NACWA - Board Briefs

Home

April 2002 Board Briefs

Member Pipeline - Board & Committee Information - Board Briefs - April 2, 2002

April 5, 2002

Policy Forum Agenda Finalized/The Future of the CWA Serves as Theme
Plans are well underway for AMSA's 2002 National Environmental Policy Forum & 32nd Annual Meeting. Member Update MU 02-06 provided an initial agenda and registration materials, and an upcoming flyer will provide even more information. Board members are encouraged to make their hotel reservations and register for the conference without delay. With many of AMSA's issues receiving attention on the Hill and within the Administration, we expect an excellent turnout. The hotel reservation deadline is April 29, 2002. Please contact the Marriott at Metro Center at 800/228-9290 to make your reservation today.

The following provides a summary of Board Committee meetings and events to assist you in planning your travel:

Saturday, May 18
12:30 - 2:00 pm Executive Committee
2:15 - 3:45 pm Strategic Planning Committee
4:00 - 5:00 pm Membership Committee
6:30 - 9:30 pm Leadership, Members & Friends Social Event
Sunday, May 19
9:15 - 10:15 am Budget & Audit Committee
10:30 - 11:15 am Awards Committee
5:00 - 6:00 pm Award Honoree Reception/ Photos (followed by Welcoming Reception)
Monday, May 20
7:30 - 8:45 am Regulatory Policy Committee
2:15 - 4:00 pm Board of Directors Meeting
6:00 - 9:00 pm President's Reception

Board materials are slated to go out in early May. We look forward to seeing you in the nation's capital for an excellent program and incredible opportunity to advance the POTW agenda on Capitol Hill and at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

WIN to Mark 30 Years of Clean Water with May 22nd Water Gala
The Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) is preparing to celebrate 30 years of clean and safe water, and the new momentum focusing on the importance of federal support for infrastructure legislation, with a Water Celebration on May 22, in Washington DC. The Celebration will serve as an important event, raising funds for the significant work of WIN. The event will be held on the evening of the concluding day of AMSA's National Environmental Policy Forum, May 22, 2002, at the Sequoia Restaurant along Georgetown's beautiful waterfront in Washington, DC.

At the Celebration WIN will present awards to many of our nation's congressional clean and safe water leaders. A number of AMSA's Affiliate members are purchasing tables for the event and may invite the Association's leaders to this event. Please see the March Clean Water News for more information on the Celebration, or visit the WIN website at www.win-water.org.

Executive Directors Meet as part of Alliance Initiative
The executive directors of AMSA, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) met in Washington in mid-February to discuss coordination among the organizations under the AMSA/WEF/WERF Strategic Alliance. A report providing a summary of their discussions follows these Board Briefs. The executive directors plan to meet regularly to continue a high level of coordination and report back to members of their respective Boards.

Elections to Result in Four New Board Members
Board elections this May will likely result in the election of four new Board Members. Open Board seats in Region VIII (due to the expiration of current term of Bob Hite) and Region X (due to the expiration of the current term of Bill Pugh) were announced as part of Member Update 02-02 in January. Regional nominations are due on April 12, 2002. Additional Board vacancies are anticipated in Region II, due to the departure of Joel Miele as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and in Region IV, as a result of the departure of Gordon Garner as Executive Director of the Louisville & Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District. The Nominating Committee will consider a process to fill these two new vacancies, consistent with existing AMSA policies and procedures.

TAF Active & Productive
AMSA's Technical Action Fund (TAF) has been exceedingly active and productive for the first quarter of 2002. The introduction of the TAF at Work icon to aid members in tracking funded projects has heightened the visibility of the Fund and additional outreach and reporting is in the planning process as the National Office staff moves forward to carry out the recommendations of the Technical Action Fund Long-Range Planning Committee. The information which follows will bring you up-to-date on two important TAF initiatives. A complete report on TAF funded projects will be provided to the Board of Directors in their May Board Meeting materials.

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, et al., v. Whitman
Following Board of Directors approval, on March 21, 2002, AMSA motioned to intervene in a precedent-setting Clean Water Act (CWA) case jointly with the West Virginia Municipal Water Quality Association and the West Virginia Municipal League. Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, et al., v. Whitman, Civ. No. 3:02-CV-59 (S.D. WV, Jan. 23 2002). In the case, environmental groups are challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) approval of West Virginia's antidegradation regulations under the CWA, designed to prevent overall degradation in the ambient water quality of receiving waters. Backed by national environmental groups, the Ohio Valley plaintiffs are seeking more stringent state antidegradation regulations that would further an overall "no growth" agenda.

