BNA

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies has asked the Environmental Protection Agency to draft comprehensive guidance to help municipalities deal with growing affordability challenges to control of combined sewer overflows, sanitary sewer overflows, nutrient pollution, stormwater runoff, and other problems.

In a meeting with EPA officials Oct. 15, NACWA officials asked EPA to review and update a 1997 document, Combined Sewer Overflows—Guidance for Financial Capability Assessment and Schedule Development, which they said was out of date and insufficient to address other challenges facing municipal wastewater treatment agencies.

Adam Krantz, managing director of NACWA for government and public affairs, told BNA the EPA officials at the meeting included Deputy Administrator Robert Perciasepe and other EPA division leaders, including the heads of offices of water and enforcement. NACWA represents municipal sewer authorities.

“We want EPA to work with us to set priorities” to help make determinations that “make the most sense” for states and municipalities, Krantz told BNA

As a result of EPA's 1994 combined sewer overflow policy, communities have had to develop long-term control plans. Under this policy, Krantz said, subsequent settlement agreements to reduce CSOs, generally referred to a maximum affordability level of 2 percent of a community's median household income, although there is some flexibility for poorer communities.

Other Challenges Arise
The problem, Krantz said, is that since the 1994 CSO policy was issued, other clean water challenges have arisen, such as maintenance of aging infrastructure, development of stormwater rules, control of sanitary sewer overflows, the need to reduce excess nutrients, development of total maximum daily pollution loads, and security-related issues.

Dealing with these additional clean water challenges can impose high costs to municipalities, but the 2 percent affordability ceiling just applies to combined sewer overflows, Krantz said.

As EPA continues to draft new policies and regulations, he said, officials with municipal wastewater authorities are left wondering which issues to prioritize. EPA has not issued guidance on the matter; often such priorities differ depending on the locality. “EPA needs to be clear, to recognize municipal expertise through the negotiation process about which should come first,” Krantz said. For example, a particular community might be on a 20-year track for a large combined sewer overflow project under a consent agreement, when it becomes clear that nutrients are contaminating a local water body. EPA and the municipality should allow for solutions that deal with the problem on an integrated basis and be able to incorporate new techniques as they arise, he said.

Krantz said municipal wastewater treatment officials continue to raise the affordability issue with EPA because hiking sewer rates to pay for too many improvements at once could lead to a municipality's financial collapse, particularly during this economic downturn.

The nation's mayors also have urged EPA to consider local affordability issues when negotiating consent agreements. NACWA has worked with the mayors in seeking increased flexibility (91 DEN B-1, 5/13/10).

Municipal wastewater treatment officials also raised the issue with several members of Congress. Eight members of Congress wrote to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders Sept. 27 seeking their help in urging EPA to review and update its 1997 document.

Letter to Committee Leaders
The letter, addressed to Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) and ranking member John Mica (R-Fla.), was signed by Reps. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.), Ben Chandler (D-Ky.), Tom Latham (R-Iowa), Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio), Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Robert Latta (R-Ohio), Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), and District of Columbia Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D).

“This issue is becoming increasingly more urgent to our constituents and municipal governments during this time of economic uncertainty,” they wrote. In pursuing enforcement actions, EPA often requires communities to undertake projects to correct problems stemming from combined sewer overflows from wet weather discharges “seeking rate increases that amount to 2 percent of the ratepayers Median Household Income (MHI),” the letter said.

“EPA's practice of relying on MHI as the primary indicator of financial ability to carry out these costly projects does not accurately reflect a community's ability to undertake these investments, nor does it necessarily correspond to an equally determinable water quality improvement,” they wrote.
“Water quality improvements must be made in a responsible manner that does not threaten the financial stability of our communities and their residents.”

Rate Hikes in St. Louis
For example, the letter said, the city of St. Louis has extensive water infrastructure needs given its infrastructure age and EPA's implementation of more rigorous water quality criteria for the Mississippi River. The Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) of St. Louis was required to undertake $1.9 billion in sewer improvements to limit combined sewer overflows, according to the letter. This investment comes on top of $4 billion in sewer improvements that have already been put in place, the letter said.

In June 2007, EPA and the state of Missouri sued the sewer district in federal court, charging that the district had not moved quickly enough to prevent discharges of untreated sewage from the 150-year-old system (United States v. Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, E.D. Mo., No. 4:07-CV-1120, filed 6/11/07; (115 DEN A-10, 6/15/07)

At the same time, the city's unemployment rate is 9.9 percent with 23.8 percent of individuals living below the poverty line.“In spite of these facts, MSD has had to increase rates by 60 percent in recent years and a 64 percent hike has been proposed to finance additional investments over the coming years,” the letter said. “This will result in the quadrupling of residential sewer bills in the near future … with no promise of a significant increase in water quality in the Mississippi River due to other pollutant sources that remain unaddressed.”

“That's where the bind comes in,” said Krantz. “No one is saying these regulations are not necessary,” he said. But several EPA divisions, including the Enforcement Office, need to be involved in setting priorities, and municipalities, which have the expertise and must pay the costs, also must be involved.

By Linda Roeder

The letter to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Oberstar and ranking member Mica is available at http://op.bna.com/env.nsf/r?Open=jstn-8altwy.