Member Pipeline - Member Services & Information - Update (MU05-05)

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AMSA’s standing committees gathered at the Association’s February 2005 Winter Conference, Sustainable Systems, in San Antonio, Texas. In some instances, there were significant developments since the committees last met in September 2004. This Member Update provides an up-to-date description of the current initiatives led by AMSA’s standing committees. To become a member of one or more AMSA committees, please e-mail info@amsa-cleanwater.org or call 202-833-2672.

Air Quality Committee
Co-Chair, Edward Torres, Orange County Sanitation District, Fountain Valley, Calif.
Co-Chair, Greg Adams, Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Calif.

The Air Quality Committee co-chairs provided updates focusing on final National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for industrial boilers and heaters, New Source Review reform, and upcoming changes to the New Source Performance Standards for combustion turbines and engines. The Committee’s main discussion centered on AMSA’s Targeted Action Fund project to assess the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) WATER9 Model, which estimates air emissions in wastewater collection, storage, treatment, and disposal facilities. Phase I of the project, an in-depth literature review and model run, was completed last year and found, among other things, wide variances in WATER9’s air emissions estimates. The second phase of the project, which is nearing completion, builds on Phase I’s findings with the goal of fully understanding why these variances are occurring. This will result in a white paper for AMSA members to use with their air pollution control boards as they discuss air emission modeling issues. AMSA expects to release the white paper in April 2005. AMSA’s Air Quality Committee will next meet on May 2, 2005 from 7:45 – 9:00 at AMSA’s 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Biosolids Management Committee
Co-Chair, Robert Dominak, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Cleveland, Ohio
Co-Chair, Dave Taylor, Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant, Wis.

Tad Eaton, Contract Administrator with the San Antonio Water Systems (SAWS), Texas, opened the committee meeting with an overview of SAWS’ experience regarding biosolids land application. San Antonio’s experience provided insight into the importance of public involvement at all stages of biosolids management. An update on the National Biosolids Partnership’s (NBP) activities included the recently completed redesign of the NBP website, the Partnerhsip’s annual report, and ongoing workshops for wastewater treatment agencies on implementing an environmental management system (EMS) for biosolids. Dave Taylor, Committee Co-Chair, provided some perspective on the EMS certification process that his agency, the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wisconsin, recently completed, including lessons learned during the audit process, and the added value derived from involving their state regulators in the EMS development process.

The Committee learned that EPA’s new sewage sludge survey is undergoing peer review and will likely be sent out to approximately 100 publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) in the March-April 2005 timeframe. While the exact list of pollutants to be reviewed is still unknown, EPA has stated that the Agency will be looking at approximately 15 contaminants, including some pathogens.

Also, with the Interagency Steering Committee on Radiation Standards’ (ISCORS) work on radioactivity in biosolids nearly complete, Dave Taylor provided an update on the ISCORS POTW recommendations document and the revisions that had been made to the worker exposure scenarios. Taylor reported that many of AMSA’s concerns regarding the document had been addressed. He also noted that when the final document is released this Spring, AMSA will prepare a Regulatory Alert to highlight the key components of the recommendations document for the membership.

Bob Dominak, Committee Co-Chair, reported on the results from the recently completed survey on Total Hydrocarbon/Carbon Monoxide (THC/CO) Continuing Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) for biosolids incinerators. A white paper on the results of the survey will be made available to the membership in May and will be used to initiate discussions with EPA on the difficulties many agencies with incinerators are experiencing with their CEMS. AMSA’s Biosolids Management Committee will next meet on May 1, 2005 from 3:00 – 4:15 at the Association’s 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Legal Affairs Committee
Chair, Lisa Hollander, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Cleveland, Ohio

The Legal Affairs Committee heard a presentation from Michael McCabe, Director of Legal Services for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD), Wis., concerning a Clean Water Act (CWA) decision involving citizen suits by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (Circuit). In Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers v. MMSD, the Circuit held that a citizens’ suit could proceed in federal court, although MMSD had entered a state court settlement with Wisconsin to remedy the sewer overflows of concern. The Circuit’s decision opens the door to allow citizen groups to second guess in federal court the remedial measures negotiated by cities with their states. The decision also fails to recognize the role of states as the primary CWA enforcers. McCabe explained that the Circuit’s decision would discourage cities from entering into settlement agreements with state agencies if such settlements do not preclude subsequent citizen action.

AMSA filed an amicus curiae brief in the case with the U.S. Supreme Court on February 2 to highlight the importance of preserving state settlements as a viable option for public agencies and expects a decision in early March on whether the Supreme Court will review the case. Since the Committee meeting, the U.S. Supreme Court has made its final decision, having declined to review the case.

