» Clean Water Current Archive

September 20, 2013

NACWA Meets with EPA on Environmental Justice Issues

NACWA hosted a meeting this week with senior EPA officials to discuss the importance of municipal clean water perspectives in the Agency’s environmental justice (EJ) initiatives. Among EPA staff in attendance were Lisa Garcia, Associate Assistant Administrator for Environmental Justice, and Matthew Tejada, Director of the Office of Environmental Justice. The discussion focused on ways to include community affordability concerns in EPA’s EJ considerations when pursuing Clean Water Act (CWA) enforcement and permitting actions.

NACWA has previously submitted comments  to EPA encouraging a more holistic look at affordability as part of the Agency’s EJ analysis – as well as expressing concern that many of the communities receiving extra attention for EJ consideration are also the ones that can least afford the increased costs associated with significant new CWA mandates. The EPA officials in attendance at this week’s meeting acknowledged NACWA’s concerns and expressed interest in exploring ways to more fully consider the municipal clean water community’s perspective within the EJ context. NACWA will be working with EPA on some short-term actions to further this discussion – including potential visits to NACWA member utilities – and looks forward to additional engagement with EPA on this issue moving forward.

NACWA, INDA Issue Joint Press Release on Flushable Wipes

NACWA, INDA (the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), and the American Public Works Association (APWA) took an important step this week in working collaboratively to address problems associated with wipes in the sewer system. The groups issued a joint press release that provides information on these problems and describes how the groups are working together to improve flushability guidelines and product labeling. Wipes and other products are commonly flushed but often do not disperse rapidly in the sewer system, causing expensive repair and maintenance problems for many sewer systems. This issue has generated significant press attention recently, including articles in USA Today and on the front page of the Washington Post.

The four associations will participate in an October 9 session at WEFTEC13, “Wipe Out: Reducing the Burden of Wipes in the Pipes,” from 1:30-5:00 pm in Room S406b, McCormick Place, in Chicago, Illinois. Later this year, the associations will form a working group to try to find consensus on the technical issues related to the definition of flushability and test procedures to confirm flushability. More information is available in NACWA’s Advocacy Alert 13-13 and at www.nacwa.org/flushables.

EPA Sends Draft Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Rule to OMB; Key Connectivity Report Released

EPA announced Tuesday that it will abandon its pursuit of guidance and instead pursue a formal rulemaking process to clarify the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Agency, along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, sent a draft rule to the White House Office of Management (OMB) for review. This rule now officially replaces EPA’s previously submitted draft guidance on CWA jurisdiction and sets in motion a more formal rulemaking procedure. NACWA issued a press release applauding EPA’s decision and, in line with its long-standing position, emphasized that the important issues of CWA jurisdiction deserve the full attention of the rulemaking process.

EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) also released a draft study  Tuesday examining the connectivity between streams and wetlands to larger, downstream waters. The SAB study is meant to bolster EPA and the Corps’ draft rulemaking – and portions of the draft rule submitted to OMB directly incorporate information reflected in the scientific study. EPA is accepting comments on the study by October 31 which will be considered by the SAB review panel during its public peer review meeting later this year.

NACWA is pleased to see EPA’s decision to pursue a full-fledged rulemaking, which will afford NACWA and interested members the opportunity to weigh in. The Association will keep members updated on this study, the rulemaking process and additional opportunities to comment on these initiatives as they develop.

Cardin Reintroduces Water Infrastructure Resiliency & Sustainability Act

Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), along with Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Harry Reid (D-NV) on Wednesday reintroduced S. 1508, The Water Infrastructure Resiliency & Sustainability Act (WIRSA). The bill would offer competitive grants to help water and wastewater utilities undertake capital projects to improve utility resiliency during extreme weather events. NACWA has been a strong advocate for this legislation, and submitted a joint letter of support  with 13 other water and conservation groups this week urging broad-based support for this legislation. The Association has been consistently working with Congress and the Administration to ensure policymakers understand that climate change is fundamentally about water and they need to focus on resiliency challenges that clean water agencies face (see related story). NACWA will provide members with any relevant updates on the WIRSA bill as they occur.

