Member Update 07-16

To:                  Members & Affiliates
From:             National Office
Date:              August 9, 2007
Subject:         COMMITTEE UPDATES FROM NACWA’S SUMMER CONFERENCE
Reference:    MU 07-16

Many of the Association’s Standing Committees met in July during NACWA’s 2007 Summer Conference and 37th Annual Meeting, Sustainable Infrastructure Choices . . . Gray, Green & Everything in Between, in Cleveland, Ohio.   This Member Update provides a summary of the priority issues discussed during the conference’s committee meetings and provides insight into NACWA’s strategic next steps for those members who were unable to attend these meetings. Many of the issues discussed in this Update will also be the building blocks for continued strategic committee discussions. NACWA’s committee structure forms the backbone of its advocacy efforts and the Association strongly encourages member agency participation. To join NACWA committees, please contact Sharon Powell at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at 202/833-2672.

Air Quality & Climate Change Committee

Co-Chair, Greg Adams, Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Calif.
Co-Chair, Edward Torres, Orange County Sanitation District, Calif.
The Committee focused on the likelihood that climate change issues being discussed in Congress and at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are likely to directly impact clean water agencies. The Committee focused on the Senate’s Low Carbon Economy Act of 2007 (S. 1766) which was introduced on June 11 by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). This is the first major climate change bill to specifically mention wastewater treatment. S. 1766 would provide credits to entities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions but are not covered by the cap and trade provisions of the bill. The bill specifically references wastewater methane reuse as an example of this. The bill also establishes research and development funds for water supply programs, including projects for reclaiming and reusing wastewater.

NACWA’s Targeted Action Fund (TAF) project to review EPA’s Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks was reviewed. NACWA submitted comments to EPA earlier this year with recommendations for revising the estimates of methane and nitrous oxide emissions from wastewater treatment. NACWA’s review of the methods indicated that the emissions may be over-estimated with the current methodology, and more accurate estimates may help prevent wastewater treatment agencies from being subjected to emission reduction requirements. Work with this TAF project is now focusing on collecting data on the nitrogen loadings to wastewater treatment plants to provide evidence for changing the estimation methodology.

The Committee also received updates on EPA’s climate change programs. EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management is considering a green energy credit program that would reward clean water agencies that reuse methane and decrease their demand for electrical power. Agencies that already reuse methane would receive credit for their previous work, and additional assistance would be given to encourage other facilities to reuse methane. EPA’s Office of Water is also working on a strategy for mitigating, adapting to, and researching climate change impacts on water resources. This strategy is expected to be released later this year.

Biosolids Management Committee

Co-Chair, Robert Dominak, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Ohio
Co-Chair, Dave Taylor, Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wis.
Biosolids Management Committee Co-Chair Bob Dominak provided the Committee with a detailed look at residuals management at the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District in Cleveland. Having recently completed a comprehensive evaluation of management options for the future, Dominak laid out the District’s plan to replace its current multiple hearth incinerators with cleaner, more efficient fluidized bed units over the next few years. Cost considerations for solids transport and long-term feasibility of other management options factored heavily in the District’s decision to reinvest in biosolids incineration. The Committee also continues to track EPA’s work on its Targeted National Sewage Sludge Survey. Sampling and analysis are complete for all analytes except for the pharmaceuticals and personal care product (PPCP) constituents. A report on the data is expected this fall. More work is needed on analytical methods before the PPCPs can be evaluated, and EPA is hopeful to have a report out on those analytes by the Spring of 2008. From there, EPA must then conduct risk assessments to determine whether any of the pollutants they analyzed require regulation. NACWA will continue to be actively monitoring this process and providing its input.

The Committee recently provided EPA with data on several metals, dioxins, and a newly compiled and more accurate list of incinerators in the U.S. to assist the agency as it evaluates the need for maximum achievable or generally available control technology limits for biosolids incinerators under 112k (requiring standards for area sources of hazardous air pollutants) of the Clean Air Act. NACWA found that there are approximately 230 incinerator units still in operation at wastewater treatment plants nationwide. The Committee also initiated a collaborative effort with the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and other stakeholders to develop additional guidance on dioxins in biosolids. NACWA members interested in assisting with this effort should contact the NACWA National Office. The Committee received updates on several other efforts including the status of a national biosolids use survey (visit www.nebiosolids.org for the latest draft of the report); several WEF activities including work to establish regional centers for excellence in residuals management; and the latest from the legal fight in Kern County, California.

Clean Water Funding Task Force

Chair, Suzanne Goss, JEA, Fla.
The Task Force discussed how the wholesale change in leadership of the 110th Congress has significantly altered the outlook for clean water funding bills. With Representative James Oberstar (D-Minn.) taking the reins of the Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, legislation strongly supported by NACWA passed the U.S. House of Representatives in March on an overwhelming 303-108 vote. Significantly, this legislation, The Water Quality Financing Act of 2007 (H.R. 720), would provide $14 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund over four years and includes a key provision calling for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study of potential financial mechanisms for a trust fund.

