NACWA to Engage Obama, Transition Team on Clean Water Priorities

With the 2008 election over, NACWA is preparing to engage the transition team for President-Elect Barack Obama and key leaders in Congress to highlight the clean water community’s priority issues in the coming year.  Obama is expected to move quickly to make key appointments and draft a legislative agenda that will most likely include consideration of a stimulus package— if one is not enacted during the upcoming lame-duck session.  Obama is expected to emphasize restoring public confidence and reinvigorating the federal government’s role in domestic issues, including the environment.

With this in mind, NACWA is sending a letter identifying the clean water community’s top policy recommendations to John Podesta, head of Obama’s transition team and President Clinton's former chief of staff, as well as other key aides who will be vetting candidates to be the next EPA administrator, assistant administrator for water, and to fill other significant positions.   The transition to a new administration and new Congress is a unique opportunity to articulate and advance the clean water community’s priorities and to ensure political appointees within key agencies are aware of, and prepared to consider, these issues.  NACWA’s letter specifically identifies several issues as top priorities for the clean water community, including sustainable infrastructure investment and financing, pursuing meaningful solutions to wet weather issues, acting on the need for holistic, innovative, and watershed-based approaches to address 21st century challenges, and addressing the challenges presented by climate change.  NACWA met just this week to discuss the complex issues of climate change with representatives from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which has been tasked by Rep. Edward Markey’s (D-Mass.) Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming to explore and help develop a path forward on climate change adaptation issues — a report that will help guide Congressional efforts on this vital issue, including on water/wastewater adaptation challenges and needs.

Focus on Economic Stimulus Continues

The economy, however, will clearly continue to dominate President-Elect Obama’s first year in office.  As such, the president-elect has already started to put his imprint on the issue by urging Congress to pass a stimulus bill.  Critically, Obama has called for significant new spending on infrastructure, specifically calling out roads, bridges, sewers, and broadband as areas needing federal investment.   Congress is also committed to taking up a stimulus bill the week of Nov. 17.  Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chair of the House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, has reiterated his commitment to ensuring that wastewater projects are a key component of such legislation.

Ready-to-Go Project Sought

NACWA is working hard to build on this momentum and ensure that the package includes $10 billion for wastewater infrastructure projects that would be ready-to-go within 120 days.  The Association has been compiling a list of ready-to-go projects that now totals over $6 billion.  The Association urges member agencies that have ready-to-go projects, but have not yet submitted them, to e-mail Byron DeLuke at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Chairman Oberstar has indicated that the stimulus bill would be similar to one passed by the House in September (H.R. 7110).  H.R. 7110 called for $6.5 billion in funding for wastewater infrastructure.  It is important to note that this funding would go through the clean water state revolving fund as low-interest loans and would not require a match.  As noted, NACWA has been pushing to have the amount made available increased to $10 billion with a significant portion of it in the form of grants.   Meanwhile, the Association continues to meet with House and Senate staff and delivered an Oct. 15 letter and accompanying list of ready-to-go projects to every Congressional office.  The positive response to this effort has been strong, with numerous House and Senate offices seeking to meet and discuss the issue further with NACWA and its members.

NACWA Prepares for Busy Year as Democrats Increase Majorities in Congress

Democrats also dramatically expanded their majorities in the House and Senate on Tuesday, which improves their ability to move clean water legislation.  The Democrats added 19 seats to their existing 17-seat majority in the House, with some races still undecided, and increased their one-seat majority in the Senate by at least five seats.  Though this falls short of the 60 seats needed to block a filibuster in the Senate, the new numbers will help Democrats improve the prospects for passage of key legislation in the areas of climate change, chemical security, Clean Water Act jurisdiction, beach protection, sewer overflows, and infrastructure funding.  NACWA’s aggressive advocacy this past year on all of these bills helped ensure that they reflected the concerns of the clean water community, putting the clean water community in a solid position going into 2009.   That being said, a significant amount of work remains to be done to proactively pursue important new policies that will benefit NACWA’s Member Agencies, while also preparing to counter programs that seek to impose unnecessary or inappropriate burdens and costs.  A key component of this is NACWA’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Critical Issues Action Initiative.  The political sea-change in the nation’s Capital demonstrates the vital importance of this Initiative.  Member support of the Critical Issues Action Initiative is greatly appreciated and will help ensure that the Association and its members have the tools needed to make the case for the nation’s clean water communities in the 111th Congress and the incoming Obama Administration.  For additional information on the key effort, please refer to the Oct. 20 Special Edition Current.  NACWA will continue to keep members fully apprised of developments throughout the transition process and also of NACWA’s advocacy efforts during this critical period.

Major Changes to EPA Pesticide Rules Will Improve Protection of Clean Water Utilities, Environment

Reversing its long-standing stance that antimicrobial pesticides used in homes and businesses do not impact water quality due to ‘dilution and degradation’, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently unveiled a proposed rule that would require pesticide manufacturers submit a significant amount of new information on the antimicrobial products they wish to market in the United States.  NACWA and other representatives from the clean water community discussed the proposal with EPA officials during a public workshop Thursday.

Over the past several years, NACWA has advocated for additional scrutiny of products before they are approved and marketed in the U.S. to fully evaluate their impact on water quality.  This EPA proposal would make significant improvements to the current assessment procedures for down-the-drain pesticide products, increasing our understanding of their full life-cycle impacts before they are approved by EPA.

During the public workshop EPA described the ‘Down-the-Drain’ model that it will use to assess the impacts of antimicrobial pesticides on the wastewater treatment plant process itself and the aquatic environment.  NACWA raised the issue of biosolids and noted that a full accounting of the environmental impact of these down-the-drain pesticides must also include a consideration of their impact on biosolids, especially those that are beneficially reused.  When it first developed its data requirements for pesticides, EPA did not account for the unique uses of antimicrobial pesticides (e.g., spray disinfectants and toilet cleaners) and did not require any environmental impact data for those pesticides used indoors, assuming that anything that made its way down the drain to a wastewater treatment plant would have little impact due to dilution, degradation along the way, and eventual treatment.

NACWA is currently reviewing the proposed rule and is soliciting feedback on the proposal from its members.  The Association will submit comments to EPA by the January 6, 2009 deadline.