» Clean Water Current Archive

October 25, 2013

Green Infrastructure Summit Brings Leaders Together; EPA Announces New Strategy

Onondaga County and EPA held the Community Summit on Green Infrastructure in Syracuse, NY this week, convening EPA’s Green Infrastructure Partner communities and others who are pioneering the large-scale implementation of green infrastructure (GI). Implementation opportunities, obstacles, and lessons learned were discussed through a series of roundtable dialogues facilitated by staff from the Environmental Finance Center (EFC). Officials from EPA Region 2 and the Agency’s Office of Water, along with Acting Administrator of Water, Nancy Stoner, participated in both days of the Summit. Approximately 30 communities, including over a dozen NACWA members, sent representatives highlighting their commitment to GI.

Over the course of two days (October 21-22), the communities’ dialogue included successes in financing, partnerships, standardization of design, and public education on GI. Although many programs are experiencing real, tangible progress, the communities acknowledged the obstacles they continue to face with public perception, maintenance, research, and funding. At the conclusion of the Summit, communities posed a number of “asks” to EPA, requesting that the Agency provide specific resources, research, and data centralization, in order to improve community implementation and foster the growth of their GI programs. A link to the Summit website can be found on NACWA’s GI issue page, along with follow-up materials.

Acting EPA Administrator, Bob Perciasepe, held a press conference during the Summit to announce the Agency’s new GI Strategic Agenda. The strategy builds on previous versions issued in 2008 and 2011 respectively, with a focus on federal coordination, regulatory support, information exchange, financing, and capacity building. NACWA is taking the lead in re-convening the national organizations that originally signed the 2007 GI Statement of Intent (SOI), in addition to some possible new partners, for a meeting with EPA’s Office of Water next week. The purpose of the meeting is to re-evaluate and build upon the original SOI and determine how the national organizations can continue to foster GI.

EPA Will Not Appeal 8th Circuit Blending Ruling

EPA will not seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the March 25 decision in Iowa League of Cities v. EPA, which invalidated key elements of the Agency’s improper efforts to regulate blending and raised significant concerns about the Agency’s ongoing attempts to limit wet weather treatment options.  NACWA has strongly opposed EPA’s position that it has legal authority to limit blending and other internal plant processes if all applicable effluent limits are being met at the final point of discharge.  The March 25 decision marked an important legal victory for the municipal wastewater sector by providing much-needed and long overdue legal certainty and solidifying flexibility for utilities to safely and cost-effectively use blending to manage wet weather flows. NACWA is pleased that EPA will not further appeal the decision and hopes the Agency’s decision reflects an acknowledgement that imposing secondary treatment standards within the plant is illegal.  The Association looks forward to meeting with EPA and other stakeholders to advocate for implementation of the ruling nationwide. Additional details on the original ruling can be found in the March 29 Clean Water Current.

NACWA Participates in National Water Quality Trading Meeting

NACWA participated in a meeting, this week, of the National Network on Consistency & Integrity in Water Quality Trading (WQT) to identify key issues for WQT programs.  The issues identified will serve as the foundation for a set of best practice recommendations to assist those developing future WQT programs.  The Network is a new initiative sponsored by The World Resources Institute and the Willamette Partnership.   Other participants included EPA; the U.S. Department of Agriculture; the American Farmland Trust; the National Association of Conservation Districts; the Association of Clean Water Administrators; the Electric Power Research Institute; and, the U.S. Water Alliance, among others.  Conversations will continue through next year and will culminate in the anticipated release of a paper outlining best WQT practices endorsed by Network participants.  Water Quality Trading is a priority focus as part of NACWA’s Water Resources Utility of the Future (UOTF) initiative.  For more information on the Network and NACWA's engagement please contact Hannah Mellman at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Cybersecurity Framework and National Infrastructure Protection Plan Released

