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» Clean Water Current Archive
July 19, 2013
NACWA/AMWA Release Key Report on Tax Exempt Municipal Bonds
 On Wednesday, NACWA and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) released a joint white paper  — The Impacts of Altering Tax-Exempt Municipal Bond Financing on Public Drinking Water & Wastewater Systems. The white paper lays out the ≈$6 billion in lost revenue that the Administration proposal to scale back the tax exempt status of municipal bonds would cost the water sector. NACWA featured the report this week at its 2013 Summer Conference during a panel discussion, Financing Resilient Clean Water Utilities & the Municipal Bond Market, that explored the growing role of public debt as utilities face the increasing cost of clean water compliance and an aging network of pipes and systems. NACWA and AMWA issued a joint press release announcing the white paper’s availability, circulated the report to key congressional staff, and posted a blog about the white paper on NACWA’s blog, The Water Voice.
Court Vacates EPA’s Biogenic GHG Deferral
A Federal Court ruled this week in the Center for Biological Diversity, et al. v EPA case that EPA failed to provide legal justification to support its deferral of greenhouse gas (GHG) permitting requirements for biogenic emissions. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC Circuit) vacated EPA’s three-year Deferral Rule thereby causing uncertainty about the permitting requirements for biogenic sources, which include emissions from wastewater treatment processes and the combustion of biogas and biosolids – as well as the combustion of other biomass, such as agricultural and forest products. The court did not close the door on EPA’s authority to finalize its rulemaking; however, emphasized the need and urgency for the Agency to expedite that process in order to provide clarity and consistency.
In June 2010, EPA released its GHG Tailoring Rule applying permitting regulations to large stationary sources of carbon dioxide (CO2). The Agency did not exclude biogenic emissions, which occur as a result of combustion or decomposition of biological materials and are considered part of the natural carbon cycle. Without an exclusion, the CO2 emissions from the wastewater treatment process, as well as combustion of biosolids and biogas, will be subject to Clean Air Act (CAA) Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V permitting programs. NACWA, and other industries impacted by the rule, objected – emphasizing the carbon neutrality of these emissions. This led EPA, in January 2011, to institute the three-year deferral while it conducts scientific analysis and develops rulemaking to specifically address these emissions. Environmental groups filed a legal challenge to the deferral. NACWA filed an amicus brief in the case explaining why biogenic emissions from clean water agencies are different in nature, noting the short carbon cycle associated with human waste and the unavoidable nature of the emissions. The brief also emphasized the hardship that would occur if clean water agencies were forced to comply with the permitting requirements.
NACWA, as a member of the Biogenic CO2 Coalition, is involved in drafting a technical report and petition for rulemaking to exclude short cycle CO2 emissions from CAA permitting programs. Because the July 12 ruling does not foreclose a statutory exclusion of biogenic emissions, the work of the Coalition is now even more critical. The Association will continue to work with the Coalition to accelerate the advocacy strategy in light of the July 12 ruling.
NACWA Urges Inclusion of Wastewater-Derived Fuels in Renewable Fuel Standards
 NACWA has filed a request to EPA to reconsider the status of renewable biofuels derived from wastewater, biosolids, and biogas in comments on the Agency’s proposed changes to its renewable fuel standards (RFS2) program. When used as transportation fuels, qualifying fuels in the RFS2 program are eligible for renewable identification numbers (RINs), which can be sold to fossil fuel refiners that must meet renewable fuel quotas. EPA’s proposal would allow fuel derived from landfill gas to qualify as a cellulosic feedstock in the RFS2 program. While renewable fuels derived from wastewater are not currently eligible fuel production pathways in the RFS2 program, NACWA argued that biogas is derived from the same process as landfill gas and should also be included as a cellulosic feedstock for the generation of renewable electricity, compressed or liquefied natural gas, and cellulosic diesel.
As part of the Association’s Utility of the Future efforts to increase resource recovery and energy generation at wastewater utilities, NACWA will continue to push EPA and other federal agencies to fully recognize that the fuels produced at wastewater utilities are completely renewable, without detrimental land use and other impacts that are caused by the production of crop-based fuels.
NACWA Conference Explores the Resilient Clean Water Utility
NACWA’s 2013 Summer Conference & 43rd Annual Meeting, Managing & Financing the Resilient Clean Water Utility, took place this week in Cincinnati and focused on the sophisticated management and financing techniques are using to ensure their sustainability and resiliency. The conference also featured strategic advocacy discussions at lively and well-attended committee meetings, an array of informative speakers and panels, the release of a key document on the importance of tax-exempt municipal bonds, actions by NACWA’s Board of Directors and membership to build on the Association’s record of leadership, and a ceremony for Association member award winners.