The Committee then heard a dynamic examination of whole effluent toxicity (WET) permitting issues, presented by Jim Matthews of Matthews & Freeland, LLP and Dr. Peggy Glass of Alan Plummer Associates, Inc., both of Austin, TX. Matthews and Glass are regular consultants to the Texas Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (TAMSA) and have worked with TAMSA on WET permitting and implementation issues in the past. Matthews highlighted several important aspects of the December 2004 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Edison Electric Institute v. EPA, which upheld EPA’s WET test methods. In particular, the decision warns against using single WET test failures to bring enforcement actions; states that permittees can assert the validity of a particular test result in enforcement actions; and emphasizes that states have the discretion to set toxicity thresholds to compensate for local conditions at the permitting stage. Glass also provided a review of key elements of EPA’s December 2004 WET implementation guidance and emphasized the importance of permittees learning how to carefully read and review WET tests, and the authority of permittees to critique and rebut WET results.

The meeting concluded with a reminder that AMSA’s 2005 Developments in Clean Water Law Seminar will be held from November 9 to 11 in Santa Fe, NM. The Committee will next meet in Washington, DC on May 2, 2005 at 9:15 – 10:30 during AMSA’s 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting.

Legislative Policy Committee
Chair, Christopher M. Westhoff, City of Los Angeles, Calif.
Vice Chair, Kevin L. Shafer, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wis.

The AMSA Legislative Policy Committee discussed the status of AMSA’s trust fund effort, including the size of the clean water grant component, whether the clean water and drinking water titles should be moved separately through their respective committees of jurisdiction, a clarification of the stormwater language as well as the expansion of the regional program section in the second draft bill. Staff delivered a preview of anticipated legislative action on EPA’s fiscal year 2006 budget, blending, the stormwater funding provision in the highway bill and wastewater security issues.

The Committee also received a short presentation from California members who are having difficulty identifying qualified applicants to serve on nine regional water quality control boards due to the state’s interpretation of Clean Water Act income restrictions. California AMSA members requested future support from AMSA in addressing the problem. The Committee referred the issue to the Board of Directors with a recommendation that AMSA send a letter in support of the utilities’ position at the appropriate time. The Board later approved the action.

Pretreatment and Hazardous Waste Committee
Chair, Guy Aydlett, Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia Beach, Va.
Vice Chair, Ben Horenstein, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Oakland, Calif.

AMSA's Pretreatment and Hazardous Waste Committee focused on the Association’s continued advocacy in support of EPA’s long-awaited Pretreatment Streamlining Rule. The committee discussed recent meetings with key EPA staff, including Assistant Administrator for Water, Benjamin Grumbles to urge the Agency to finalize the rule as quickly as possible. The committee leadership also discussed efforts to urge the Agency to undertake a new “50 POTW Study.” The more than 20 year old original study provides the technical basis for more than 50 effluent guidelines, and the Committee has made it a priority to get EPA’s commitment to update the document.

The Committee then heard an update on Managing Decontamination Wastewater – A Utility Planning Tool, an ongoing project funded under a cooperative agreement with EPA. The tool, which will be finalized in March, will help wastewater utilities understand and minimize the threat of decontamination wastewater entering their systems following a chemical, biological, or radioactive attack. Lastly, the Committee discussed the ongoing EPA efforts to look at potential effluent guidelines for drinking water facilities and airport deicing operations – both of which AMSA believes need no indirect standards. AMSA’s Pretreatment & Hazardous Waste Committee will next meet on May 2, 2005 from 9:00 – 10:30 at AMSA’s 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Regulatory Policy Committee
Chair, Margie Nellor, Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, Calif.
Vice Chair, Ray Orvin, Western Carolina Regional Sewer Authority, S.C.

Following the reports from the chairs of each of AMSA’s standing committees, the Regulatory Policy Committee contemplated its expanded role in a new effort, likely to take place annually, in which AMSA would develop and endorse a list of research priorities for consideration by the Water Environment Research Foundation’s (WERF) Research Council. During a one-day session on Monday January 31, 2005, preceding AMSA’s Winter Conference, AMSA member representatives and key members of WERF’s Research Council met to discuss how WERF could better ensure it was addressing the research needs of the POTW community, and specifically the AMSA membership. While the details will be further developed by AMSA and WERF staff over the coming months, it was decided that on a schedule consistent with WERF’s annual research agenda-setting process, each of AMSA’s standing committees would identify potential research priorities relevant to the Committee’s area of focus. Those lists would be prioritized and forwarded to the Regulatory Policy Committee for review and consideration. The Regulatory Policy Committee would be responsible for coordinating the entire process and for preparing the final list of priorities for AMSA Board consideration.

