Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - October 20, 2005
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for the FaxAlert ArchiveOctober 20, 2005
NACWA Releases Decontamination Wastewater Guide
NACWA, through a cooperative agreement with EPA, finalized and distributed its Planning for Decontamination Wastewater: A Guide for Utilities (http://www.nacwa.org/getfile.cfm?fn=2005-10decon.pdf) this week. The Guide is intended to increase the level of awareness within the wastewater community and provide guidance on how to ensure that wastewater infrastructure is protected in the event of a terrorist attack. Specifically, the Guide is designed to ensure managers of wastewater utilities are cognizant of the pre-planning necessary to prevent, detect, respond to and/or recover from the impact of decontamination wastewater containing chemical, biological, or radiological (CBR) substances. The Guide examines CBR agents of concern and identifies plausible incident scenarios. A section on planning and coordination explores the potential modification, or addition, of sewer use regulations and policies – as well as the leveraging of pretreatment programs. The Guide contains, among other helpful information, a summary of tactics and equipment that may be employed to prevent decontamination wastewater from entering the sewer system and methods to reduce the adverse impacts of CBR agents on wastewater operations and facility personnel.The Guide was created to help utilities inform their employees of the potential impacts associated with decontamination wastewater, outline the basic actions utilities should consider in planning for such an event, and provide Internet links and references to other sources of detailed information. The Association would like to extend its thanks to its Pretreatment & Hazardous Waste Committee and its Security & Emergency Preparedness Committee which oversaw the development of the Guide. A more detailed Member Update and a complimentary copy of the Guide has been sent via mail to every NACWA member agency. Association members also have the option of downloading the Guide from NACWA’s Security webpage (http://www.nacwa.org/advocacy/security/).
Appreciation Expressed for NACWA Participation in NERR
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this week, expressed thanks to NACWA’s members for their generous offer of resources, via the National Emergency Resource Registry (NERR), to assist with the recovery of water and wastewater utilities from Hurricane Katrina. The NERR was a Department of Homeland Security pilot program when activated in response to Hurricane Katrina to match urgent needs within the impacted area with resources from across the country. EPA worked closely with NACWA and other organizations in the water sector to ensure that both needs and resources could be appropriately recorded. EPA then deployed personnel to assist the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), States and local utilities in using the NERR to identify possible resources to meet existing needs.Lessons Learned/Other Approaches to be Evaluated
Although many utilities responded with offers of personnel and equipment, difficulties were encountered in matching resources with assistance needs, and with regard to liability issues. Regrettably, as circumstances evolved it became apparent that identified needs resulting from Hurricane Katrina would be met through efforts other than the NERR.The NERR database currently contains over 1,000 offers of assistance – and has potential for continued use as local water and wastewater utilities develop their restoration plans and identify resources they need. In the meantime, lessons learned from this effort that will be incorporated into ongoing planning for future disasters.
In the case of Hurricane Katrina, a more rapid response was made between the states of Mississippi and Florida as a result of timely agreements between their governors and the Florida Water and Wastewater Agency Response Network (FlaWARN). Similar response networks exist in California, North Carolina, Indiana and the Pacific Northwest. NACWA, along with others in the water sector, is exploring the potential for the creation of similar networks across the country to facilitate response during both natural and man-made disasters.
NACWA Files Amicus Brief in Pre-TMDL Permitting Case
NACWA filed a motion this week seeking the opportunity to participate as amicus curiae before the Minnesota Supreme Court, should the Court agree to review a key pre-total maximum daily load (TMDL) permitting case. In Cities of Annandale and Maple Lake (Cities) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System/SDS Permit Issuance, the Cities were originally granted a permit for a new consolidated wastewater treatment facility by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to accommodate population growth. The new facility will discharge to a lake, which ultimately drains into a river and the Lake Pepin watershed. One section of the river is listed as impaired under Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 303(d) for dissolved oxygen, while Lake Pepin is listed as impaired for nutrients. TMDLs will be completed between 2009 and 2012. The new facility will discharge 2,200 pounds more phosphorus annually than existing, outdated facilities. However, the MPCA determined that the new facility would not “cause or contribute to a water quality standards violation” (40 C.F.R. 122.4(i)) because the 2,200 pound increase in phosphorus discharge from the Cities’ proposed plant would be offset by a new wastewater plant in the City of Litchfield that would reduce its phosphorus discharge into the same river system by approximately 53,500 pounds per year.The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) appealed the permit, asserting that the federal CWA regulations do not allow a new source to cause or contribute to the impairment of listed waters. In a split decision on August 9, the Court of Appeals held that MPCA’s interpretation of CWA regulations was not entitled to deference and was unreasonable because offsets are not authorized by the CWA or federal regulations. The issues raised in this case give NACWA an excellent opportunity to weigh in on how to address permitting in impaired waterbodies’ pre-TMDL, planning for growth, and new water quality improvements. NACWA’s historic advocacy on the TMDL issue and national perspective also will bring a new dimension to the debate in this case. Relevant documents in this new case can be found under the Litigation Tracker on NACWA’s website (http://www.nacwa.org/private/littrack/).
NACWA Urges Members
to Register for Upcoming November Conferences
NACWA encourages members who plan on attending the Association’s November conferences to register soon. The 2005 Developments in Clean Water Law Seminar will be held November 9-11 at the Inn at Loretto in Santa Fe, N.M. The registration deadline for the Seminar is Wednesday, October 26. Members planning on attending the Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Workshop, November 16-18, can still reserve hotel rooms at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City, Mo. To receive the special room rate of $125 single/double, contact the Hyatt Regency at 816/421-1234 by the Tuesday, October 25 deadline. The registration deadline for the Workshop is Thursday, November 3. For more information on these offerings, visit NACWA’s Conferences & Meetings webpage (http://www.nacwa.org/meetings/).