The conference theme was exemplified in the welcoming remarks of the Honorable Mark Mallory, Mayor of Cincinnati, who focused attention on the innovative work of NACWA member the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) and the economic benefits a strong utility can bring to a city. These comments were bolstered by a subsequent presentation by Tony Parrott, the Executive Director of MSD who focused on the need to “re-do the math” in thinking about how to finance the sustainable utility of the future. Another conference highlight was the inspirational keynote address of former Navy Seal Eric Greitens who discussed how we all “must navigate the front lines of public service” and find the perseverance each day to be more innovative, effective and impactful.
NACWA’s committees explored a number of key issues, with the Water Resources Utility of the Future and integrated planning and regulatory prioritization efforts receiving significant attention. There were robust discussions of the 8th circuit’s decision denial of EPA’s request for a rehearing of the blending case and the significant implications for clean water agencies going forward. An in-depth discussion in the Regulatory & Legislative Policy Committee took place on how NACWA can take a more proactive advocacy-based stance on nutrient issues, while Water Quality Committee members debated the appropriate response for NACWA on EPA’s recent efforts relating to fish consumption rates. The committee meetings also benefitted from several compelling presentations from Cincinnati on its innovative, more cost-effective solutions to its consent decree obligations; the impacts of hydromodification; and lessons learned from attempts to develop more rational wet weather water quality standards for the Ohio River. Summaries of the committee meetings will be made available through an upcoming Member Update.
NACWA thanks all the attendees, speakers, sponsors and our host city, Cincinnati, for making this Summer Conference such a success. Presentations from the conference are available on NACWA’s website.
NACWA Board Takes Key Budgetary Actions, Approves Four TAF Projects
NACWA’s Board of Directors took several significant actions this week at the Summer Conference to ensure the Association is on a solid financial and programmatic path going forward. The Board voted to approve the fiscal year 2014 General Fund and Targeted Action Fund budgets. The Board also took action on several key Targeted Action Fund (TAF) requests to help ensure successful advocacy efforts in several priority areas.
Three TAF projects, including two in the water-energy nexus arena, were approved. The first is a collaborative project with the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) to analyze the energy production capacity of clean water agencies relative to other clean energy producers such as solar and wind – and to make a compelling case to the Department of Energy (DOE) that energy conservation and production should be a key element of DOE’s ongoing energy-water nexus program planning. The Board also approved TAF support for the WEF-managed website, www.biogasdata.org, which presents the results of a nationwide survey regarding biogas production and use at clean water agencies. The data will help inform NACWA advocacy efforts in the energy arena.
The Board also supported NACWA’s ongoing involvement in the Mississippi River nutrient litigation effort and funds, in collaboration with a number of DC-based organizations and associations, for a DC premiere of the TAF-supported Water Blues, Green Solutions public broadcasting documentary. The documentary spotlights the growing role of green infrastructure in water management efforts. A trailer of the documentary can be viewed here.
Julius Ciaccia Elected as NACWA President
The Board also took action to elect NACWA’s slate of officers for the 2013-2014 term. NACWA welcomes its newly elected officers:
President —
Julius Ciaccia
Executive Director
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, OH
Vice President —
Karen Pallansch
Chief Executive Officer
Alexandria Renew Enterprises, VA
Treasurer —
Adel H. Hagekhalil
Assistant Director
City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, CA
Secretary —
Ray Marshall
Executive Director
Narragansett Bay Commission, RI
The membership also elected or re-elected several new and returning Board Members. The new and re-elected members of the Board of Directors are as follows: representing Region 1, John Sullivan, Chief Engineer, Boston Water & Sewer Commission, MA; representing Region 2, Andrew Kricun, Executive Director/Chief Engineer, Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority, NJ; representing Region 3, Howard Neukrug, Commissioner, Philadelphia Water Department; representing Region 4 Suzanne Goss, Legislative Affairs Specialist, JEA (Electric, Water & Sewer), FL and Charles Logue; Director of Technical Services, Renewable Water Resources, SC; representing Region 5, James ‘Tony’ Parrott, Executive Director, Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, OH; representing Region 6, Mark Sanchez, Executive Director, Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, NM; and representing Region 7, Terry Leeds, Director of Water Services, City of Kansas City, MO. Congratulations to all!
Awards Ceremony Showcases Agency Compliance, Management Excellence
NACWA honored seven Member Agencies with Excellence in Management (EIM) Recognition Awards on Tuesday evening at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center during an Awards Ceremony & Reception that took place during the Association’s Summer Conference in Cincinnati. The 2012 Peak Performance Platinum award-winning Member Agency facilities were also honored. These award winners included 32 facilities from 24 Member Agencies that, for their first time, achieved five consecutive years of perfect compliance with their national pollutant discharge elimination (NPDES) permit limits. The Peak Performance Platinum awards also featured 126 Member Agency facilities that had achieved perfect compliance for six or more years. Peak Performance award-winning utilities were featured in a video presentation and all of the honorees will be acknowledged in upcoming issues of The Clean Water Advocate.