The Regulatory Policy Committee was also updated on a December 2004 Report to Congress prepared by the Office of Management and Budget regarding the Administration’s 2001-2004 regulatory reform effort targeting hundreds of federal regulations. Several of AMSA’s key initiatives were listed as possible candidates for reform, including pretreatment streamlining and sanitary sewer overflows. AMSA staff will be conducting a more thorough review of the document and providing an update on EPA’s required response to the report. AMSA’s Regulatory Policy Committee will next meet on May 2, 2005 from 10:45 – 12:00 at the Association’s 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Security & Emergency Preparedness Committee
Chair, Robert Steidel, City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities, Va.

AMSA's Security & Emergency Preparedness Committee met in San Antonio, immediately following an afternoon conference session focusing on the issue of Sustainable Security. Building upon that theme the Committee focused in greater detail on both security projects in which AMSA is taking the lead -- and on security initiatives in which the Association participates through both staff and Member Agency representatives. The Committee learned of the imminent release of a new VSAT™ Emergency Response Planning module for wastewater utilities, VSAT™ 3.2 – and heard progress reports on the April-May release of the new publication, Managing Decontamination Wastewater — A Utility Planning Tool and the planned initiation of a project which will result in the creation of a chlorine gas decision tree. These projects have been conducted in collaboration with the Water Environment Research Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) respectively.

Also discussed were the anticipated release of the anthrax protocol; new developments associated with the Water Information Sharing & Analysis Center (WaterISAC); upcoming Government Accountability Office report on the allocation of federal funding for wastewater security; the important work of the Water Security Working Group of the National Drinking Water Advisory Committee; and the organizational efforts of both the Water Sector Coordinating Council and its complimentary Government Coordinating Council. The Committee also discussed potential funding available to utilities through DHS’s Urban Area Security Initiative, as accessed through www.dhs.gov. AMSA’s Security & Emergency Preparedness Committee will next meet on May 1, 2005 from 3:00 – 4:15 at AMSA’s 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Utility Management Committee
Co-Chair, Brian Crewdson, Anchorage Water & Wastewater Authority, Alaska
Co-Chair, Jon Schellpfeffer, Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wis.

The Utility Management Committee began its meeting with an update on the 2005 Financial Survey, a triennial national survey of municipal wastewater management financing and trends. The 2005 survey form is nearing completion and is expected to be distributed to AMSA members in the coming months. Next, the committee received an update from the Asset Management Workgroup. Two items were discussed – a potential project to create an elected officials information tool to promote asset management initiatives and the ongoing establishment of a National Asset Management Steering Group. The Committee then discussed the possibility to create a follow-up to last year’s The Changing Workforce… Crisis and Opportunity publication. This follow-up would outline more actions to pursue and initiatives to undertake to address the aging workforce at the nation’s wastewater utilities.

The Committee then received an update on the CleanWater Central database, a collaborative initiative between AMSA and the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF). Outreach to AMSA and WERF members is continuing to encourage usage and data population. CleanWater Central is also used to gather data on surveys, including the AMSA Index. Recently completed, the Index showed the average residential sewer charge increased nearly double the rate of inflation in the last year. More in-depth analysis of the Index will be found in the March Clean Water News. Finally, the Committee received an update on the International Organization of Standardization’s (ISO) development of international water and wastewater services standards. AMSA has been the primary spokesperson for the U.S. within the wastewater standards working group, and committee members discussed the importance of staying involved in this process to ensure that the needs of U.S. wastewater treatment agencies are represented in these discussions. AMSA’s Utility Management Committee will have its next meeting on May 1, 2005 from 1:30 – 2:45 at AMSA’s 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Water Quality Committee
Chair, Norm LeBlanc, Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia Beach, Va.
Vice Chair, Keith Linn, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Cleveland, Ohio

Whole effluent toxicity (WET) topped the Water Quality Committee agenda. AMSA’s legal challenge of the WET methods ended when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld EPA’s methods. The Court’s decision, however, included some statements regarding single WET test failures and test variability that should be very helpful to AMSA’s members, especially as they consider EPA’s recently released draft WET Implementation Guidance. EPA will accept comments on the draft guidance until March 31, 2005, and AMSA plans to develop extensive comments that borrow key findings from the Court of Appeals decision.

