Member Pipeline - Legal - Alert (Leg 01-03)
To: Members, Affiliates, & Legal Affairs Committee
From: National Office
Date: March 7, 2001
Subject: REPORT ON FEBRUARY 1, 2001 MEETING; FUTURE MEETING DATES
Reference: Legal Alert 01-3
The February Clean Water News provides an overview of the excellent February 1, 2001 Legal Affairs Committee meeting held during AMSA’s Winter Conference in San Diego, California. This Alert contains more details on the topics discussed at this Committee meeting. In addition, mark your calendars for these future 2001 Legal Affairs Committee meetings which will provide important information for your practice and opportunities to network with colleagues:
National Environmental Policy Forum, May 19-23, Washington, D.C.
Legal Affairs Committee Meeting, May 22, 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Hear from key EPA policy, legal, and enforcement personnel
Summer Conference, July 17-20, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Legal Affairs Steering Committee Meeting, date & time TBD
WEFTEC 2001, October 13-17, Atlanta, Georgia
AMSA Legal and Regulatory Hot Topics Meeting, October 16, 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Meet with other AMSA members during the WEFTEC Conference and Exposition
Fourth Annual Developments in Water & Wastewater Law Seminar
November 14-16, Savannah, Georgia
Presentations on current water law challenges and skills development by prominent attorneys and academics; Continuing Legal Education credits available
Highlights of February 1, 2001 Legal Affairs Committee Meeting
The Committee welcomed AMSA’s new in-house General Counsel Alexandra Dunn. She will enhance the legal services AMSA provides to the membership and conduct AMSA’s litigation. Alexandra can be reached at 202/533-1803 and welcomes the opportunity to hear from Committee Members.
Lisa Hollander, SSO Workgroup Co-Chair and Assistant General Counsel for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, walked the Committee through key legal issues and concerns in EPA’s SSO proposal. The proposal is under review by the new EPA Administration and has not yet been published in the Federal Register. The Committee discussed the proposal’s lack of an effective affirmative defense and perpetuation of a "zero overflow" approach. The proposal will render even the best-designed city systems in a potentially incurable state of violation. The Committee and the SSO workgroup will work on AMSA comments to EPA on the proposal in the coming weeks. If you would like to get involved in this effort, please contact Greg Schaner at 202/296-9836.
Appropriately following the SSO overview, the Committee held a robust roundtable discussion on civil and criminal liability for wet weather events. Committee Chair Chris Westhoff, Assistant City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles, and Jim Dragna of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Emerson, LLP, outside counsel to the City, provided negotiation insights and techniques based on the City’s penalty and consent decree experiences following El Nino events. Thomas Woodruff, General Counsel for the Orange County Sanitation Districts, addressed criminal liability issues. He provided an excellent overview of the criminal issues–including a grand jury investigation–stemming from Summer 1999 beach closings in the City of Huntington Beach, California.
The Committee then discussed approaches to successful legal arguments regarding the economic feasibility of infrastructure upgrades. Charles McElwee of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, LLP, outlined techniques to increase the effectiveness of such arguments, including emphasizing the effect infrastructure upgrades will have on utility rates and a city’s corresponding ability to attract new businesses and growth.
To conclude the meeting Chair Christopher Westhoff discussed two recent favorable legal decisions. In Los Angeles v. State Water Resources Control Board, BS-060-957 (Sup. Ct. L.A. County, Nov. 30, 2000), the court found the Regional Water Board’s failure to endorse reasonable permit requirements for L.A. resulted in regulation which forced the City to incur enormous costs for additional treatment processes without environmental benefit. In Blanton v. Amelia County, No. 000277 (Va. Sup. Ct. Jan. 12, 2001), the Virginia Supreme Court issued a decision that will further the land application of biosolids. The Court found a county ordinance banning the use of biosolids inconsistent with State law and regulations expressly authorizing land application of biosolids conditioned upon a permit.
We hope to see you at a future Legal Affairs Committee meeting.