Member Pipeline - Clean Water Current - October 6, 2006
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for the Clean Water Currents ArchiveOctober 6, 2006
Welcome to the first edition of NACWA’s weekly Clean Water Current (formerly the FaxAlert), a new name reflecting the Association’s enhanced environmental mission and vision.
Emerging Contaminants, New Orleans Recovery Highlighted at Pretreatment Workshop
NACWA’s 2006 Pretreatment and Pollution Prevention Workshop enjoyed a strong agenda and turnout in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter. NACWA was welcomed with open arms by the City of New Orleans as it continues to recover from the flooding following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Workshop highlighted the evolving role of the Nation’s pretreatment programs and explored the fact pretreatment personnel are increasingly dealing with pollutants for which they have no authority to regulate. Emerging contaminants in consumer products and other residential sources are challenging historic control mechanisms and, as such, pollution prevention, source control, and public education were major themes at the Workshop.In addition, representatives from the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board provided poignant presentations on the aftermath of Katrina and their ongoing efforts to bring water and wastewater services to the entire city. Only very small portions of the city remain without complete water and wastewater services. The Board’s treatment plant in the Lower Ninth Ward is approximately 55 percent restored and is expected to be fully operational in another 18 months at a cost of about $70million. The city as a whole has experienced a 70-percent revenue loss and a major gap continues to exist between its needs and available funding — a situation that challenges all infrastructure sectors, including water and wastewater services. Attendees at the Workshop gave the Board’s speakers a standing ovation, and they, in turn, expressed their appreciation to NACWA for holding this Workshop in New Orleans as vital to the city’s ongoing recovery efforts. Presentations from the Workshop will be made available on NACWA’s Conferences & Meetings webpage next week.
NACWA, NRDC Send Memo to EPA Supporting Proposed Peak Flows/Blending Policy
NACWA continues to advocate for EPA to issue a final peak wet weather flow blending policy. In support of these efforts, NACWA, working with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), sent a memo (http://www.nacwa.org/getfile.cfm?fn=2006-10-05nrdcnacwa.pdf) this week to Benjamin Grumbles, EPA’s assistant administrator for water, supporting the proposed peak wet weather flow blending policy that EPA is seeking to finalize. NACWA and NRDC thanked Agency officials for their work on the policy and suggested ways for EPA to provide the necessary resources to ensure sound and consistent implementation of the policy once it is finalized. These included suggestions that EPA develop a fact sheet to help regulated entities apply the new policy and compile a “Frequently Asked Questions & Answers” document to supplement the final policy in anticipation of the many questions that regulated entities might have. NACWA and NRDC worked closely with EPA to draft the policy, which is now being reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget, and look forward to its publication in final form.NACWA Participates in EPA Effort to Develop Science Plan for Recreational Use Criteria
NACWA participated in a conference call this week organized by EPA to bring key stakeholders together to develop a “Science Plan” to guide the Agency’s effort to explore developing new ambient water quality criteria for recreational uses. Specifically, EPA is seeking experts from a variety of interest groups to provide guidance for the development of appropriate indicators for new recreational water quality criteria. Given NACWA’s planned involvement in a lawsuit against EPA by the NRDC regarding missed deadlines to develop bacteria standards in coastal waters under the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act (BEACH Act), the Association views involvement in the Agency’s Science Plan effort as a complementary advocacy initiative. While it is a positive development that EPA is beginning to study recreational water quality issues
seriously, NACWA believes its participation in the lawsuit will also help ensure a reasonable timeline as EPA pursues this initiative.More specifically, to develop its Science Plan, EPA wants to convene a group of 20 to 40 experts from a variety of backgrounds, including the POTW community, that would meet for a five-day facilitated session to discuss approaches to criteria development; pathogens, pathogen indicators, and fecal indicators; methods development; relative risk to humans from different sources; source control and management actions; acceptable risk; and implementation realities. EPA anticipates the meeting will take place in Spring 2007 in the Washington D.C. area. EPA plans for the experts to essentially be "sequestered" for the five-day session, living in a campus-style, highly interactive environment. NACWA will be contacting Agency staff early next week to determine the specifics regarding their request for Association and public agency member participation and will then be contacting NACWA members as appropriate. EPA wants to obtain recommendations for participants by October 20.
EPA Finalizes Rule Identifying Test Methods for Bacteria in Wastewater, Offers Guidance to States on Bacteria in Recreational Waters
In related news, EPA released a final rule identifying test methods to detect four types of bacteria in wastewater and sewage sludge. The Agency says the rule (http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/methods/) adds new and revises existing methods to detect Escherichia coli (E. coli) and enterococci in wastewater and to detect fecal coliforms and salmonella in sewage sludge. EPA says wastewater treatment plants and industrial plants discharging wastewater may use these methods to "demonstrate compliance with permits under the Clean Water Act." NACWA has consistently supported this effort and will provide additional detail on this issue in upcoming Alerts and Updates. Also, EPA issued a document this week clarifying the flexibility states have in determining health risks from bacteria in fresh water and in salt water in the coastal and Great Lakes states. The document (http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches/bacteria-rule.htm), titled Water Quality Standards for Coastal Recreation Waters, provides guidance to states about appropriate and acceptable bacteria levels in recreational waters. With activity ramping up on the legal and regulatory fronts regarding standards for recreational waters, the Association will continue to inform its members of activity in this arena via the suite of NACWA publications.Join NACWA During WEFTEC for its Annual Hot Topics Breakfast
NACWA’s annual Hot Topics Breakfast will be held in conjunction with WEFTEC 2006 on Tuesday, October 24, from 8:00 am – 10:30 am, at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, Texas. The Breakfast will take place in the Reunion A & B rooms on the lobby level of the Hyatt Regency, which is the WEFTEC headquarters hotel. The first hour will be dedicated to a discussion with our guests from EPA on issues that will include EPA’s response to a D.C. Circuit Court decision defining the word “daily” in total maximum daily loads, the current status of the Agency’s proposed peak wet weather flows policy, next steps toward a viable sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) policy, the Agency’s ongoing efforts in the wastewater security and sustainable infrastructure arenas, and more. This discussion will be followed by an in-depth session titled Succession Planning at the Top....Lessons Learned, which will explore successful succession planning strategies for public agency executive-level staff. This session will feature a facilitated discussion of lessons learned by several utility leaders and Board members who have undertaken succession planning processes for executive-level staff, including case studies from Cleveland, Houston, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. These presentations will focus on the critical issue of whether to stay in house or conduct external searches for executive replacements.