Discussion centered on the Task Force’s continued advocacy on behalf of a clean water trust fund and its efforts to garner support for related legislation in the House Ways and Means Committee that contains a viable funding source. At the May National Clean Water Policy Forum’s Utility Executives Summit — and in subsequent meetings — NACWA has received strong statements of support for a clean water trust fund from Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), an influential member of the House Ways and Means Committee. NACWA has also been meeting with other key Committee staff and Members to move the ball forward on this vital issue with the goal of having legislation introduced in the 110th Congress. In this regard, the Task Force agreed to study the viability of funding the trust fund with revenue from the manufacture and heavy users of nitrogen and phosphorous — arguably the leading causes of water quality impairment and one of the most expensive to mitigate. NACWA has fast-tracked a study of this potential revenue source and expects to have this analysis completed shortly after Labor Day.

In addition to inside-the-Beltway efforts, Clean Water America (CWA) (http://www.cleanwateramerica.org) — the Task-Force-supported website dedicated to developing grassroots support for a federal recommitment to clean water funding — continues to expand.   Over a thousand additional petitioners have been added to the site since the previous Board meeting, bringing the total to close to 158,000. Since its inception, the number of organizations that support CWA has grown to over 210.

The Task Force also discussed the increased media attention on the water infrastructure funding gap and on the need for a clean water trust fund, focusing on the June 4 issue of the U.S. News & World Report, a weekly news magazine, which featured water as its cover story with the headline “Why You Should Worry about Water.” The magazine received significant attention and quoted NACWA. On June 20, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) featured water infrastructure in its program Nightly Business Report, which aired on television stations nationwide. The story, titled “Leaky Pipes” focused exclusively on the municipal perspective of the water infrastructure funding challenge and featured Ken Kirk, NACWA’s Executive Director

The Task Force also agreed to support the Clean Water America Gala Celebration, by providing $25,000 to the effort, which is being held on September 18 in Washington, DC, and which will support educational efforts including the Clean Water America website.

Facility and Collection System Committee

Co-Chair, Adel Hagekhalil, City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, Calif.
Co-Chair, Martin Umberg, Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, Ohio
The Facility and Collection System Committee was updated on the status of EPA’s proposed peak wet weather flows guidance, which is currently under review by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). NACWA recently met with the new administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OMB, Susan Dudley, to present information about the costs to utilities that will continue without implementation of the proposed policy. The OMB staff seemed receptive to NACWA’s arguments and will reportedly continue to review the policy. NACWA members have also been writing letters to key members of Congress, urging rapid release of the policy.

The Committee was also updated about NACWA’s Targeted Action Fund (TAF) project to develop guiding principles on considerations for evaluating whether a community can afford a particular water quality-related program. The current scoring process is based largely on median household income, and NACWA would like unique local conditions, other environmental costs, and effects on low-income residents considered. In June, NACWA met with Jim Hanlon, Director of EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management, to discuss NACWA’s guiding principles and the draft report from EPA’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB), which closely mirrored some of NACWA’s approaches. Based on the discussion during this meeting, NACWA does not anticipate that EPA will make any major changes to its existing guidance. NACWA’s work on its guiding principles is nearly complete and will be made available to the membership soon.

Since NACWA does not expect EPA to work on a sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) rule in the foreseeable future, the Committee discussed an option for establishing some consistency in national SSO practices. WEF and the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) have expressed interest in collaborating with NACWA to develop voluntary standards or management practices for collection systems. The initial stages of this project will involve a limited number of representatives from each association, and it may expand later to include members of environmental activist groups.

The Committee also considered a request for $20,000 in FY 2008 TAF funding to develop an issue paper on working with satellite communities. Many NACWA members working to control sanitary sewer overflows, infiltration and inflow, or other flow-related issues, have experienced a number of challenges when communicating with satellite communities that are responsible for maintaining their own collection systems. The issue paper will outline the various challenges associated with these interactions and explore how regional authorities and other utilities working with satellite communities can improve their interactions with these communities and better address the entire collection system.

Legal Affairs Committee Update

Chair, Lisa Hollander, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Ohio
Vice Chair, Roberta Larson, Somach, Simmons & Dunn, Calif.
The Legal Affairs Committee received updates on NACWA’s ongoing litigation activities, including recent legal victories in key cases before the U.S. Supreme Court (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency v. Defenders of Wildlife) involving the interplay between the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, and the Minnesota Supreme Court (Cities of Annandale and Maple Lake) involving the use of offset analyses in issuing new discharge permits to wastewater treatment plants. The two cases represent important victories for NACWA members.

Additionally, the Committee received a report on NACWA’s continuing participation in the BEACH Act litigation and was informed of a new litigation matter involving an appeal of municipal stormwater permits in Washington State. The status of continuing legal TAF projects was also discussed, including progress on a new legal security publication and development of a suitability analysis for total maximum daily loads (TMDLs).