If the Ohio Valley plaintiffs are successful, the case could have potential adverse impacts for publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) nationwide for several reasons. First, the CWA's antidegradation provisions, and state regulations implementing them, have not been previously tested in court. This makes Ohio Valley a case of first impression, and the West Virginia court's decision significant. Second, West Virginia's regulatory provisions are drawn from those already enacted in other states. West Virginia's regulations include important POTW exemptions including: 1) for de minimis activities resulting in less than a 10 percent reduction in the water segment's assimilative capacity; 2) for proposed new or expanded discharges from POTWs to alleviate public health concerns associated with failing septic systems or untreated or inadequately treated sewage (including combined sewer overflow elimination or reduction projects); and 3) for POTW expansions or improvements. Accordingly, a successful challenge to West Virginia's regulations could bring into question the legality of antidegradation policies and CWA permitting practices in other states. AMSA documents relating to the case can be found on the AMSA Member Pipeline at: http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/littrack/littrack.cfm#12.

Review of EPA's Risk Assessment for Dioxin in Land Applied Biosolids
AMSA is putting the finishing touches on a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit contractor support for our review of EPA's new risk assessment for dioxin in land applied biosolids. The Biosolids Management Committee received approval from the Board at AMSA's 2002 Winter Conference to use $30,000 from the Technical Action Fund to conduct the review. The risk assessment will be used to support EPA's decision on whether and how to regulate dioxin in land applied biosolids and it is critical that AMSA evaluate the assessment's underlying assumptions to ensure the assessment is reasonable and consistent with EPA policy. AMSA expects to award the contract by the end of April, when EPA is expected to release the risk assessment for public comment.

Board Approves E-commerce Enhancement of AMSA's Web Site
AMSA's Board of Directors has approved the addition of secure, online, credit card processing to the Association's web site. Please note that the costs to the Association of this new service are less than was cited in the information forwarded to the Board. While the initial start up costs will be $4,440.00, the annual costs in subsequent years will be approximately $1,000/year. This new service should significantly streamline the processing of publication orders and conference registrations. We look forward to continuing to improve our service to AMSA's members.

National Office Staff Welcomes New Member
AMSA recently welcomed a new member to its National Office Staff. Chynita Stone is the Association's new Government Affairs Assistant, taking the place of Jennifer Burke who recently left AMSA to accept a position with the Coast Guard. Chynita comes to AMSA from the American Chemistry Council where she served as an Associate. Recruitment is also underway for the position of Regulatory Analyst, Executive Assistant and Secretary/Receptionist. Interviews are underway for these positions and we anticipate being fully staffed in the near future.

AMSA/WEF/WERF Strategic Alliance
Executive Director's Meeting

The executive directors of AMSA, WEF and WERF met on February 19 this week in a regularly scheduled meeting of the Strategic Alliance to discuss issues of mutual interest to our organizations.

The issue of water and wastewater database needs has been receiving considerable attention of late. Most recently, discussions have focused on the potential for a common water/wastewater database. At the conclusion of our conversation, we agreed to request that the water/wastewater database meeting, scheduled by AWWA for 6:30 am on Monday, March 25th, be rescheduled at a time and for a duration when useful conversation was likely to result. In lieu of rescheduling, we doubt that any positive result can occur given the complexity and policy ramifications of the subject database issues.

We were of the opinion that the responsibility for gathering data on wastewater issues properly resided within the community dedicated primarily to wastewater issues and that funding for this activity, given the importance of accurate data to public policy discussions, would likely be a priority for the community. To date, AMSA and WERF have incurred direct costs in the amount of $75,000 to build the initial infrastructure for the CleanWater Central database.

We also discussed the Water & Wastewater Leadership Center, our joint venture at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. There was general concurrence on its symbolic and strategic importance to the wastewater industry. We shared the belief that the concept remains both relevant and well founded; however, agreed that the timing for the project may have been overly aggressive, thus quickly saturating the market. Limiting the frequency of the offering to once a year appears to be a prudent approach. Additionally, we agreed to review funding options for future years.

The executive directors of AMSA and WEF spent some time discussing the need to draw small utilities into the association community and are looking at several options for outreach to this important community. We will have more to offer on this matter in the future, but the issue is of real strategic and political importance not only for obvious reasons, but because the plight of small utilities is getting a lot of play in Washington these days.

The executive directors of AMSA and WEF also agreed to a joint marketing program using the WEF web site and newsletters to promote the two new AMSA checklist publications on wastewater infrastructure security for a nominal service charge of 12%, with remaining details to be worked out by staff. WEF is facilitating general security training, utilizing the content of these checklists, at a number of future Member Association meetings.

Finally, we discussed the Senate bill on water infrastructure funding (S. 1961). While further analysis is necessary, our initial read of the bill was disappointing in that the measure seems more designed to take the heat off the Congress and Administration -- than to do any real good for the wastewater issues the bill was supposed to address.