Clean Water Current Archive

May 9, 2008

2008 Clean Water Policy Forum Addresses 21st Century Challenges, Solutions

The 2008 National Clean Water Policy Forum sponsored by NACWA and the Water Environment Federation (WEF), May 4-7, offered a unique opportunity for the clean water community to provide input to policymakers and help set the nation’s clean water agenda.  Participants heard from several distinguished members of Congress, congressional staff, top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) officials, as well as representatives from environmental groups and the agricultural community, and other key figures in this important election year.  Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, discussed his plans to introduce a clean water trust fund and stressed the importance of getting “the conversation going” about viable ways to address the water and wastewater infrastructure crisis.  “There isn’t a single community that I have visited over the past several years that is prepared to deal with its water infrastructure challenges,” Blumenauer said.  According to Janine Benner of Blumenauer’s office, participating on a panel of congressional staff during the Forum, the trust fund bill envisions six potential funding sources: a fee on bottled beverages, fees on flushable items, a corporate environmental tax, industrial dischargers permit fee, fees on agricultural chemicals, and fees on certain pharmaceuticals that can impact water quality.

Other House staff also spoke about infrastructure funding, with a Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee staffer pointing to the “systematic disinvestment in water resources by the federal government.” All agreed that the existing funding gap cannot be filled simply by raising rates at the local level and that renewed federal support is a key component in addressing growing needs.  However, House Appropriations staff warned that the budget picture for fiscal year (FY) 2009 is not likely to be any better than in FY 2008 and focused on the need to look for innovative new ways to fund infrastructure in tandem with a fully funded Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF).

Key Federal Officials Discuss Utility Management and Emerging Clean Water Issues
This year’s Policy Forum also featured the second annual Utility Executives Summit, which included an hour-long conversation with Ben Grumbles, the EPA assistant administrator for water.  Grumbles thanked the executives for their work on the Effective Utility Management collaboration and said that the resources developed through that collaboration would be helpful in addressing some of the challenges facing the clean water community in the coming years.  Grumbles said he wants to ensure that key EPA initiatives continue into the next administration, including efforts to address water quality challenges through a watershed-based approach.  He also encouraged the clean water community to comment on EPA’s draft climate change strategy.  “Water runs through every aspect of the strategy and is integral to virtually every aspect of climate change because of the energy-water connection,” he said.

The issue of pharmaceuticals in water was also highlighted during the Policy Forum.  Suzanne Rudzinski, Deputy Director of EPA’s Office of Science and Technology, outlined the Office of Water’s approach to the issue by improving the underlying science, increasing communication, promoting stewardship through partnerships, and only taking regulatory action when appropriate.  Robert Hirsch, the associate director for water at the USGS, also discussed what his agency is doing to address pharmaceuticals and other personal care products (PPCPs) that end up in the nation’s waters.  However, budget cuts at his agency are affecting its ability to collect data and provide real-time water quality information.

Issue Panels Focus Discussion on Opportunities for Collaboration
Two issue panels at the Policy Forum focused on collaborations between the clean water community and state and local entities as well as with key environmental organizations.  Funding, nutrient controls, and a focus on watershed-level efforts generated lively discussions.  A representative from the U.S. Conference of Mayors discussed the development of a water resources management hierarchy similar to that for solid waste, which follows the sequence to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  A similar model for water might focus on reducing consumption, water reuse, and water conservation.  Environmental advocates called for more collaboration on issues such as Farm Bill reauthorization to boost funding that will benefit water quality, efforts to ensure strong effluent limitation guidelines (ELGs) to curb runoff from construction sites and concentrated animal feeding operations, and efforts to ensure the upcoming transportation bill contains funding to address stormwater.

During the Policy Forum Capitol Hill Reception, Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), the  primary sponsor of H.R. 2452, the Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act, said the efforts of NACWA and American Rivers to develop the bill’s language outlining a national program for monitoring and reporting sewer overflows, is a “welcome” collaboration because both organizations care about clean water, and that the bill “will allow us protect the environment and public health while offering needed flexibility for [POTW] operators.”  He also echoed the need for additional federal funding.

As always, the Policy Forum provided NACWA members with an opportunity to meet with their congressional delegations on key water quality and infrastructure challenges facing the nation.

