, and Sarah Janssen, Senior Scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) Health Program. Adriane discussed how PCBs are still contained in many products and can end up in our nation’s waters. Sarah talked about the health and environmental impacts of triclosan. Both speakers talked about potential regulatory solutions and how other countries have taken action on these chemicals. Other presentations during the Workshop focused on the development of local limits and strategies for reducing flushable wipes. On Wednesday and Thursday, attendees participated in three popular roundtable discussions: one with EPA Regional officials and two sessions focused on various pretreatment issues.

All the handouts and presentations from the Pretreatment Workshop are available on NACWA’s website, and NACWA thanks all the participants for making this year’s Workshop a success.

 Senate Passes Water Resources Development Act

The Senate passed S. 601, The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which authorizes eighteen flood control projects for the Army Corps of Engineers. The bill also includes a $50 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) pilot program to provide financing for both flood control projects and regionally significant water and wastewater projects. An amendment offered by Senator Inhofe (R-OK) altered project eligibility from projects that cost more than $20 million to projects that cost more than $5 million to ensure smaller and rural communities have access to WIFIA financing as well. Another amendment offered by Senators Merkley (D-OR) and Brown (D-OH) required all projects funded through the WIFIA to use American-made iron, steel, and manufactured goods so long as they are available and competitively priced.

In addition, as a result of an April 9 report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Senate package prohibits recipients of WIFIA loans from using any tax-exempt financing for the program’s 51% non-federal match requirement. The CBO report estimated WIFIA would reduce federal revenues by $135 million over the next ten years because tax-exempt municipal bonds would be in higher demand because of leveraging requirements in the WIFIA program. As a result, the Senate package prohibits recipients of WIFIA loans from using any tax-exempt financing for the 51% non-federal match requirement. NACWA recognizes that this would make the program unworkable for many utilities, and Senate staff has pledged to find an alternative solution as the legislation makes its way through Congress.

The WRDA debate now moves to the U.S. House of Representatives where House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) has pledged to take up WRDA legislation this year. NACWA will keep its members informed of any updates.

 EPA Hosts NACWA, Other Partners to Review its Draft Green Infrastructure Strategy

NACWA participated in a meeting convened by EPA this week to collect feedback on the Agency’s Internal Draft Green Infrastructure Strategy. The Strategy aligns with our members’ need to have EPA Headquarters take a firm stance on behalf of green infrastructure (GI). The draft also directs the regions and states to incorporate GI into their water management policies. The draft has five main components that include: coordination between federal agencies, regulatory support, knowledge sharing, funding, and capacity building. NACWA joined the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA), American Rivers (AR), Low Impact Development Center (LIDC), and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) to provide suggestions on each aspect of the strategy, focusing primarily on barriers most often experienced by utilities such as financing and permitting of GI. NACWA will make the GI Strategy available to members upon its release.

 NACWA Hosts Meeting with Municipal Groups, Focus is on Collaborative Advocacy

NACWA hosted a meeting this week with key municipal organizations to discuss the Association’s priorities and identify ways the organizations can work together to accomplish shared regulatory, legislative and legal goals. The organizations that participated included the Water Environment Federation (WEF), National League of Cities (NLC), the US Conference of Mayors (USCM), the National Association of Counties (NACo), the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC), the U.S. Water Alliance, the American Public Works Association (APWA), the National Association of Flood & Stormwater Management Agencies (NAFSMA) and the National Rural Water Association (NRWA). The meeting included a substantive discussion on funding and financing efforts, integrated planning and affordability initiatives, wet weather, green infrastructure, and the Water Resources Utility of the Future initiatives. The funding and financing discussion included an update from USCM on the coalition effort that NACWA is actively participating in to ensure that Congress maintains the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds. The groups also expressed particular interest in NACWA’s integrated planning (IP) workshops, IP pilot funding initiative, and wet weather legislation. NACWA will continue to update members on collaboration with the municipal clean water community.