Key Meetings on Water Quality Trading, Nutrients Take Place in Cincinnati
Water quality trading and other alternative approaches for mitigating agricultural nutrient pollution were widely discussed at NACWA’s Summer Conference this week, as a needed tool to meet water quality standards more efficiently. The trading and nutrient discussion also carried over into two consecutive events in Cincinnati — a Mississippi River dialogue sponsored by the Johnson Foundation and a roundtable meeting on water quality trading hosted by the U.S. Water Alliance. NACWA members participated in both meetings, and offered a utility perspective on why innovative approaches to addressing agriculture nutrient runoff were necessary, and what utilities would need to see in a water quality trading program to be comfortable purchasing credits. A joint EPA-U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is expected to be released soon supporting the broader use of water quality trading. NACWA will be providing comments to both agencies on the MOU when it becomes available.
NACWA Participates in Senate Roundtable on Energy-Water Nexus
NACWA staff and two of its Member Agencies, DC Water and El Paso Water Utilities, participated this week in a roundtable discussion hosted by the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee (ENR) on the links between energy and water in an exchange of ideas toward preparing possible legislation. Thursday’s roundtable was the second in a series of roundtable discussions that staff for Senate ENR is hosting to examine the links between the water resources used by various energy producers, the energy required by various water treatment and distribution technologies, and the energy production potential from water and wastewater treatment. Senator Ron Wyden, Chair of the Senate ENR and Senator Lisa Murkowski, the Committee’s Ranking Member, are interested in possible legislation to establish tools that can help better understand the links between energy and water needs and provide incentives for increasing synergy between these two critical resources. Other roundtable participants included several federal agencies and state agencies and representatives from California’s drinking water sector. Senate ENR is expected to release a report with conclusions drawn from the discussions and ideas for next steps in developing a legislative package.
Media Covers Array of NACWA Priority Advocacy Issues Grows
In addition to the media coverage of NACWA’s Summer Conference in Cincinnati, there have been a number of articles in national news outlets and trade publications during the past week highlighting the NACWA/AMWA Municipal Bond Report released this week (see related story) and the Association’s advocacy efforts on flushable wipes. Also, during the NACWA conference, MSD Cincinnati held a press conference and issued a press release featuring NACWA Board members Tony Parrott (Cincinnati), Karen Pallansch (Alexandria) and Kevin Shafer (Milwaukee) to discuss Cincinnati’s innovative efforts to ensure its sustainability and resilience and the need to provide the community with top-notch water and sewer services cost-effectively. WVXU Cincinnati and FOX 19, Cincinnati reported on the press conference as did several other local media outlets.
This week, USA Today published a story discussing one of NACWA's key advocacy efforts to reduce wipes advertised as “flushable” (as well as other types of wipes that should not be flushed) which end up in sewer systems and cause costly clogs in pumps and other equipment. NACWA is advocating for more accurate and visible labeling of these products to ensure they do not get improperly flushed. This important story has been picked up by other news outlets including Investor Place, the Consumer Report’s blog, The Consumerist, and Grist. Additionally, San Francisco Bay Area CBS published a similar story interviewing Member Agency, the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District in California.
NACWA, WEF, and WERF Provide Waste-to-Energy Information to DOE
NACWA, the Water Environment Federation (WEF), and the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) continued their work on the energy component of the Water Resources Utility of the Future… Blueprint for Action by jointly responding to a Department of Energy (DOE) Request for Information (RFI) on Waste Applications for Sustainable Technologies for Energy (WASTE). The purpose of the RFI was to seek feedback that would assist DOE with the development of a strategic advanced waste-to-energy program that could possibly lead to a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). NACWA, WEF, and WERF developed responses to each of the three categories of interest in the RFI: the state of the waste-to-energy industry and technology development; moving from pilot to commercial scale in waste-to-energy efforts to produce fuels and power; and, modular/distributed and community scale applications of waste-to-energy. The three associations plan to meet with DOE and EPA to continue the conversation on how the federal agencies can facilitate the increased generation of renewable energy from wastewater treatment.
Senate Confirms Gina McCarthy as EPA Administrator
The Senate confirmed Gina McCarthy as EPA Administrator Thursday by a vote of 59 to 40. Previously, McCarthy served as EPA’s Assistant Administrator of Air & Radiation. At the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee nomination hearing in April, McCarthy confirmed her support for EPA’s integrated planning framework, stating that she understands the stress that municipalities are under and would work to make integrated planning a more useful tool. NACWA has met with McCarthy on several occasions on air issues, including discussions on EPA’s sewage sludge incineration regulations, and looks forward to building on its strong relationship with McCarthy to ensure sound approaches to clean water issues.
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