Following the litigation update, committee members engaged in a discussion involving the Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007 (H.R. 2421), currently pending in the House of Representatives, which seeks to alter the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Committee members discussed the potential benefits and drawbacks to the proposed legislation, and received an update on NACWA’s advocacy efforts thus far regarding the bill. The meeting then closed with a roundtable discussion on Legal Hot Topics, which focused on emerging litigation around the country involving stormwater permits, as well as growing legal disputes between clean water and drinking water agencies.

Plans are currently underway for the 2007 Developments in Clean Water Law Seminar, scheduled for November 7-9, 2007 in Palm Spring, Calif. Registration information for the Seminar will be available in mid-September.

Utility Management Committee

Chair, Jon Schellpfeffer, Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wis.
Vice Chair, Tim Houghton, City and County of Honolulu Dept. of Environmental Services, Hawaii
NACWA’s representative to the international effort on wastewater standards presented the Committee with and overview of the current draft of the three guidelines developed over the past 3 years, how they were developed, and the next steps for final approval of the guidelines. Copies of the presentation can be obtained by contacting the National Office.

The Committee heard updates on all of the ongoing collaborative work including the feasibility study for a national institute for utility management, mid-level manager training, and the recently released attributes of effectively managed utilities. NACWA members will be receiving updates on all of these efforts in the coming months. The Committee was briefed on a new question that will be added for the 2007 NACWA Index Survey. Information on proposed rate increases and the approximate size of those increases will be collected to better refine the survey’s results. NACWA will be considering how best to report this information to provide trends in service charges as well as rates. The Committee also reviewed the first draft of the survey form for the 2008 NACWA Financial Survey. The Survey will be sent to the membership in early 2008 and the final report will be released at the Winter Conference in 2009.

The Committee also discussed several workforce issues and identified several topics that the Committee will explore with its Association partners at WEF and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA). Chief among these topics is the need to consider the development of a ‘grassroots’ campaign to increase interest among high school and college students in the wastewater field. Recruiting practices and other workforce issues are critical, but the Committee recognized that more needs to be done to generate interest in the field.

Updates were also provided on a number NACWA’s ongoing efforts on financial capability and the recent Congressional action to halt implementation of EPA’s proposed permit fee rule.

Water Quality Committee

Acting Chair, Keith Linn, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Ohio
The Water Quality Committee meeting began with a discussion of the Committee’s ongoing TA F project to develop guidance for the membership on whether all pollutants are suitable for total maximum daily load (TMDL) calculation. While EPA policy and a new technical document on developing daily load expressions for TMDLs continue to assert that Clean Water Act permit limits do not need to be expressed in a form identical to the TMDL, NACWA believes the new guidance on suitability will help members protect themselves from technically impractical permit limits for key pollutants. These include nutrients, mercury and bacteria, all of which are examined in the new TAF-funded effort. Committee leaders are reviewing a draft of the suitability guidance and hope to share the final document with the membership by the end of August.

The BEACH Act continues to be a major focus for many of NACWA’s committees and the Water Quality Committee discussed NACWA’s current efforts to prepare an expert’s report on what the Association believes is a reasonable timeframe for EPA to conduct studies and develop new, more scientifically valid recreational water quality criteria. EPA has indicated that they will need until 2012 to develop new criteria, but the Agency’s own panel of experts believes that more time is needed. EPA’s panel of experts met in March and the report from that meeting contains some useful insights into what EPA’s new criteria may look like. The experts explored several international models that appear to take fairly reasonable approaches to implementation.

Nutrient issues are garnering significant attention lately and the Committee discussed its work to develop comments on a new EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) report on the Gulf of Mexico hypoxia issue. The report recommends near “limit of technology” controls for nitrogen and phosphorus for all major wastewater treatment plants in the Mississippi River basin and lacks critical information on relative cost effectiveness between point and nonpoint control efforts. NACWA is providing comments to the SAB for their consideration during a series of conference calls to discuss the draft report. EPA’s water program office is also trying to make additional headway on the development of numeric water quality criteria for nutrients by the states. A memo issued earlier this year expresses the Agency’s interest in accelerating the progress on current state efforts.

The Committee also discussed NACWA’s recent comments on the proposed revisions to EPA’s 1999 ammonia criteria, which would likely result in more stringent criteria; efforts by NACWA members in Region 6 to pursue a reasonable and practical approach to addressing sub-lethal whole effluent toxicity endpoints in Clean Water permits; and work on a letter of support for a recent petition under the Toxic Substances Control Act seeking to require more controls for pollutants at their source. Finally, the Committee discussed an upcoming meeting with WEF and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) on the issue of lab accreditation in August. NACWA members interested in this issue should contact Chris Hornback at chornback@nacwa.org for more information