NACWA Submits Testimony on President’s Climate Plan; New EPA Administrator Focuses on Water at Press Club Event

In a related development, NACWA submitted testimony  for a House Subcommittee on Energy & Power hearing on the Obama Administration’s climate change policies and activities. The Association’s testimony emphasized the critical role wastewater utilities play in helping the nation adapt to climate change and calling out the need to focus attention on the enormous costs associated with ensuring a resilient water sector. NACWA urged Congress to ensure that wastewater sector representatives play a key role in the Administration’s Climate Action Plan, which was released in June, and also recommended that climate legislation fully account for the impacts on water sector utilities.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy spoke today at a National Press Club event where she went on the record regarding the Obama Administration’s climate agenda. The Administrator’s remarks demonstrated that NACWA’s message – that climate is fundamentally about water – is being heard. The Administrator noted that:

“Climate Change is really about water – it's about clean, reliable sources of drinking water, it's about aging water and wastewater treatment facilities that end up over-stressed and flooded during all these extreme weather events. It's about mudslides, it's about storm surges from pounding rains, and it's about sewers that both back up and overflow. It's about inadequate stormwater systems that let pollution attack sensitive ecosystems like our wetlands and our estuaries that threaten our fish and our wildlife. It's about all these impacts adding up spoiling the beauty and vitality of some of this country's most iconic waterbodies that threaten the comfort, our safety and the livability of our communities. Climate Change is also all about heat waves and drought, droughts that drive up food prices, threaten our food supply, as well as our manufacturing operations that rely on water every day to run their businesses.”

As NACWA meets with high-level EPA officials, and works to schedule a meeting for Association leaders and Administrator McCarthy, it is clear that climate and resiliency issues must be at high our priority list. The Association will keep members apprised of developments as they occur.

Water Resources Reform & Development Act Passes in House Committee

The House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I Committee) unanimously approved H.R. 3080, The Water Resources Reform & Development Act (WRRDA), on Thursday which would authorize $8 billion in new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects and $2 billion to modify existing projects. The bill was introduced by T&I Committee Chair Bill Shuster (R-PA), Ranking Member Nick J. Rahall, II (D-WV), Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee Chair Bob Gibbs (R-OH) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Tim Bishop (D-NY). In May, the Senate passed their version of the bill which included a $50 million Water Infrastructure Finance & Innovation Act (WIFIA) pilot program to provide financing for both flood control projects and regionally significant water and wastewater projects. The House version does not include the WIFIA program. The WRRDA bill now awaits full consideration from the House of Representatives and NACWA will provide updates on the bill as it proceeds.

Law Seminar Registration Open – Join Us In San Antonio!

Registration is well underway for NACWA’s 2013 National Clean Water Law Seminar, with an agenda that promises to deliver a timely and informative analysis of the hottest current topics in clean water law. This year’s Seminar will be held November 20 – 22 in historic San Antonio, Texas The conference program will feature some of the top clean water attorneys from around the nation speaking on variety of critical utility topics, including integrated planning, consent decrees, stormwater, effective negotiation and advocacy strategies, and wet weather developments. As always, Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits, including ethics credit, will be available.

NACWA’s Law Seminar is the only conference of its kind to focus exclusively on legal and regulatory issues impacting municipal clean water attorneys and managers, so don’t miss it! Additional details on the Seminar, including registration and hotel information, conference agenda, and CLE information are available on NACWA’s website. Register now and we’ll see you in San Antonio!

NACWA Blog of the Week:
Wiping Up New Customers

This week’s post on The Water Voice discusses NACWA’s ongoing collaborative efforts to help keep non-dispersible products out of the sewers. Despite improved flushability guidelines for wipes, companies that make wipes are still ramping up their marketing efforts to create new customers for these products. Are there more wipes in our utilities’ future? Read on and subscribe today!