» Clean Water Current Archive

October 16, 2009

EPA Release Enforcement Plan, NACWA to Respond with White Paper

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson testified before the House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee yesterday on the agency’s goals to improve enforcement under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and announced the release of the CWA Enforcement Action Plan that incorporates a number of recommendations from NACWA.  NACWA provided its members with a detailed review of the plan yesterday in Legal Alert 09-04.  The hearing marked the 37th anniversary of the CWA and examined the effectiveness of national and state enforcement programs.  Representatives from state enforcement agencies also testified on their track record and called for a renewed partnership with EPA for achieving enforcement goals.  Witnesses also included local citizen activists who spoke to the issue of polluted waters caused by agricultural run-off.

EPA’s CWA Enforcement Action Plan is intended to improve the overall effectiveness and transparency of clean water enforcement actions and was developed over the past three months with input from a variety of stakeholders including NACWA, which submitted written comments  in August.  The plan incorporates a number of NACWA’s suggestions, including a recognition by EPA that a new approach needs to be developed for carrying out enforcement actions that focus not only on the biggest permitted facilities, such as clean water utilities, but also look at the impacts from other sources of water pollution such as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).  Additionally, the plan echoes NACWA’s call for more consistent clean water enforcement actions among the states, ensuring that each state is consistently and uniformly carrying out clean water enforcement actions and that there are not discrepancies in enforcement actions or policies from state to state or region to region.

However, the plan also states that enforcement against traditional point source dischargers will continue to be a priority for EPA, and NACWA is committed to protecting its members’ interests from unreasonable and unnecessary enforcement against clean water agencies.  As part of this effort, NACWA will be developing an enforcement white paper over the coming weeks highlighting the significant investments clean water agencies have made over the past 40 years to improve water quality.  The paper will also discuss many of the challenges facing utilities under the current EPA enforcement regime, including issues such as funding and affordability, and will argue that any effort to improve overall water quality must shift the enforcement burden away from municipal dischargers and onto other sources of water pollution such as non-point sources that contribute more significantly to water quality impairment.  NACWA plans to distribute the white paper broadly including to members of Congress, regulators, and policymakers to ensure that any future clean water enforcement actions do not unfairly burden the municipal clean water community.

NACWA Advocacy Makes Prominent Showing at WEFTEC.09

NACWA’s advocacy efforts were on display this week at WEFTEC.09 in Orlando where the Association featured its Clean Water Advocacy Center in the exhibit hall.  The booth was packed with information about NACWA’s advocacy and member services programs and generated significant interest among those attending the conference.  In addition, NACWA President Kevin Shafer, executive director of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, and NACWA Executive Director Ken Kirk, spoke on a panel, The Future for Water Infrastructure Investment, Beyond the Stimulus Package.  Kevin Shafer spoke about the use of green infrastructure in Milwaukee as a way to address stormwater more efficiently, while Ken Kirk spoke of the importance of enhancing the federal government’s role in helping ensure strong clean water protections.  He pointed out that water is a public trust that should remain in public hands, and that privatization, full-cost pricing, and other proposals will not adequately address the infrastructure crisis.

NACWA’s annual Hot Topics Breakfast at WEFTEC.09 attracted more than 60 people and featured comments from Pete Silva, EPA assistant administrator for water; Mike Shapiro, EPA deputy assistant administrator for water; James Hanlon, director of the EPA Office of Wastewater Management; Ephraim King, director of Science and Technology in the Office of Water; and Suzanne Schwartz, acting director of the Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds; and Linda Boornazian, director of the permits division.

Those attending the breakfast expressed their deep concern with EPA’s approach to blending, particularly its policies that seek to impose secondary standards on individual treatment units of the POTW.  NACWA emphasized that EPA should develop a comprehensive wet weather policy that would address blending and other issues, including sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs).  EPA officials continue to state their view that blending constitutes a bypass requiring a no-feasible alternative analysis and continue to seek NACWA’s input into how to proceed.  NACWA will be sending EPA a detailed letter regarding its position and will hold a conference call with its blending work group soon to further address this important issue.  Ephraim King thanked NACWA for its analyses of nutrient control issues in response to NRDC’s petition.  The EPA officials also addressed the growing importance of stormwater management and the development of recreational water quality criteria.

NACWA to Assist in Economic Study of Low Impact Development Technologies

NACWA is working with the EPA Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds (OWOW) to study the implementation of low-impact development (LID) projects, including green infrastructure, by public entities and the economic analyses they used to document the benefits of these practices.  Specifically, OWOW wants to identify municipalities, regional watershed districts, public utilities and other entities that have conducted quantitative economic assessments of existing LID programs and/or economic feasibility analyses of proposed LID programs. The goal is to develop case studies on a range of LID practices and the corresponding evaluations of their economic, environmental, and/or social benefits and include analyses such as triple bottom line, cost-effectiveness, or benefit-cost ratios.  OWOW has asked NACWA and its members to help with this study.  The study team is seeking NACWA members that have prepared, or are preparing such analyses to participate in the project.  Those interested in participating or who seek more information should contact NACWA’s This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by Oct. 23.

Drinking Water Security Bill Approved by House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment favorably reported two bills that would establish security-related protocols for drinking water systems and private companies and other entities that use certain “substances of concern.”  The Drinking Water Security Act (H.R. 3258) would establish security provisions at drinking water facilities and make EPA the lead oversight agency, while the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act (H.R. 2868) would reauthorize a similar program for private companies and other facilities and give oversight authority to the Department of Homeland Security.  NACWA has long supported having jurisdiction for water and wastewater security housed at EPA, making H.R. 3258 a positive step in this direction.

The subcommittee adopted several amendments to the drinking water bill, including one from Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the subcommittee chair, that would allow utilities the right to appeal a decision to require switching chemical disinfectant processes.  Another amendment would require non-supervisory employees to be notified and given an opportunity to attend inspections of the utility by state or federal administrators.  Two Republican amendments that were not adopted would have removed provisions requiring drinking water utilities to assess inherently safer technologies and subject security programs to citizen suits.  The measures now must await action by the full House Energy and Commerce Committee.  Once the measures clear this committee, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is expected to take up the Wastewater Security Act (H.R. 2883), which will establish a similar security program for wastewater treatment agencies at the EPA.

NACWA Website Wins Award

NACWA’s redesigned website, rolled out a year ago, was awarded this week with the Non-Profit Standard of Excellence Web Award from the Web Marketing Association.  Now in its 13th year, the WebAwards is the premier annual website award competition that names the best Web sites in 96 industries while setting the standard of excellence for all website development.  NACWA’s site competed with more than 1,500 entries from 45 countries in the non-profit category.

Law Seminar Hotel Registration Deadline Monday – Register Today!

The hotel registration deadline for NACWA’s 2009 Developments in Clean Water Law Seminar is Monday, Oct. 19, so hurry and make your reservations today!  Those registering by the deadline will receive the special conference rate of $219 per night.  The Nov. 11-13 Seminar has an agenda packed with informative topics for clean water attorneys that will address many of the most current issues in clean water law.  Top legal speakers from around the country are lined up, including keynote addresses from Peter Silva, EPA assistant administrator for water, and Cynthia Giles, EPA assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance.  Panel discussions will include an analysis of what to do when the legal rules change, how to improve your utility’s public perception, a review of the most important Clean Water Act cases of the past year, and an overview of current trends in consent decrees and clean water enforcement actions.  Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits, including ethics credits, have been secured for the states of California, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, with approval from additional states expected soon.  More information on the Seminar can be found on NACWA’s Conferences & Professional Development webpage.  Be sure to join your clean water colleagues for this annual event!