ACTION PLEASE BY: JANUARY 5, 1999
To:
Members & Affiliates, Wet Weather Committee & Water Quality Committee
From:
National Office
Date:
December 4, 1998
Reference:
LA 98-6
AMSA-URBAN WET WEATHER WATERSHED ACT OF 1999
AMSA is aggressively gearing up for the upcoming 106th Congress by taking the lead role in the development of a targeted wet weather bill to amend the Clean Water Act. The draft bill, entitled Urban Wet Weather Watershed Act of 1999, focuses on one of AMSA’s highest legislative priorities during the upcoming session: the control of urban wet weather flows.
The purpose of the bill is to amend the Clean Water Act to provide for an optional unified mechanism for management of urban wet weather flows, including combined sewer overflows (CSOs), sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs), and municipal separate stormwater discharges. There is currently a strong interest in both the Senate and House of Representatives in reauthorization issues, heightening the need to move forward quickly with this critical legislative issue. Please review the enclosed draft bill and submit any comments to the National Office no later than Tuesday, January 5, 1999. We are particularly interested in assessing whether the proposed language adequately reflects the types of legislative changes that AMSA members need to make their wet weather programs work. Please contact Greg Schaner at 202/296-9836, or by e-mail at gschaner@amsa-cleanwater.org, if you should have any questions.
Effective support for this bill in Congress will certainly depend upon the widespread endorsement from our municipal colleagues. To lay the groundwork for continuing municipal support, AMSA engaged numerous national municipal and other stakeholder organizations, including the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), American Public Works Association (APWA), CSO Partnership, National League of Cities (NLC), National Association of Counties (NACo), National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies (NAFSMA), and Water Environment Federation (WEF) in crafting the attached draft. After we have received and incorporated comments from the AMSA membership, a meeting of the above groups will be reconvened to work towards the goal of unanimous municipal support of the bill prior to the 106th Congress. A briefing will also be held in conjunction with AMSA’s Legislative Policy Committee during the Winter Conference in Phoenix, AZ in February.
Availability Of A Unified Permitting Program Seen As Essential
Language in the draft bill requires EPA to develop regulations that establish an optional unified permitting program to address the combined effects of all wet weather flows. Such a program would allow municipalities that must currently meet the requirements and deadlines of multiple wet weather programs to develop a unified plan specifying priorities and phasing of activities across different program areas (CSO, SSO, and stormwater). Once a unified plan has been completed, requirements to develop and implement short- and long-term management measures to meet the goals of the plan could be incorporated into a unified wet weather permit.
The bill contains language that codifies the 1994 National CSO Control Policy and encourages the states to review and appropriately revise water quality standards to accurately reflect the site-specific impacts of wet weather. A regulatory program for SSOs is established to provide clear, reasonable goals for the design, operation, and maintenance of collection systems, and would provide liability relief for unavoidable SSOs. The bill would also clarify municipal stormwater permitting requirements by encouraging the application of stormwater management measures and prohibiting the application of numeric effluent limitations in municipal stormwater permits.
The draft legislation also provides for a new grant program to supplement state revolving fund (SRF) loans and which will make grants to municipalities to fund planning, design, and construction of facilities or implementation of management measures to control wet weather discharges. Language amending CWA Section 303(d), the total maximum daily load program, directs EPA to develop wet weather criteria for selected test pollutants.
Your input as we move forward with this significant legislative initiative is essential. Thank you in advance for your review and comment on the attached draft bill.
ATTACHMENTS: