Clean Water Current - July 1, 2011

July 1, 2011

NACWA’s SSO Workgroup Sets Strategy for Upcoming EPA Facilitated Workshop

In preparation for EPA’s July 14-15 workshop on sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and peak wet weather discharges, NACWA’s SSO Workgroup met via conference call this week to discuss the Association’s positions on the various issues that will be discussed at the workshop. These issues will likely be reporting and notification of SSOs; capacity, management, operations, and maintenance (CMOM) requirements; permitting for collection systems; extreme events leading to SSOs; and management of peak wet weather flows. NACWA will be meeting next week with staff from other organizations participating in the facilitated session, including American Rivers and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), to determine the areas of consensus and potential differing approaches between the environmental groups and the wastewater utilities. NACWA and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) will also be discussing the relevant issues before the workshop in order to present a consistent wastewater utility perspective.

Ben Horenstein, Manager of Environmental Services at East Bay Municipal Utility District and Co-Chair of NACWA’s Facility & Collection System Committee, and Lisa Hollander, Special Liaison for Legislative & Regulatory Affairs at the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and Chair of NACWA’s Legal Affairs Committee, will represent NACWA at the workshop. NACWA encourages its members to attend the workshop as observers if possible and to provide input during the public comment sessions. Registration for observers is required by July 6 at www.epa.gov/npdes/sso, and space is limited so members are encouraged to register as soon as possible. Please also notify Cynthia Finley at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if attending the workshop. EPA will open a phone line to allow members of the public to listen to the workshop proceedings, but not to make comments. NACWA will provide a detailed summary of the workshop at the Facility & Collection System Committee July 20 meeting at the Association’s Summer Conference in Chicago (www.nacwa.org/11summer) and in an upcoming Advocacy Alert.

EPA Extends Comment Period on Jurisdiction Guidance, NACWA Seeks Member Input

EPA announced this week that it was extending until July 31 the comment period on the recently issued draft guidance from the Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction, providing NACWA members with an additional opportunity to submit comments. The draft guidance was first issued on April 27, with a 60-day comment period, but the Agency has decided to extent the comment deadline by 30 days – given the significant interest generated by the guidance. The guidance seeks to expand the waters subject to federal CWA jurisdiction but, of greatest importance to NACWA members it would also maintain the existing regulatory waste treatment system exemption from CWA coverage. NACWA provided additional analysis of the draft guidance in Advocacy Alert 11-15 and requested comments or concerns from NACWA members regarding the guidance by mid-June. To date, NACWA has not received any comments from members, and is thus operating under the presumption that the guidance does not present significant operational or regulatory concerns for the Association’s public agency members. If members do have comments or concerns on the guidance, they are requested to please communicate them to Nathan Gardner-Andrews at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it as soon as possible. NACWA will be submitting comments by the July 31 deadline and wants to ensure that the Association’s position is informed by input from the membership. Additional information on the guidance is also available on EPA’s website.

NACWA Weighs in with Congress on Clean Water Funding

NACWA sent a letter this week to Chairman Michael Simpson (R-Idaho), Ranking Member James Moran (D-Va.), and to all Members of the House Interior, Environment & Related Agencies Subcommittee urging their support for providing at least $1.5 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), in line with the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget request. In addition, NACWA’s letter stated the importance of continuing to include provisions that ensure States must provide at least 30% of all funds above the $1 billion allocation level in the form of additional subsidization to entities using the CWSRF. This helps ensure access to low or no-cost financing and will help communities in the face of the economic downturn. In the letter, NACWA expressed the critical need for continued federal commitment to providing funding for wastewater infrastructure and made a strong case for the economic benefits of water infrastructure investment. The House Subcommittee is scheduled to mark up the FY 2012 spending bill next week.

In addition, NACWA, along with 26 other organizations strongly dedicated to protecting water quality, sent a letter this week to all Members of Congress urging them to provide at least $66.5 million for the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program; this is the FY 2010 enacted funding level. The letter stated that funding for this program is a critically important part of the Nation’s effort to protect our water resources and ensure sound science is at the heart of regulatory decision-making.

NACWA will continue its aggressive efforts to safeguard the CWSRF and NAWQA programs as Congress continues to eye environmental programs as part of broader budget-cutting measures. The Association will continue keep the membership updated on the appropriations process as developments occur.

NACWA Members Advance Key Affordability Legislation in Several States

In line with NACWA’s Money Matters™ campaign, several states have made significant progress recently in advancing key affordability legislation in their state legislatures. Most notably, Ohio’s Governor, John Kasich, on Thursday signed SB 22 into law requiring the Director of Ohio’s Department of Environmental Protection to consider key affordability, implementation prioritization, and cost-related issues before issuing NPDES permits, requiring and approving long-term control plans for wet weather discharges, and enforcing provisions of the Clean Water Act as applied to sewerage systems. NACWA will post the final Ohio legislation on its Money Matters™ website when it becomes available. The passage of the Ohio legislation follows Kentucky’s successful effort to pass its affordability legislation last year. In related news, Missouri has also advanced legislation (see page 41 of HB 89 ) requiring the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to make a full affordability finding before making any permit or other decision that will impact a sewer system. The legislation sets out the specific criteria for making such a determination.

These State efforts are vital to the national Money Matters™/regulatory prioritization legislative efforts and NACWA encourages its public agencies and their state/regional associations to advance legislation similar to the Ohio, Kentucky and Missouri efforts. To the extent your state is considering similar legislation please let NACWA’s Adam Krantz at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it know of these efforts. NACWA is seeking to have its national Money Matters™ legislation introduced this summer in both the House and Senate and this effort will be discussed in several committees at NACWA’s upcoming Summer Conference in July (www.nacwa.org/11summer).

Media Looks to NACWA for Views on Nutrients, Data on Rate Increases

NACWA this week continued to demonstrate its important role as a valuable resource to major media outlets and how the role of the media can help advance the Association’s advocacy efforts. The Associated Press (AP) quoted NACWA’s Executive Director, Ken Kirk, in a June 28 article, Homebuilders’ Group Sues EPA, Says Chesapeake Restoration Strategy Oversteps Federal Authority. The article explores the controversial Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load (TMDL) for nutrients and states that NACWA, “an organization representing sewer authorities nationwide, announced in May that they were asking a federal judge to let them join the farm bureau lawsuit in support of the EPA,” adding that “Association director Ken Kirk said at the time that his organization has concerns about the EPA’s strategy, but is much more concerned with attempts by the plaintiffs [the farm bureau] to walk away from the process.” The article on the lawsuit was published in The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun and over 15 media outlets across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. NACWA was also cited June 30 in an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch discussing MSD’s recent consent decree and the rate increases that would be needed to support the decree’s implementation. The article cited data from the Association’s annual Service Charge Index to compare St. Louis’ rate increases to those of utilities regionally and nationally. These and other articles can be viewed on the NACWA in the News webpage.

Have You Registered? Join NACWA at Our 2011 Summer Conference!

Join your clean water colleagues July 19-22, 2011 at the Westin Chicago River North in Chicago, Illinois for NACWA’s 2011 Summer Conference, Engineered for Success. . .Creating a First Class Public Utility. This year’s agenda will explore efforts underway at utilities to evaluate and enhance the sustainability of management practices and overall operations. In order to be included on the Summer Conference Participants List you must register by Tuesday, July 5. NACWA is also offering a discounted registration to Gen X/Gen Y staff attending with their NACWA Member representative. Visit NACWA’s website to view the program or register for the conference.