» Member Updates Archive

Many of the Association’s standing committees met in July as part of the NACWA Summer Conference in San Francisco.   This Member Update provides a summary of the priority issues discussed during the committee meetings and provides insight into NACWA’s strategic next steps for those members who were unable to attend.  Many of the issues discussed in this Update will also be the building blocks for continued strategic committee discussions, including those taking place at NACWA’s upcoming Winter Conference, February 1-4, 2010, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.   NACWA’s committee structure forms the backbone of its advocacy efforts and the Association strongly encourages member agency participation. A current list of the committee structure and leadership is available on the NACWA website.  To join NACWA committees, please contact Laura Cobb at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Biosolids Management Committee

Co-Chair, Bob Dominak, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Ohio
Co-Chair, Dave Taylor, Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wis.

The Biosolids Management Committee meeting began with a presentation on the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) biosolids management program.  San Francisco’s compost program has come under fire recently by environmental activist groups bent on eliminating all beneficial reuse of biosolids, and Natalie Sierra, the PUC’s Biosolids Manager, provided details on how the utility has responded.  The PUC is in the midst of a 30-year master planning process and is currently exploring a range of options for future biosolids management.  The Committee discussed its effort to prepare comments on U.S. EPA’s definition of solid waste rule that will have major consequences for sewage sludge incinerators and its ongoing work to collect the information necessary for development of comments on EPA’s proposed maximum achievable control technology (MACT) emission standards for incinerators, which are expected to be released soon.  The Committee was updated on some recent developments regarding dioxins in biosolids.  New studies being released by EPA are suggesting that the Agency needs to modify its assumptions about the risks posed by dioxins.  No immediate impacts for biosolids are anticipated, but NACWA is tracking the issue carefully.  In Kern County, California, the challenge of that county’s ban on land application was denied review by the U.S. Supreme Court and will head back to District Court.

Climate Change Committee

Chair, Edward Torres, Orange County Sanitation District, Calif.
Vice Chair, Antonio Quintanilla, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Ill.

The Climate Change Committee meeting began with an update on the latest developments from the 111th Congress and the legislative body’s efforts to develop comprehensive legislation on climate change and the Nation’s energy policies.  The Committee was briefed on the latest proposals and behind-the-scenes insights into the likelihood of passage of climate and energy-related session this and next Congress.  The EPA front has also been very active and the Committee heard updates on the Agency’s greenhouse gas tailoring and reporting rules and how they may impact clean water agencies, and several other regulatory activities.  The Committee was also updated on several ongoing projects at the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) that could have a major impact on wastewater climate-related issues in the future, including a new study that aims to provide the clean water community with a better estimate of its emissions of nitrous oxide.  Members from California provided the Committee with an extensive summary of the climate-related policy activities in that state.

Facility and Collection System Committee

Co-Chair, Martin Umberg, Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, Ohio
Co-Chair, Ben Horenstein, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Calif.

The Facility and Collection System Committee meeting began with a case study presentation from Jason Dow, General Manager for the Central Marin Sanitation Agency, and his agency’s wet weather challenges.  Central Marin has been working steadily on reducing peak flows since 2003, expanding the plant and working with a county-wide committee to prepare a Marin County lateral program report and public outreach documents.  The Committee also discussed the latest regulatory activity on sanitary sewer overflows and NACWA’s draft comments to EPA on a potential path forward for a national rule.  Financial capability concerns, related to wet weather consent decrees and more broadly other Clean Water Act (CWA) obligations, continue to be a focus of NACWA advocacy and the Committee was updated on the Association’s latest activities in this area, including the development of a new public relations campaign called Money Matters.  This effort will strive to highlight the tremendous financial burden many communities have already assumed in complying with the CWA and the new regulations that continue to add to the load.  The final Core Attributes of Effectively Managed Wastewater Collection Systems were unveiled during the Committee meeting and are now on NACWA’s website.

Joint Legislative and Regulatory Policy Committee

Chair (Legislative Policy Committee), Julius Ciaccia, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Ohio
Vice Chair (Legislative Policy Committee), Tatyana Arsh, City of Columbus Division of Sewerage & Drainage, Ohio

Chair (Regulatory Policy Committee), Steve Pearlman, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District, Colo.
Vice Chair (Regulatory Policy Committee), Norman LeBlanc, Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Va.

The Legislative and Regulatory Policy Committees met jointly to discuss several top policy issues for the Association.  Given NACWA’s active engagement with EPA and stakeholders over the coming months on several regulatory developments, the Committees discussed the latest on biosolids incineration, nutrients, and wet weather, including sanitary sewer overflows, stormwater, and EPA’s affordability approach.  On the legislative side, affordability concerns, funding, and energy/climate issues continue to be hot topics on Capitol Hill.  Updates on each of these issues were provided and the Committees discussed NACWA’s next steps in the waning days of the 111th Congress.  As a regular business item for the Regulatory Policy Committee, the Committees reviewed two Targeted Action Fund (TAF) requests that were subsequently approved by the NACWA Board of Directors.  The first request for $10,000 will ensure continued NACWA involvement in the ISO efforts to develop standards for utility asset and crisis management.  The second request, also for $10,000, was for support of an initial, nutrient-focused component of the Water Environment Research Foundation’s Linking Receiving Water Impacts to Sources and to Water Quality Management Decisions research challenge.