EPA Responds to NACWA Request on Wet Weather Enforcement Initiatives

NACWA received a letter this week from EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) in response to the Association’s inquiry last month about a potential new wet weather enforcement initiative affecting combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs).  EPA clarified that there is no new initiative but that CSOs and SSOs continue to be a “national enforcement priority area.”  This follows EPA’s designation in fiscal year (FY) 2005 of CSOs and SSOs as enforcement priorities for a three-year cycle through FY 2007, and a renewal of those priorities for fiscal years 2008 through 2010.  NACWA sent a request to OECA in early April seeking clarity on the current guidance to the Agency’s regional offices regarding federal enforcement of wet weather issues after hearing reports from municipal utilities and state regulatory agencies in Regions V and VI that EPA officials had recently discussed a “new enforcement initiative” from EPA Headquarters on wet weather issues, particularly CSOs and SSOs.  OECA’s response, dated April 30, indicates that EPA’s April 2005 memorandum on Guidelines for Federal Enforcement in CSO/SSO Cases continues to be the most recent guidance to states and regional offices and that there have been no recent updates or revisions to that guidance.  NACWA will continue to track wet weather enforcement trends around the country and report to the membership on any important developments.

NACWA Meets with Key Senate Staff to Discuss Biosolids

NACWA met with both Democratic and Republican staff members of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee in separate meetings this week to urge their support for biosolids management programs, which have received negative publicity in the media recently.  Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the committee, has signaled her intention to conduct an oversight hearing by the end of the summer about the land application of biosolids after a series of articles raised questions about the safety of the practice.  Her staff, however, was receptive to the important information NACWA provided regarding the safety of land application and the effectiveness of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Part 503 regulations, which govern biosolids management.  Representatives from three NACWA public agency members, including NACWA President Chris Westhoff, assistant city attorney and public works general counsel for the City of Los Angeles, briefed majority staff on the importance of land application to the nation’s clean water agencies, and the critical role it plays in California where 750,000 tons of biosolids are generated annually, and more than 60 percent of the biosolids are land applied.  The meetings follow a letter sent last week calling on EPW to ensure a balanced panel of witnesses if a biosolids hearing is scheduled and recommending Westhoff as an expert witness.  The committee’s minority staff, during a separate meeting this week, expressed an interest in inviting Westhoff to testify if the Democrats do not.  NACWA is now working to collect additional information on pollutant loadings in biosolids and incident response protocols requested by the committee staff during the meetings.

NACWA Sponsors Meeting on Safe and Sustainable Consumer Products

NACWA convened a meeting this week to continue the National Dialogue on Safe and Sustainable Consumer Products begun last May.  The dialogue was established to address concerns by NACWA members and other stakeholders over the growing number of consumer products with ingredients or additives that may end up in the sewer system and eventually be released into the environment.  These types of products include soaps containing triclosan, washing machines that discharge silver ions, and fabrics impregnated with copper or permethrin.  Through the dialogue, NACWA is hoping to engage other stakeholders to develop strategies for reducing the use of these additives and decrease the amount that ends up in the nation’s waters.  A series of letters from NACWA and other groups led to EPA’s September 2007 decision to regulate devices that produce silver ions, including washing machines, and NACWA hopes that the dialogue partners will find similar ways to work to together on the national level.

Leaders of NACWA’s Water Quality Committee, Pretreatment and Pollution Prevention Committee, and Mercury Workgroup attended the meeting this week with representatives from other environmental organizations, WEF, and staff from two associations representing retailers and manufacturers.  Representatives from EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Office of Science and Technology, and Office of Pesticide Programs were also on hand to provide their perspective.  During the meeting a working group was established to explore the issue of triclosan in soaps and other personal care products.

Though pharmaceutical issues are not being specifically addressed by the dialogue, several NACWA members in town to work on the consumer products issue had the opportunity to brief key Capitol Hill staff on the issue of pharmaceuticals and community take back programs.  Though no plans have been made, there is interest among House staff on potentially holding a hearing, similar to the April 15 hearing in the Senate, on pharmaceuticals in water.  NACWA will keep its members informed about the progress made on the consumer products dialogue and the pharmaceutical issue.