The updated Draft Cybersecurity Framework was released this week, outlining how cybersecurity risk can be managed by critical infrastructure owners and operators. The Framework was developed as directed in Executive Order 13636 (EO), “Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity,” and the associated Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21). NACWA submitted comments in April providing recommendations for the development of the Framework. The Association and its Security & Emergency Preparedness Committee are currently reviewing the draft Framework, and NACWA is also working with the Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) to review the document. The deadline for comments will be set when the Framework is published in the Federal Register. NACWA will likely submit comments in coordination with the WSCC. Association members wishing to comment on the Framework should contact Cynthia Finley at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The WSCC has also received a final draft of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) rewrite, which was also mandated by the cybersecurity EO and PPD-21. The updated NIPP integrates cybersecurity with physical security of the nation’s critical infrastructure. The WSCC submitted comments on an early draft of the NIPP and will review the final draft before it is delivered to the White House on November 8. NACWA’s representatives to the WSCC – Patty Cleveland, Assistant Regional Manager, Northern Region, of the Trinity River Authority, Texas, and Jim Davidson, Manager of Safety & Security with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, OH – are both participating in this review.

USDA Biorefinery Assistance Funding Available to Some Clean Water Agencies

USDA's Biorefinery Assistance Program, which was announced in the Federal Register earlier this month, will have approximately $76 million in carry-over budget authority to support approximately $181 million in new loan guarantees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. The program provides guaranteed loans for the development and construction of commercial-scale biorefineries or for the retrofitting of existing facilities using eligible technology for the development of advanced biofuels.

Clean water agencies must be located in, or adjacent to, cities or towns with fewer than 50,000 people to be eligible to borrow funds under the program. Applications must be received by January 30, 2014. NACWA believes that even limited funding programs such as these can benefit segments of its membership and can serve as building blocks to broader programs as part of the Water Resources Utility of the Future (UOTF) initiative. For additional information, visit USDA’s website or contact Patricia Sinicropi at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

House Passes Water Resources Reform & Development Act

The House of Representatives passed H.R. 3080, The Water Resources Reform & Development Act (WRRDA), on Wednesday by a vote of 417 to 3. The bill authorizes $8 billion in new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects and $2 billion to modify existing projects. WRRDA was introduced in the House by Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chair, Bill Shuster (R-PA), Ranking Member Nick J. Rahall, II (D-WV), Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee Chair Bob Gibbs (R-OH) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Tim Bishop (D-NY).

In May, the Senate passed its version of the bill, which included a $50 million Water Infrastructure Finance & Innovation Act (WIFIA) pilot program to provide financing for both flood control projects and regionally significant water and wastewater projects. The House version does not include the WIFIA program. The bill will now head to conference where the WIFIA program may be included, removed, or altered as part of the final version of the bill. NACWA will keep members informed of any updates.

Nancy Stoner to Keynote Law Seminar – Hotel Deadline November 1!

Nancy Stoner, EPA’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Water, will provide the Keynote Address at NACWA’s 2013 National Clean Water Law Seminar. The Seminar, scheduled for Nov. 20 – 22 in San Antonio, Texas, promises to deliver a compelling program covering the most important recent developments in clean water law.

Stoner’s address will cover EPA’s current clean water legal priorities, including efforts to clarify the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) jurisdiction, draft new stormwater rules, and provide additional flexibility for innovation to municipal clean water utilities in meeting their CWA obligations through an integrated planning approach. Stoner’s comments will help set the stage for many of the subsequent panel discussions at the Seminar which will cover a variety of topics including the current state of integrated planning, consent decree developments, stormwater, and wet weather regulatory trends.

Additional information on the Seminar, including hotel registration and an updated agenda, is available on NACWA’s website. The hotel registration deadline is November 1 - only one week away - so don’t delay in making your plans. Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits, including ethics credits, will be available at the conference and the Association has already received CLE approvals from a number of states. Time is running out to reserve your spot in San Antonio, so hurry and register today!

NACWA Blog of the Week:
The Shutdown, Clean Water Agencies and the Need for Collaboration

The Water Voice this week focuses on the shutdown of the federal government. Regardless of one’s views about the merits, or lack thereof, of the shutdown, it crystallized one point: while the federal government could close its doors for 16 days, the notion of our nation’s public clean water agencies closing their doors for one day – or even one hour – is comparatively unthinkable and would cause a public outcry unlike anything witnessed during the shutdown. The fundamental necessity of the service provided by the national network of clean water agencies makes it clear that every stakeholder should collaborate to the greatest degree possible to ensure the continued viability of these agencies. Read on to find out how collaboration in the water sector is working.