Member Pipeline - Clean Water Current - December 1, 2006
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for the Clean Water Currents ArchiveDecember 1, 2006
NACWA California Members Gain Major Legal Victory in Kern County Biosolids Case
A federal court in Los Angeles issued an opinion (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legforms/cases.cfm) on Nov. 22 preventing Kern County, Calif., from enforcing a ban on the land application of biosolids that was supposed to take effect Jan. 1, 2007. The ruling is a significant legal victory for the city of Los Angeles, the Orange County Sanitation District, and the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, all NACWA members, in their fight against Kern County’s ban. All three municipalities land apply their biosolids in Kern County. The ban was specifically designed to apply only to the three Los Angeles-area municipalities and would have significantly affected their biosolids management programs.In issuing a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the ban, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California noted that “public interest favors an injunction because shifting the biosolids currently applied to land in Kern County would have detrimental environmental effects,” and further stated that “there is no indication that the land currently in use has been harmed by the practice.” The court then went on to dismiss the claims by Kern County that land application of biosolids is a public health risk, concluding that “while applying sewage sludge to agricultural land may provoke a visceral response in lay observers, the available evidence suggests that the practice has been undertaken safely throughout the United States without any indication of detrimental environmental or health impacts, and indeed is the most environmentally sound method of managing the material.”
The written opinion follows a tentative oral order granting the preliminary injunction issued at a hearing in October (http://www.nacwa.org/private/cwc/20061027.cfm). Kern County is expected to appeal the district court’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
NACWA Reaches Out to Groups to Build Support in Farm Bill Efforts
NACWA sent a letter (http://www.nacwa.org/getfile.cfm?fn=2006-11-30farmltr.pdf) Nov. 30 to about 50 organizations representing the interests of farmers, conservationists, environmental advocates, and others seeking support in its efforts to push for stronger provisions in the Farm Bill when it comes up for reauthorization in 2007 or later. “NACWA supports the U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs that reward producers for environmental stewardship and is calling for new measures to quantify and strengthen the effectiveness of these programs in preventing agricultural run-off from reaching our rivers, lakes and streams,” the letter said. Attached to the letter is a one-page summary of a white paper (http://www.nacwa.org/getfile.cfm?fn=2006-10fbop.pdf) NACWA released in October and a list of the Association’s goals for the Farm Bill negotiations. NACWA has been meeting with conservation groups and others to discuss a strategy and develop legislative language and will discuss this effort at its Dec. 12 Strategic Watershed Agenda Action Planning Session in Kansas City (see related article).NACWA Action Planning Session in Kansas City Will Help Set Strategy
About 50 people have registered to attend NACWA’s Dec. 12 Strategic Watershed Agenda Action Planning Session in Kansas City. Participants from diverse geographical locations representing a good mix of public agency leaders, private affiliate representatives, and association staff will provide insight into a number of issues areas as NACWA prepares to consider a more targeted course of action for the Association – one that is both ‘green’ and focused on the value of strategic partnerships. NACWA will send out a Member Update next week providing members with the document that will be used as the basis for discussion. The Association welcomes member input into these areas from those who are unable to attend the meeting.NACWA Plans Response to EPA Brief Opposing Supreme Court Review of TMDL Case
EPA filed a brief Nov. 24 asking the U.S. Supreme Court not to decline review of the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Friends of the Earth v. EPA. EPA’s brief responded to a petition by NACWA member agency District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC WASA) seeking the court’s review of the D.C. Circuit’s April 25 decision that total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for the Anacostia River be expressed in daily terms only, and not in seasonal or annual terms. DC WASA filed its request for Supreme Court review on July 26. NACWA and the Wet Weather Partnership filed a brief (http://www.nacwa.org/getfile.cfm?fn=2006-08-24WWPUSSCAmicus.pdf ) Aug. 24 supporting DC WASA’s petition.In its opposition brief, EPA agreed that the appeals court ruling was in error, but said Supreme Court review of the decision is not warranted because the judgment only applies in the District of Columbia and because EPA recently issued nationwide guidance (http://www.nacwa.org/private/cwc/20061117.cfm) clarifying how to express TMDLs as a daily allocation. EPA further asserted that review is not necessary because even though TMDLs must now be expressed in daily terms, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting authorities still have the discretion to establish water quality-based effluent limitations in a permit that are not expressed as daily limitations. NACWA is currently drafting a reply to be filed next week that addresses EPA’s arguments and reiterates support for DC WASA and Supreme Court review of the D.C. Circuit case.
NACWA Participates in Water is Life Effort to Promote Public Awareness
NACWA participated in a meeting this week to help promote Water is Life and Infrastructure Makes it Happen (http://www.waterislife.net), a collaborative venture with the Water Environment Federation to inform the public about the value of water and the need to invest in the infrastructure that provides it. The website contains sample press releases and editorials as well as ad campaign materials that clean water agencies can use to get the message out about water and the need for infrastructure. NACWA serves as one of the national advisory committee partners and is committed to spreading the word among its membership about the resources available to clean water agencies to boost awareness within their communities about the value of water. NACWA believes initiatives such as these are important for advancing the Association’s advocacy goals, particularly its efforts to get a federal recommitment to water quality goals. NACWA will be providing more information about Water is Life in upcoming publications and correspondence.Online Registration Now Available for NACWA’s 2007 Winter Conference
Join your clean water colleagues Jan. 30 – Feb. 2, 2007 for NACWA’s 2007 Winter Conference – Global Trends Impacting Public Utilities . . .The Rising Cost of Clean. This year’s program will examine the increasing financial pressures municipalities face from external, sometimes global forces. With environmental regulations, consent decrees, and other mandates forcing municipalities to plan their capital improvement budgets years and often decades into the future, the added level of uncertainty with regard to how far the municipal dollar will ultimately go is of critical importance. Attire for the winter conference is business casual. Online conference registration and the agenda are now available, so please visit NACWA’s website (www.nacwa.org/meetings/07winter) for the most up-to-date information on the 2007 Winter Conference. Register today!