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The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) is pleased to provide you with the May 2014 Regulatory Update.  This Update provides a summary of relevant regulatory issues and actions from May 2014.

Top Stories

EPA Submits Dental Amalgam Rule to White House Budget Office

EPA informed NACWA that its proposal to require amalgam separators in dental offices as a pretreatment standard was submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on May 28. This comes after a long break from EPA activity on this issue and NACWA is seeking to learn why this has suddenly become a priority again.

By way of background, EPA published a detailed study of the dental industry in 2008 as part of its Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG) program and, at that time, determined that a dental amalgam separator rule was not necessary. In 2010, EPA announced in its ELG plan that it would propose a dental amalgam separator rule despite offering no new data to support such a proposal. After drafting a proposal, EPA communicated to NACWA and other stakeholders in 2012 that the rule raised concerns during informal interagency review with OMB and had therefore not been submitted for formal review.

In its comments on EPA’s Preliminary 2012 ELG Plan, NACWA requested that the Agency remove the uncertainty surrounding this rule by either dropping it from consideration or formally submitting it to OMB for review. NACWA has maintained a position that the rule is not necessary, since utilities have already established successful, local dental amalgam separator programs where needed, while utilities that do not need to reduce their mercury loading should be able to use their resources elsewhere. NACWA and its Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Committee will review the proposed rule and comment on it, if it is approved by OMB and published.

Contact: Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Technical Workgroup Meets to Present Flushability Facts

The technical workgroup that is addressing issues related to the flushability of wipes held its first in-person meeting on May 6. The workgroup is comprised of representatives from NACWA, the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the American Public Works Association (APWA), and INDA (the trade association of the nonwoven fabrics industry) and is partially funded through the Association’s Targeted Action Fund (TAF). This week’s meeting focused on presenting key facts about wipes from the perspectives of wastewater utilities and manufacturers and led to a productive discussion between the two groups.

A series of conference calls and two more in-person meetings of the workgroup over the summer will result in accomplishing the following objectives: characterizing the nature of impacts from wipes and other products; assessing how the Third Edition of the INDA Flushability Guidelines do or do not address concerns about these products; recommending actions needed to reconcile differences among the parties; and developing a process and commitment for continued engagement among the parties to implement the recommendations. This effort is a critical part of the Toilets Are Not Trash Cans campaign as well as NACWA’s broader effort to ensure that domestic and industrial product stewardship concerns are consistently addressed. NACWA will keep members informed about the progress of the workgroup.

Contact: Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

NACWA Seeks Stay and Reconsideration of Sewage Sludge Incineration Rule

On May 27, NACWA forwarded a Petition for Administrative Stay and Reconsideration of the SSI Rule to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and other key EPA officials. The petition seeks a stay of the SSI rule’s March 2016 federal compliance deadline and reconsideration of key elements of the rule in light of the D.C. Circuit decision from August 2013 remanding portions of the rule back to EPA. The petition seeks reconsideration on the issue of whether SSIs are more appropriately regulated under Section 112 or Section 129 of the Clean Air Act and outlines how reconsideration of this central tenet of the SSI Rule will address all of the remanded issues, provide greater flexibility for SSI operators, and protect human health and the environment. The request for the stay underscores the irreversible consequences for the nation’s municipalities and clean water agencies who must make costly investments or decisions regarding whether to shut down an SSI to comply with emissions standards that may change as EPA works to address the court’s remand.

While NACWA will continue to work with EPA during the remand process, this petition is likely NACWA’s last best effort to seek significant changes from EPA with regard to the SSI rule. Based on a meeting with EPA earlier this year, NACWA believes the chances for a successful petition are low. NACWA has an ongoing legal challenge pending with regard to the Non-hazardous Secondary Materials Rule, which provided the foundation for the SSI rule, but the delayed timing of that case makes it less likely for this challenge to result in timely relief for SSI operators. NACWA continues to stress with its SSI members that they should continue to work toward meeting the March 2016 federal compliance deadline or any earlier deadline imposed by their state.

