» Update Archive

This edition of NACWA’s Legislative Update, current through June 3, 2014, provides information on the activities of the 113th Congress of interest to the nation’s public clean water agencies.  For more detailed information regarding NACWA activities, click on the web links in selected news items or visit NACWA’s website.  Please contact NACWA’s Pat Sinicropi at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Hannah Mellman at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions or information on the Update topics.

ISSUE AREAS

Clean Water Funding and Financing

Water Resources Bill Passes in Congress, Overhauls the Clean Water State Revolving Fund in Line with Utility of the Future Priorities

Following passage in the House of Representatives on May 20, and Senate on May 22, President Obama is expected to sign the Water Resources Reform & Development Act (WRRDA) into law next week. The legislation, which reauthorizes flood control projects around the country, includes a major overhaul to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program. The changes to the CWSRF were the result of intense advocacy by NACWA and the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN), urging Congress to demonstrate its commitment to the CWSRF as a core investment tool for municipal wastewater agencies.

Modifications to the CWSRF include: 1) extending the CWSRF loan repayment period to up to 30 years; 2) codifying additional subsidization provisions enabling economically distressed communities – rural and urban - to receive more affordable financing; 3) incentivizing investments in energy efficiency, water efficiency and reuse; 4) incentivizing partnerships between municipal wastewater utilities and upstream property owners to collaboratively tackle non-point source pollution and improve water quality; and, 5) incentivizing wastewater utilities to undertake practices to ensure increased resiliency against man-made and/or natural disasters.

These changes are very much aligned with the collaborative Water Resources Utility of the Future (UOTF) initiative and recognize the changing wastewater sector landscape. These changes also encourage greater investment in more sustainable infrastructure to help communities better – and more affordably – manage their clean water needs. The new CWSRF provisions also mirror many of the ideas NACWA is proposing in its Technology Innovation & Resource Recovery Fund (TIRRF) legislative proposal, which expands a carve-out in the CWSRF to the suite of UOTF-related innovative technologies, in addition to green infrastructure and energy efficiency. WRRDA’s embrace of these concepts may eliminate the need for TIRRF proceeding as a separate proposal.

WRRDA Includes New Water and Wastewater Investment Tool

The WRRDA bill also includes a new investment tool for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects known as the Water Infrastructure Finance & Innovation Authority (WIFIA). WIFIA establishes a five-year pilot program EPA to provide direct loans and loan guarantees to drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects that cost at least $20 million (or $5 million for water systems serving 25,000 or fewer people). This pilot program would be separate from the SRF programs, though State SRF programs can access these funds.

Separate from the EPA-administered component of WIFIA, the Army Corps of Engineers also has its own WIFIA program under which it can provide loans and loan guarantees for projects for flood damage reduction, restoration of aquatic ecosystems, as well as improvements to inland and intracoasta waterway navigation systems.

It is important to note, however, that under WIFIA, capital for 51% of the project’s total cost must be leveraged by other, non-federal funds. Also, these projects cannot be financed with proceeds from sales of tax-exempt municipal bonds. This is an important limitation that NACWA believes could significantly hamper the attractiveness of this program. For more information on the CWSRF and WIFIA provisions in the WRRDA bill, please see NACWA’s Advocacy Alert. Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions on the WRRDA bill.

Nutrients

NACWA Encourages Members to Consider USDA’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program in Watersheds Impaired by Agricultural Run-off

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. 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. NACWA led the Healthy Waters Coalition to advocate for stronger links between agricultural policy and water quality which led to many provisions in the RCPP that will ensure program resources are targeted toward better nutrient management and improved water quality. The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency within the USDA, will oversee the program implementation.

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 its members with an overview of the APF. Pre-proposal applications are due to USDA by July 14.

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. Representatives from the NRCS will join us for this call. Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are interested in participating and NACWA will continue to provide updates on the RCPP process as they emerge.

Stormwater

Senator Cardin Holds Stormwater Hearing Ahead of Transportation Bill Markup

Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chair of the Environment & Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Water & Wildlife, held a May 13 hearing that focused on the importance of considering effective stormwater controls when building new, or making substantial retrofits to existing, surface transportation infrastructure. Among those testifying included James Gibson, Director of Integrated Watershed Management for Sanitation District No. 1 of Northern Kentucky and Daniel Medina, Technical Director for Water with ATKINS Engineering.

The hearing came just days before the EPW Committee reported out S. 2322, The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Act, which would reauthorize surface transportation projects including the Highway Trust Fund through FY 2020. Following the Committee vote, Senator Cardin offered an amendment to MAP-21 during Committee mark-up that would require the States to conduct an analysis of certain highway projects to determine a project’s run-off potential and apply management measures to restore impacted hydrology. The amendment was ultimately withdrawn however Senator Cardin has pledged to continue working on this issue as the transportation reauthorization bill moves forward.

Energy-Water Nexus

NACWA Endorses Bill that Recognizes Important Energy-Water Nexus

NACWA sent a May 27 letter  to Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) endorsing S. 1971, The Nexus of Energy and Water for Sustainability Act of 2014 (The NEWS Act), which the two Senators introduced earlier this year. The NEWS Act would recognize the important connection between energy and water by creating a committee within the National Science and Technology Committee to coordinate and streamline federal activities related to the management of the energy-water nexus.

The legislation recognizes the notion that all forms of energy production require water and that our treatment, transport and use of water requires large amounts of energy. This nexus is a central theme of NACWA’s Water Resources Utility of the Future campaign, which acknowledges the important innovation occurring within the wastewater sector to improve energy efficiency, deploy technology to energy on-site, and provide recycled water for cooling needs at power plants. By embracing new technologies and cutting-edge practices, clean water utilities have become a vital partner in this country’s work to manage our energy and water resources more efficiently, effectively, and affordably. NACWA will provide updates on The News Act as they occur.