Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - July 22, 2005
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NACWA Summer Conference Highlights
POTW Leadership in Uncertain Regulatory Climate
This week over 220 people attended the NACWA 2005 summer conference “Wastewater Conveyance and Treatment . . . Navigating an Uncertain Regulatory Environment” in Hilton Head, S.C.. The meeting focused on the impacts to the wastewater treatment community of delayed and often inconsistent EPA policies on issues such as sanitary sewer overflows, collection system permitting and blending. What became clear is that in the absence of clear EPA policy, NACWA and its members are continuing to make progress and to advocate on behalf of sound conveyance and treatment practices and policies.NACWA, NRDC Seek Common Ground on Key National Policies
The opening session featured a roundtable discussion with key NACWA members, EPA, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Clean Water Action on their perspectives of the current enforcement and regulatory environment and challenges facing the treatment community. The discussion revealed a remarkable, and perhaps unexpected, level of agreement between NACWA members and the activist community on the need for more funding to address critical issues such as deteriorating infrastructure and wet weather issues. Jerry Johnson, NACWA Board Member and General Manager of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, said the lack of clarity in EPA policies and regulatory guidance makes it difficult for treatment operators to set priorities and determine which wet weather issues to address first. Chris Westhoff, NACWA Treasurer and Assistant City Attorney for Public Works in Los Angeles, questioned whether Clean Water Act regulation is moving toward treatment requirements for stormwater, saying “there is not enough money in the universe” to treat stormwater. Kevin Weiss, the SSO Program Manager at EPA, cited improvements in the management of wastewater facilities and discussed the wet weather program as one driven by enforcement. Weiss added that EPA is not in a position at this time to set national performance standards for collection systems, preferring to address situations on a case-by-case basis. NRDC’s Nancy Stoner and Paul Schwartz, from Clean Water Action, both spoke of the need for more funding to help treatment works meet Clean Water Act obligations, advocated for watershed approaches to address clean water issues on a more holistic basis, and called for an integrated strategy for compliance, setting water quality standards, and enforcement as a way to reduce problems associated with wet weather by addressing them before they occur. In the area of blending, NACWA and NRDC agreed that ongoing dialogue between the activist community and treatment officials was necessary and would take place.NACWA Members Show Leadership in Absence of Sound Wet Weather Policy
Another conference highlight was a session titled Management and Optimization of Wet Weather Flow . . . Planning Today for Tomorrow’s Uncertain Future, which featured presentations by NACWA members on addressing wet weather challenges and continued problems with EPA’s inconsistent approach to wet weather. Presentations focused on technological options for addressing peak wet weather flows including a membrane bioreactor system, a high rate control system to address SSOs, and other recently implemented programs that are showing promise. In short it was clear that POTWs are not waiting for policies from EPA to do what is need to ensure continued water quality improvement and to protect public health.In keeping with NACWA tradition, the Association’s committee meetings demonstrated significant progress on key issues. For example, Guy Aydlett, director of water quality at the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia Beach, Va., and chair of the Pretreatment and Hazardous Waste Committee shared with an enthusiastic audience the progress made toward finalization of a pretreatment streamlining rule that will likely be signed by EPA in August. Detailed summaries of the committees’ meetings will be sent via Member Update soon. NACWA thanks all the attendees and participants for making the summer conference such a remarkable success. Make note of the fact that presentations from the conference will be posted on NACWA’s website.