Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - February 17, 2006
Click Here
for the FaxAlert ArchiveFebruary 17, 2006
NACWA Files Amicus Brief Challenging Attorney Fee Provisions
NACWA filed an amicus curiae (http://www.nacwa.org/private/littrack/) brief this week in the case of U.S. v. Board of County Commissioners of Hamilton County, Ohio. The case concerns the combined and sanitary sewer overflow (CSO and SSO) consent decrees entered into in 2003 and 2004 by NACWA member agency the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSDGC). Previously, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio awarded the Sierra Club and its attorneys just short of $1 million in attorneys’ fees under the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) citizen suit provision (§ 505(d)) for their work opposing entry of the consent decrees. In its brief, the Association weighed in on important issues regarding the scope of the CWA’s fee-shifting provisions, on which the federal courts have reached varied outcomes. NACWA’s brief supports the important role of citizens in environmental protection, and the CWA’s citizen suit provision as crafted by Congress. The Association, however, emphasized that courts should apply the standard as explicitly established by Congress in the CWA, and award attorneys’ fees under the CWA only when citizens are "prevailing or substantially prevailing” parties. The Association supports MSDGC’s position that the Sierra Club was neither a substantially prevailing party nor a party to the consent decrees that settled the underlying litigation. Therefore, attorney fees are not warranted in this case.NACWA Weighs in on Potential Impacts of Silver Ions in Washing Machines
NACWA sent a letter (http://www.nacwa.org/private/reg_outreach.cfm) to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson this week expressing concern regarding a new washing machine that adds silver ions as a means of disinfecting clothing. The Association’s letter urged EPA to consider registering the appliance as a pesticide due to potential impacts on aquatic life resulting from the discharge of silver ions into the sewer system and ultimately to the environment. Similar concerns have been raised in the past about clothing impregnated with permethrins and other pesticides that also eventually end up in the sewer system. NACWA's letter also noted that silver is highly toxic to aquatic life and that clean water facilities have implemented pretreatment and pollution prevention programs to identify and reduce silver discharges in order to meet strict permit requirements and ensure effluent is non-toxic. NACWA will continue to engage EPA on the issue of consumer products that may introduce pollutants into the sewer system.Stakeholder Support Continues to Expand for Clean Water Trust Fund
Recently, several key groups have come out in favor of a clean water trust fund and have voiced provisional support for The Clean Water Trust Act of 2005 (H.R. 4560). A letter to Representative John J. Duncan (R-TN), Chairman of the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), American Rivers, Clean Water Action, the Coalition for Alternative Waste Management, and Food and Water Watch, stated their support of H.R. 4560 on the condition that several changes are made that are consistent with previous stakeholder consensus legislation developed by NACWA’s Clean Water Funding Task Force. The proposed changes include the need for increased funding for distributed, non-structural stormwater and wastewater approaches and the removal of incentives for privatization, among others. The groups noted the necessity of the legislation, stating that ‘‘[W]e strongly back a long-term funding source for clean water and thus support the basic outlines of H.R. 4560.” Following the implementation of the changes, these groups would fully support the legislation as it moves forward. NACWA sent a letter to Chairman Duncan this week supporting the recommended changes proposed by these environmental activist groups, noting their backing will help ensure broad bipartisan support.Similarly, a coalition of labor groups, including the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, referred to H.R. 4560 as “important legislation…that would address our country’s deteriorating water infrastructure”. The labor group’s letter to Chairman Duncan also emphasized the need to ensure Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage provisions are included in the bill as it moves forward. NACWA will work with these and other trust fund supporters to develop bipartisan support for the bill and will keep the membership up-to-date on any new developments. Copies of all three letters can be found on NACWA’s website (http://www.nacwa.org/private/leg_outreach.cfm).