Contact: Chris Hornback at 202/833-9106 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Conferences & Meetings

Pretreatment Professionals from Across the Country Meet at NACWA Workshop

Over 130 pretreatment professionals gathered in Minneapolis in May at NACWA’s 2014 National Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Workshop, which featured sessions with key EPA staff and discussions on current and emerging issues in pretreatment programs throughout the country. The Workshop included presentations from EPA Headquarters staff and experts in both traditional pretreatment issues and emerging contaminant issues. The Workshop concluded with a panel presentation on biocremation and a tour of a local funeral home that uses the process. More information about the Workshop is available here and the presentations are available on NACWA’s website.

Prior to the Workshop, nearly 50 people attended an all-day training course, Introduction to the Pretreatment Program for Wastewater Utilities. This course was offered by NACWA for the first time this year, and next year’s Workshop will include an opportunity for more advanced training in one or two topics in addition to the introductory course. NACWA welcomes input on the topics that would be most useful for pretreatment professionals.

Contact: Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Emerging Contaminants

NACWA Urges Members to Comment on the Food and Drug Administration’s Triclosan Proposal

NACWA is drafting comments on the December 17 proposal from the Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) that would essentially eliminate the use of triclosan in hand soaps, and the Association encourages its members to also submit comments. NACWA has long been concerned about the environmental impacts of triclosan and its potential to harm the wastewater treatment process, contribute to failure of toxicity tests, and prevent the beneficial reuse of biosolids. Many studies on triclosan have shown that soaps containing the chemical are no more effective than plain soap and water and that the chemical potentially has detrimental effects on human health, leading the FDA to conclude that triclosan use in hand soaps is not generally safe or effective.

During a May 28 NACWA webinar, Safer Soaps: The FDA’s Proposed Action on Triclosan , the environmental and human health impacts and regulatory action on triclosan were discussed by Dr. Rolf Halden from Arizona State University and Mae Wu from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The slides from the webinar are available on NACWA’s website. Comments on the FDA proposal are due on June 16, and NACWA is drafting comments to support the proposal. Please email Cynthia Finley at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have input for NACWA’s comments or if your agency plans to submit comments of its own.

Contact: Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Financial Capability and Integrated Planning

EPA Announces Technical Assistance for Integrated Planning

EPA announced May 9 the availability of $335,000 in technical assistance for up to five communities seeking technical support to develop and implement an integrated planning approach to meeting Clean Water Act requirements for municipal wastewater and stormwater management. This development took place following strong advocacy on Capitol Hill and with the Agency on behalf of a pilot program for the development of integrated plans and constitutes a good start toward this goal. EPA hopes the technical assistance will help to develop practical examples of how to implement the different steps in developing an integrated plan in order to provide useful information to communities across the nation who are interested in integrated planning.

Interested communities are encouraged to respond to the Request for Letters of Interest. Applicants must submit their letters of interest via email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to the attention of Kevin Weiss. Letters of interest must be received by June 27, 2014, 5:00 pm EST.

In line with the Money Matters campaign NACWA will continue its efforts to obtain further funding for an integrated planning pilot program in the FY 2015 appropriations bills and, on a related note, to ensure that affordability concerns are addressed by EPA as well. We will keep our members updated as new information on this technical assistance and the FY2015 budget becomes available.

Contact: Chris Hornback at 202/833-9106 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Pretreatment and Pollution Prevention

Input Sought on Utility Impacts from Microbeads

Plastic microbeads, which are found in many personal care products, continue to be a hot topic among mainstream media outlets as regions take action to prevent them from entering their waterways. NACWA is tracking various state-level efforts to study microbeads in Minnesota, and ban the sale of cosmetic products containing microbeads in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, and California.

