Clean Water Current Archive

February 15, 2008

NACWA Provides Input into Development of Trust Fund Legislation, Meets with Pelosi

NACWA met this week with the staff of Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), of the House Ways & Means Committee, to provide input — including Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) legislation and associated summary developed in 2005 — into a clean water trust fund bill that he is drafting.  The WIN legislation was developed through a series of facilitated sessions with key stakeholders, including several NACWA public agency members.  Blumenauer indicated his interest in drafting an outline of legislation with input from key stakeholders, including NACWA and other members of WIN.  He and Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, will host a meeting later this month with these groups to discuss the effort.  This move comes after Oberstar, Blumenauer, and Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), chair of the T&I Subcommittee for Water Resources and Environment, asked the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on viable revenue sources for a clean water trust fund  (see Feb. 1, 2008 Clean Water Current).  In an accompanying letter to the GAO, they said they intend to introduce trust fund legislation next year — after the Jan.15, 2009, deadline for releasing the study.  In related news, NACWA had the opportunity to discuss the concept of the clean water trust fund this week with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.  Speaker Pelosi indicated that she had recently discussed the issue with Blumenauer and Oberstar and was supportive of moving forward with the idea.  NACWA will update the membership with additional developments as they occur.

NACWA Hosts Head of WSSC at Utility Executives Perspectives Luncheon

NACWA hosted Andrew Brunhart, general manager of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), this week in the first of a series of 2008 Utility Executives Perspectives Luncheons, which feature Washington, DC-based presentations on issues of vital importance to the clean water community.  Brunhart, speaking to representatives from municipal groups and other stakeholder organizations, discussed challenges facing WSSC, the eighth largest water and wastewater utility in the nation, which serves 1.8 million customers in suburban Washington, DC.  He focused on the utility’s growing financial needs with regard to water and wastewater infrastructure and his effort to address them through an aggressive public outreach campaign on the importance of and cost of clean water.  He also stressed that the failure to make this point effectively to the public, local policymakers, and state legislators would be a lost opportunity.  NACWA plans to hold a series of these luncheon discussions at the Association’s headquarters, to showcase the knowledge, expertise and perspectives of clean water utility leaders.

NACWA Participates in Ohio Public Radio Talk Show on Privatization Issues

NACWA Executive Director Ken Kirk was a guest this week on The Sound of Ideas, a call-in show at Cleveland WCPN Public Radio, regarding a proposal by the Mayor of City of Akron to sell its sewer system as a way to finance college scholarships for local students.  Concern had been raised about selling the utility to a private entity.  During the broadcast, Kirk pointed out that clean water, environmental protection, and education are all “laudable goals” and said that municipalities need to balance how they pay for these priorities.  In addition, there is a $300-$500 billion clean water infrastructure funding gap — about $800 million in Akron alone.  Private entities would not only have to meet these obligations, but have to ensure a profit for their shareholders as well.  Several callers indicated their opposition to selling to a private entity and said water and sewer systems should remain in public hands.

2008 Winter Conference Presentations Now Online

Presentations from NACWA’s 2008 Winter Conference, Creating Tomorrow’s Utility Today . . . Keys to Management Success, are now available to Association members online.