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The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) is pleased to provide you with the July 2015 Regulatory Update. This Update provides a summary of relevant regulatory issues and actions from July 2015.

Top Stories

NACWA Maintains Active Engagement on Stormwater, Tracks Potential Phase II Program Modifications

In the absence of a national stormwater regulation, MS4s are experiencing a variety of pressures from their regulators in the form of TMDLs and stricter permit limits. This has largely been a local, piecemeal process, so to better discern EPA’s overall stormwater strategy, NACWA’s Stormwater Management Committee convened a panel on the status of stormwater regulation, with a focus on Region 1, during the Summer Conference in Providence. During the session, EPA articulated its commitment to seek specific and measurable permit requirements for large MS4’s. NACWA is ardently resisting any attempt by EPA to encourage numeric limits in MS4 permits as they allocate more national resources to address the permit backlog. NACWA continues to stress in its discussions with EPA that maximum extent practicable (MEP) does not require strict compliance with water quality standards.

As EPA works to strengthen Phase I MS4 permits, the Agency is also considering regulatory modifications in response to a legal challenge to the Phase II program. EPA is now considering options to address concerns regarding the need for permitting agency review of notices of intent (NOIs) submitted by small Phase II MS4s as well as providing sufficient opportunity for public review and comment (see case description). EPA has been adamant that they will not change or amend the BMP requirements in the Phase II regulation in response to the litigation, and NACWA has been focused on ensuring EPA only makes those modifications necessary to satisfy its legal obligations.

In an effort to further intensify stormwater advocacy on the national level, NACWA has formed the National Stormwater Advocacy Network (NSAN), comprised of stormwater associations and organizations from around the country. The NSAN met for the first time on June 30 via conference call and was briefed by EPA on the Phase II issue. Members of the NSAN represent many of the Phase II systems potentially affected by the changes, and the Network will be submitting feedback to the Agency to ensure there are no unintended consequences to the modifications.

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

NACWA Helps Secure Key Litigation Victory for Watershed Approach

NACWA and its municipal partners helped secure a major litigation victory  on July 6 when a federal appellate court upheld the final total maximum daily load (TMDL) for the Chesapeake Bay, including its use of a watershed approach requiring nutrient reductions from nonpoint sources. The ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in American Farm Bureau, et al. v. EPA dismissed challenges to the final TMDL from agricultural and nonpoint dischargers and affirmed a lower court ruling upholding the TMDL.

More analysis of the decision is available in Advocacy Alert 15-13, and NACWA also distributed a press release highlighting the importance of the ruling. NACWA played a key role in the case as an intervenor to help defend  the watershed approach. The Association is pleased with the decision and believes it is an important legal win for the clean water community.

Contact: Nathan Gardner-Andrews at 202/833-3692 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

NACWA Launches Blending Survey

To assist with its advocacy efforts on peak wet weather flow management, NACWA is conducting a survey of publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) on blending. NACWA’s survey will provide the Association with technical, legal, and policy information about the current status of blending at utilities across the country. NACWA has been advocating for years for a consistent national policy on blending, but the practice is still being targeted on both the regulatory and legislative fronts. Despite the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals 2013 ruling in Iowa League of Cities v. EPA, EPA continues to consider blending a bypass for POTWs outside of the 8th Circuit. In addition, Section 428 of the current Senate FY16 appropriations package would prohibit blending and sewer overflows for any POTWs that directly or indirectly discharge into the Great Lakes.

NACWA is asking all POTWs that use blending – whether NACWA members or not – to complete this survey by Friday, September 4. Additional information about the survey is available in Advocacy Alert 15-14.

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

Climate

EPA Climate Change Adaptation Tools

EPA’s National Water Program has developed a summary  of its Climate Change Adaptation tools. Tools include, among others, a Storm Surge Inundation and Hurricane Strike Frequency Map; a Workbook for Developing Risk-Based Adaptation Plans; a Flood Resilience Guide for Water and Wastewater Utilities; and a National Stormwater Calculator with Climate Scenarios.

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

Energy

Biogas Stakeholders Discuss Barriers & Opportunities with USDA, DOE & EPA

Stakeholders involved in the production and use of biogas gathered in Washington, DC in July to discuss the barriers to, and opportunities for, the increased production and use of biogas. NACWA remains engaged on the biogas front in an effort to potentially secure funding or additional incentives for clean water utilities to generate energy or produce fuel using digester biogas. Read the full story from the Clean Water Current.

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

NACWA Provides Additional Data to EPA for Dental Amalgam Rule

NACWA provided EPA with influent and effluent mercury data from 41 wastewater treatment facilities, in response to the Agency’s request for more detailed information related to the Association’s February 20 comments  on the proposed Dental Amalgam Separator Rule . NACWA continues to push for a complete withdrawal of the proposed regulation. Read the full story from the Clean Water Current.

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

Utility Management

Utility Leaders Gather to Review Effective Utility Management Attributes

Utility representatives from around the country gathered in Washington, DC in late July to review and consider revisions to the Ten Attributes of Effective Utility Management (EUM) and the associated Keys to Management Success. Discussions focused on how changes in the water sector, including a new focus on resource recovery and the Utility of the Future, can be reflected in the EUM Attributes and Keys to Management Success, while also maintaining the basic structure and content of the EUM elements that have been so widely embraced. Read the full story from the Clean Water Current.

Water Quality

NACWA Evaluates Draft Water Quality Criterion for Selenium

EPA published its draft revised aquatic life criterion for selenium on July 27. NACWA has been tracking EPA’s efforts on selenium for many years and commented  on the external peer review draft of the criterion when it was released last year. NACWA’s earlier comments were generally supportive of the Agency’s approach, which recommended that the fish tissue-based elements of the criterion take precedence over the water column elements when both types of data are available. Critics have argued that basing the criterion on fish tissue levels will be too difficult to implement and have asked EPA to focus on water column concentrations instead. EPA has included both tissue and water column concentrations as elements of the criterion, but has focused on the importance of the fish tissue-based elements. While the overall approach has not changed, a few of the criterion values have changed from the 2014 draft.

Comments on the draft criterion are due to EPA by September 25. NACWA anticipates developing comments on the criterion, so please send any input you may have to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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

Resources, Upcoming Events and Comment Periods

• Apply for EPA/WEF National Municipal Stormwater & Green Infrastructure Awards. Applications are due on August 26. Phase I and Phase II MS4s are eligible.
• Register for U.S. Water Alliance’s One Water Leadership Summit, August 26 – 28.
• Register for The Southeast Stormwater Association's (SESWA) 10th Annual Regional Stormwater Conference October 14-16, 2015 in Chattanooga, TN. SESWA is a member of NACWA's National Stormwater Network.
• Register today for the NACWA-sponsored American Water Summit: Scalable Solutions, October 20 – 21 at a special NACWA Public Member Agency rate.
• Register for the International Water & Climate Forum, December 7-9 in San Diego, CA.