ARCHIVE SITE - Last updated Jan. 19, 2017. Please visit www.NACWA.org for the latest NACWA information.
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June 13, 2008
EPA, DHS Officials Ask House Panel to Close Water Security Gap, Extend CFATSThe House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials heard testimony yesterday from senior officials at EPA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who pointed to what they said were gaps in security at wastewater and drinking water facilities. Ben Grumbles, EPA assistant administrator for water, and Robert B. Stephan, assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at DHS, testified that water and wastewater utilities present a “significant homeland security vulnerability.” The hearing focused on two bills addressing security at chemical plants. The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2008 (H.R. 5577), introduced by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), would make security requirements for chemical plants permanent, extend them to water and wastewater facilities, and potentially mandate a switch to inherently safer technologies (IST). The chemical facility anti-terrorism standards (CFATS), which currently exempt wastewater and drinking water facilities, will sunset in 2009 unless Congress passes legislation to make them permanent. NACWA and other water sector organizations have opposed the legislation because they do not believe their member agencies should be subject to the same requirements as private chemical manufacturers and believe that EPA should have primary jurisdiction over security at their facilities. Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.), former chair of the subcommittee, introduced the Chemical Facilities Security Act of 2008 (H.R. 5533), which asserts that the Energy and Commerce Committee, not the Homeland Security Committee, has jurisdiction over drinking water facilities and seeks to exempt them and wastewater facilities from CFATS. In his testimony, Grumbles said that “water and wastewater treatment facilities that are determined to be high-risk due to the presence of chemicals of interest should be regulated for security in a manner that is consistent with the CFATS risk and performance-based framework while also recognizing the unique public health and environmental requirements and responsibilities of such facilities.” Stephan’s testimony was similar. Grumbles went on to praise NACWA’s work in developing the Chlorine Gas Decision Tool as a user-friendly, voluntary measure that has helped utilities to examine alternatives to chlorine gas disinfection. He also recognized the unique public health and environmental requirements facing public agencies when asked about the IST provisions. Utility officials representing the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) also testified on the importance of letting local utilities decide the best treatment and disinfection options to meet their individual communities’ needs. Meanwhile, staff of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, which oversees Clean Water Act implementation and wastewater infrastructure, has assured NACWA that they are still trying to assert jurisdiction over security at clean water agencies. NACWA does not expect either of these bills to become law this year, and the political landscape for addressing these issues will be much different next year with a new Congress and new administration. As such, NACWA will continue to press the case that drinking water and wastewater agencies are public servants whose goal is to guarantee the security of their communities’ public health and environmental well-being and should not be part of the CFATS framework. If, however, wastewater treatment utilities are included, then federal funding would be critical to helping defray the cost of additional mandates.
NACWA Encourages Members to Submit Financial Survey InformationMembers were asked to submit their 2008 Financial Survey responses by today, June 13. NACWA strongly encourages members to submit this information to ensure the most valuable and up-to-date information is included. More member input ensures NACWA’s Financial Survey will provide the most comprehensive overview to date of public wastewater treatment utility financing and management trends, assisting wastewater agencies in identifying utilities of similar size and type for performance benchmarking and goal setting purposes. Data collected on the questionnaire will be used to prepare the 2008 survey report. As in years past, the report will present a comparative analysis of 2007-2008 data with historical industry trends. Moreover, additional responses will ensure the survey is representative of the membership and the broader clean water community. If you have not already done so, please complete and return the survey to the national office without delay. Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at (202) 833-9106 immediately for more information or to confirm that your utility has submitted its survey. There is no other resource like the NACWA Financial Survey and for more than 20 years Congress, EPA, and other stakeholders have relied upon its valuable information. Please help us make this year’s survey a success!
House Spending Bill Boosts Funding for SRF, Outlook Positive for NBP FundingThe fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget for U.S. EPA would receive a nearly $700 million boost under a spending bill the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee approved June 11. The bill would provide EPA with $7.8 billion, restoring a portion of the funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF). Specifically, the CWSRF would receive $850 million in fiscal 2009 under the House bill, a nearly $300 million increase from the White House request of $555 million and almost $160 million more than it received in FY 2008. The House Appropriations Committee is expected to vote on the budget package next week. It is unclear what the timing or prospects for the bill are beyond committee consideration with the congressional focus turning to the presidential elections as well as the possibility of a veto by President Bush on this and other spending bills. NACWA members engaged in a proactive letter-writing campaign on behalf of increased CWSRF funding through the Association website’s Write Congress Now feature and are urged to continue using the template to send such letters to their members of Congress as the budget bill moves through the legislative process. In related news, NACWA has learned that the prospects are good for restoring the $1 million for the National Biosolids Partnership (NBP) in the FY 2009 EPA budget bill and will have confirmation of this once the bill is taken up by the Appropriations Committee next week. NACWA and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) worked jointly on this effort, with many members writing and contacting their members of Congress in support of NBP funding, and will continue to work to ensure that the funding is included as the bill goes through the legislative process. The NBP was not included in the FY 2007 and 2008 budgets, so its inclusion this year would mark a federal re-commitment to sound biosolids management.