Stiv Wilson, Associate Director of The 5 Gyres Institute, provided information about the microbeads issue at NACWA’s annual Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Workshop in Minneapolis, MN in May, (see related story). If your utility is fielding inquiries about these microbeads, or has experienced their impact on treatment plant operations, please contact Brenna Mannion at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The Association plans to coordinate with 5 Gyres to support as appropriate state legislative efforts on microbeads.

Contact: Brenna Mannion at 202/533-1839 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Utility of the Future

CEQ, NACWA Confer on Utility of the Future, Resilience and Reuse

After participating in the NACWA/AMWA Water Resilience Summit in April, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) met May 6 with NACWA staff and member utility Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority (California) to outline possible partnerships on key advocacy issues under the Utility of the Future (UOTF) portfolio, including water reuse. NACWA briefed staff from CEQ’s Land and Water divisions on the collaborative UOTF initiative, including efforts to promote resource recovery, energy generation and water reuse. CEQ discussed its interest in UOTF issues, especially water reuse which relates to their work with the National Drought Resilience Partnership (NDRP), an interagency effort to make it easier to access Federal drought resources by linking relevant information with drought resilience strategies. NACWA will continue to engage CEQ and the White House on UOTF and reuse and resilience-related issues in the coming months. NACWA is also establishing a reuse working group to explore possible partnerships and draft strategy for the Association.

Contact: Brenna Mannion at 202/533-1839 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Water Quality

NACWA Urges Interested Clean Water Utilities to Apply for Regional Conservation Partnership Program Funds

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) Application for Project Funding (APF) on May 27, soliciting proposals from eligible entities, including municipal clean water agencies, to enter into partnerships with local farmers on conservation and water quality activities. NACWA will host a conference call with RCPP representatives on June 4th at 3:00 pm EST to review the APF and answer your questions.

The 2014 Farm Bill established the RCPP, which is designed to support partnerships between farmers and non-farming entities to tackle various conservation and environmental issues on a regional scale. The RCPP provides an excellent opportunity for interested utilities to implement innovative nutrient management solutions with agricultural non-point sources to improve local water quality. NACWA has been a proponent of encouraging the movement toward watershed-based solutions for addressing clean water challenges for years and successful RCPP projects can help further these approaches. NACWA’s May 28 Advocacy Alert provides NACWA members with an overview of the APF. Pre-proposal applications are due to USDA by July 14. Please contact Hannah Mellman for conference call details if your utility is interested in pursuing a partnership and/or you have any questions about the APF. NACWA will continue to provide updates on the RCPP process as they emerge.

Contact: Hannah Mellman at 202/833.4655 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Wet Weather

NACWA Releases New Legal Advocacy Tools to Help Members with Consent Decree Negotiations

NACWA recently released a completely revised Consent Decree Handbook, Wet Weather Consent Decrees: Negotiation Strategies to Maximize Flexibility & Environmental Benefit Wet Weather Consent Decree Handbook, along with an updated and redesigned Consent Decree e-Library offering the most comprehensive collection of municipal wet weather consent decrees and enforcement orders, in May. Completely rewritten and updated from cover to cover, NACWA’s new Handbook will serve as the premier resource for the municipal clean water community when addressing wet weather enforcement issues. The Handbook offers a snapshot and summary of consent decrees, which users can access in their entirety via the Consent Decree e-Library. The completely redesigned e-Library site now provides users with more ways to search for decrees, including by EPA region, state, or search term.

These two resources will provide NACWA members with unparalleled information, analysis, and strategies on wet weather enforcement issues including negotiation, renegotiation, implementation, and modification of enforcement orders and decrees. Whether currently negotiating an enforcement order, anticipating an enforcement action, or considering modification of an existing order, these new NACWA tools will provide invaluable assistance to the municipal clean water community.

NACWA is pleased to offer both to Association members free of charge as a benefit of NACWA membership. For more details on these powerful tools, see Advocacy Alert 14-09.

Contact: Amanda Waters at 202/530-2758 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Members seeking more information or related regulatory activity in their state can access NACWA’s State Action Track web tool, here.