Legal Affairs Committee

Chair, Lisa Hollander, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Ohio
Vice Chair, Hilary Meltzer, NYC Department of Law, N.Y.

The Legal Affairs Committee started its meeting with an update on current NACWA litigation and legal projects, including the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the City of Los Angeles v. Kern County biosolids case, a positive ruling from the U.S. Environmental Appeals Board in the San Jacinto River Authority Appeal involving whole effluent toxicity (WET) limits, and the ongoing NACWA Consent Decree Implementation Survey.  The committee then heard a presentation on a recent lawsuit filed by member agency the East Bay Municipal Utility District over a PCB total maximum daily load (TMDL) for San Francisco Bay.  The lawsuit serves as an example of continued efforts by regulatory agencies to reduce loadings for certain pollutants from clean water utilities without providing sufficient legal or scientific basis for the reductions.   Committee members participated in a brief question and answer session following the presentation, including how other utilities are responding to similar actions by their regulatory authorities.

The committee then engaged in an open discussion forum on current legal issues, with attention focused on a number of emerging legal concerns related to stormwater management.  Of a particular interest was a recent decision from Missouri state court that invalidated the stormwater fee program set up by the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District to pay for its stormwater management program.  Although the decision turned on specific aspects of Missouri state law and is applicable only to the St. Louis program, it nevertheless serves as an important example of how local ratepayers can have success filing legal challenges to fee programs under state law.  Committee members agreed that NACWA members need to remain vigilant for other, related class action lawsuits that may be filed by plaintiffs’ attorneys seeking similar results in other communities.  The committee also discussed the troubling expansion by EPA of the “maximum extent technically feasible” (METF) standard for control of stormwater runoff in an attempt to replace the existing “maximum extent practicable” (MEP) standard.  There was concern among the committee that EPA was attempting to change the applicable standard via regulation without going through the appropriate legislative process to alter the applicable MEP standard currently found in the Clean Water Act.

The committee ended the meeting with a brief discussion of the upcoming NACWA 2010 Developments in Clean Water Law Seminar, scheduled for November 17-19 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  All committee members are encouraged to attend this year’s Law Seminar!  Additional information can be found on NACWA’s website.

Stormwater Management Committee

Chair, Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Ohio

Members of NACWA’s Stormwater Management Committee began their meeting by hearing presentations on a number of innovative municipal stormwater programs.  First up was a presentation from NACWA member agency the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, which highlighted the watershed approach, taken by Los Angeles to deal with their many unique stormwater issues.   Committee members then heard from NACWA member the San Francisco PUC discussed the many techniques such as stormwater design guidelines and green infrastructure that San Francisco is using to address stormwater runoff.   The committee also heard from Tess Dunham of NACWA Legal Affiliate Somach Simmons & Dunn about recent stormwater regulatory developments in California.

Utility Management Committee

Chair – Jon Schellpfeffer, Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wis.
Vice Chair – Kurt Egelhofer, Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility, Alaska

NACWA’s Utility Management Committee continued its ongoing dialogue on sustainable rates by examining the regional breakdown reports from the 2009 NACWA Index, completed this past spring.  The regional reports provide a more refined look at the national trends in sewer system charges.  The Committee got a sneak peek at the survey form for NACWA’s 2011 Financial Survey, which will get underway early in 2011, and Committee leaders asked for input on the draft form.  Updates were provided for the Committee on a range of ongoing activities, including CleanWater Central, NACWA’s involvement in the Effective Utility Management effort, and NACWA’s ongoing engagement on the international level with the International Organization for Standardization and the potential development of standards for asset management and security-related issues.  The Committee approved a Targeted Action Fund (TAF) request (later approved by the NACWA Board) to continue supporting NACWA’s involvement in the ISO efforts.

Water Quality Committee

Chair, Barbara Biggs, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District, Colo.
Vice Chair, James Pletl, Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Va.

The Water Quality Committee focused its discussions on nutrient-related issues including the Association’s comments on the draft Florida numeric criteria and its letter to EPA on the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) secondary treatment petition.  Recent events in Wisconsin and Kansas are now being added to the mix and the Committee discussed plans for the upcoming Nutrient Summit in September.  Gail Chesler with the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District in Martinez, Calif., updated the committee on municipal efforts in California to affect change in EPA’s registration approval process for pesticides, focusing in on the Agency’s failure to account for the full range of impacts the pesticides may have on the environment.  The Committee heard updates on NACWA’s ongoing efforts to support its members in Texas on whole effluent toxicity (WET) issues, including a recent favorable decision from the EPA Environmental Appeals Board.  EPA’s recent release of its test of significant toxicity (TST) approach to evaluating WET test methods – which NACWA has raised concerns with – was also noted and members from California indicated that state regulators there are already working to incorporate that approach into state rules.  Updates were also provided on EPA’s work to develop new recreational water quality criteria, including recent court-ordered updates from EPA on its progress, and a recent proposal by EPA to require the use of ‘sufficiently sensitive’ analytical test methods for Clean Water Act permitting purposes.