Webinar on Liquid Assets, Water Infrastructure Documentary, Scheduled for June 20The third in a series of webinars on Water is Life, and Infrastructure Makes it Happen™, a public education campaign, of which NACWA is a partner, will take place June 20 and focus on Liquid Assets, a documentary produced by Penn State University with funding from NACWA and other organizations.The documentary has been in the works for more than two years and is set to be released and made available to funders in July and aired on local stations starting October 1. NACWA, the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the American Society of Civil Engineers, and other organizations contributed significant funding to the educational outreach project, which will go a long way to educate the public about the value of water and wastewater infrastructure. NACWA plans to co-sponsor the Washington premiere of Liquid Assets in September. The June 20 webinar will provide information about the multi-media campaign to get local public television stations to air Liquid Assets. The discussion will explore ways to leverage the video's release event as a way to organize community activities, facilitate local discussion (including PBS and NPR interviews), and add national context to the local infrastructure story. Participants will be guided through a multi-media marketing plan for educating community leaders and rate-payers on their infrastructure needs. The webinar is free except for the cost of the call. Registration is available at
NACWA Comments on EPA Climate Change StrategyNACWA filed comments on June 10 outlining several concerns with the draft strategy on climate change released by the EPA Office of Water. In general, NACWA highlighted the need for EPA to identify longer-term strategies and focus more on the adaptation needs of the water sector than on potential greenhouse gas mitigation. Funding was an important element not addressed in EPA’s strategy, and NACWA highlighted the need for EPA to consider the resources that will be needed to address climate-related challenges above and beyond existing investment needs for the nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure. While the strategy noted that a watershed approach “will increase the resiliency of watersheds to climate change and increase the sustainability of aquatic systems,” the agency failed to include any serious discussions about the needed long-term changes to its existing programs and implementation policies to accommodate such a holistic, watershed approach. Current EPA practices often conflict with a comprehensive watershed approach, and NACWA pointed out how current CWA requirements and future consideration of nutrient removal technology, for example, are further complicated when looked at both from a ‘carbon footprint’ perspective but also more broadly from a holistic, total “environmental benefit” perspective. While EPA’s Office of Water works on finalizing its strategy — a goal Ben Grumbles, the EPA assistant administrator for water, has said he would like to accomplish before the end of the Bush Administration — EPA’s climate office is working to develop a reporting rule that would require certain industries, including wastewater treatment agencies, to monitor and report their greenhouse gas emissions. NACWA is meeting with EPA on June 25 to discuss the reporting rule development process and will update members on developments as they occur.
Long Awaited Water Transfer Rule Released By EPAEPA released its final rule on water transfers June 9, clarifying its position that transfers of natural, untreated water do not require a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The rule will provide important regulatory certainty for NACWA members by clarifying that NPDES permits are not required for transfers of water from one body to another, including routing water through tunnels, channels, or natural stream courses for public water supply, irrigation, power generation, flood control, and environmental restoration. The rule will also provide a formal EPA position for courts to consider in ongoing and future litigation on water transfer issues, including the current case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in which NACWA is involved. In that case, Friends of the Everglades v. South Florida Water Management District, activist groups have argued that transfers of natural, untreated water do require an NPDES permit. The promulgation of the final rule marks an important victory for NACWA and other groups which have advocated for its release. NACWA supported the draft version of the rule released in 2006, and has since met with officials at EPA, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and other federal agencies to push for its finalization.
NACWA, ASIWPCA Hold Joint Legal CallNACWA’s Legal Affairs Committee held a joint Late Breaking Legal Issues conference call this week along with the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control’s (ASIWPCA) Legal Task Force, providing an opportunity for members of the organizations to address issues of mutual concern. The groups discussed both recent news concerning nutrients and secondary treatment and a proposed rule to establish a fee-based National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program. The call started with an overview of a recent Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) petition regarding nutrients and secondary treatment, as well as a summary of NACWA’s comments submitted in response. NACWA and ASIWPCA met last month with EPA staff to discuss the NRDC petition, and EPA indicated its intention to respond and seek input from both organizations to formulate its response. Following this conversation, the call next turned to the proposed EPA permit fee rule, which would provide financial incentives to states which fund at least 75 percent of their NPDES permit programs through user fees. Efforts by both NACWA and ASIWPCA to stymie this proposal were addressed, including comments filed with EPA as well as correspondence with members of Congress. Call participants discussed additional efforts to block the proposal, which EPA appears intent on finalizing. The next Late Breaking Legal Issues call is scheduled for Sept. 11. Ideas for future calls are always appreciated; please send any suggestions to Keith Jones, NACWA general counsel, at kjones@nacwa.org . |