On the water quality standards front, the Committee received updates on a number of EPA activities including the recently finalized federal bacteria criteria for coastal recreation waters in several states, the proposed revision to the selenium aquatic life criteria, which uses a concentration of selenium in fish tissue similar to EPA’s human health criterion for methylmercury, and AMSA’s joint project with the Water Environment Research Foundation to develop a new guidance document for wastewater utilities on conducting use attainability analyses. Following the completion of AMSA’s evaluation of the cadmium water quality criteria, several states have begun to take a closer look at the EPA’s 2001 criteria and whether they are appropriate for their waters. The Committee learned that Colorado appears to be considering a modified criterion using an approach similar to that used in the AMSA evaluation, while Idaho appears to be headed toward a state-specific recalculation of the criteria. Peggy Glass with Alan Plummer Associates was on hand to provide the Committee with an update on the Texas Nutrient Study that AMSA supported through the TAF. This past summer the second round of recreational user surveys were completed and the final report should be available this Spring. As soon as it becomes available, AMSA will post the final report on its website for member review and use.

AMSA continues to be very active on detection and quantitation issues, including a recent situation assessment conducted by EPA to determine whether consensus could be reached on new procedures for establishing detection and quantitation levels. The Committee was asked to provide suggestions for wastewater industry representatives for a Federal Advisory Committee that will be convened to develop a new approach. Several key members of the Water Quality Committee have represented the Association on this issue for the past few years, and AMSA has since nominated James Pletl, Environmental Scientist, Hampton Roads Sanitation District Water Quality Department, Virginia Beach, Va., to represent AMSA on the Advisory Committee. AMSA’s Water Quality Committee will next meet on May 1, 2005 from 1:30 – 2:45 at AMSA’s 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Wet Weather Issues Committee
Chair, Karen Pallansch, Alexandria Sanitation Authority, Va.
Vice Chair, Marty Umberg, Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, Ohio

The Wet Weather Issues Committee meeting began with an in-depth look at combined sewer overflow (CSO) long-term control plans (LTCPs) and an examination of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority’s (WASA) recent consent decree concerning CSO LTCP implementation. The WASA settlement was signed at the same time that its Phase II permit was issued. The Phase II permit includes a compliance determination that WASA's CSO efforts, when complete, will meet water quality standards. While WASA's agreement provides for a 20 year implementation schedule, the schedule can be modified if certain key economic assumptions change in a material way that make implementation as planned no longer feasible or equitable. AMSA remains active on CSO issues, partnering with the CSO Partnership last fall to conduct a workshop on use attainability analyses for CSO communities, with plans for an additional workshop in April 2005.

Marty Umberg, Committee Vice Chair and Chair of the SSO Workgroup, provided an update on the robust discussion during the SSO Workgroup meeting regarding AMSA’s efforts to develop a model SSO regulation. The primary component of this effort is a regulatory markup of the existing regulations to illustrate how a collection system permitting program based on a capacity, management, operation, and maintenance standard could be accomplished. The SSO Workgroup and its contractor are also working to develop a survey of existing state programs that should provide insight into the need for a national program. AMSA plans to share this information with EPA in the coming months to encourage movement on a national SSO policy. AMSA’s efforts on this front also include its recently released Action Plan, based on EPA’s 2004 Report to Congress on CSOs and SSOs, outlining AMSA’s recommendations for moving forward with a national SSO policy.

The blending issue remains unresolved as EPA’s draft guidance continues to be debated, most recently by a number of EPA regional offices who apparently have lingering concerns over the draft. The Committee was updated on AMSA’s ongoing efforts on the blending front, including an AMSA-led municipal coalition letter that was sent to EPA in support of its draft policy and a fact/fiction piece that was sent to every member of Congress.

The Committee also received updates on three projects that will likely impact AMSA’s ongoing wet weather advocacy efforts. The first was an ongoing WERF study being conducted by the East Bay Municipal Utility District to evaluate the actual pathogen concentrations in wet weather (including blended) flows. This study, which should be completed by the end of 2006, will provide vital information to the debate on blending and overflows. A Water Environment Foundation study, being conducted under a cooperative agreement with EPA, will provide a set of protocols for dealing with plant and collection system capacity issues in a coordinated fashion. Finally, the Committee received an update on AMSA’s TAF-funded white paper on making successful affordability arguments in wet weather consent decree negotiations. This white paper will be released at the 2005 Summer Conference in Hilton Head, South Carolina, which will focus on wet weather and collection system issues. AMSA’s Wet Weather Issues Committee will have its next meeting on May 2, 2005 from 7:45 – 9:00 at AMSA’s 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

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