NACWA Member Update (MU05-14)

Many of NACWA’s Standing Committees met at the Association’s July 19-22, 2005 Summer Conference, Wastewater Conveyance and Treatment...Navigating an Uncertain Regulatory Environment, at Hilton Head, S.C. This Member Update provides a summary of discussions from those meetings. NACWA’s committees provide the backbone of its advocacy efforts, and members are highly encouraged to participate in them. To become involved in a NACWA committee, call us at 202/833-2672 or email us at info@nacwa.org.

Biosolids Management Committee
Co-Chair, Robert Dominak, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Ohio
Co-Chair, Dave Taylor, Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wis.

Dave Taylor, Committee Co-Chair, began the meeting with an update on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new sewage sludge survey. While a complete list of the parameters that EPA will look for was not available at the time of the meeting, the Committee learned that the list will include 9 of the 15 parameters originally identified by the Agency for further investigation in December 2003. The survey will also look at fecal coliform bacteria and salmonella, as well as several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and semivolatile compounds. Sampling was anticipated to begin this summer at approximately 100 facilities, with sample and data analysis taking place between September and December 2005. Taylor also discussed an emerging issue , which has been misinterpreted in several news stories, related to the potential for prions, or infectious proteins, from animals suffering from chronic wasting disease (or similar ailments) to end up in biosolids. NACWA members made it clear that this is not a public health concern and that the media misconstrued some very preliminary research on the subject. NACWA will continue to monitor the issue.

Bob Dominak, Committee Co-Chair, reported on the activities of the National Biosolids Partnership’s (NBP) environmental management systems (EMS) program. The NBP now has 82 participating agencies, with six agencies having achieved certified status. Dominak also discussed a proposed tiered membership and recognition program designed to enhance the recruitment of additional publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) into the EMS program. Dominak then updated the Committee on a series of ongoing NACWA projects and several incinerator-related issues, including a Targeted Action Fund (TAF) request to contribute to a Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) effort to evaluate emissions from biosolids incinerators [see related Regulatory Policy Committee summary].

Chris Westhoff, NACWA Treasurer and Assistant City Attorney for Los Angeles, Calif., provided an update on California Senate Bill 926 that would have limited the ability of some POTWs to use their biosolids for land-application in Kern County. While efforts to pass the bill failed, a new effort to bring the issue directly to voters through a local ballot initiative has reinvigorated the debate and may ultimately lead to more legal battles, and potentially NACWA’s direct involvement.

Facility & Collection System Committee
Co-Chair, Karen L. Pallansch, Alexandria Sanitation Authority, Va.
Co-Chair, Martin Umberg, Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, Ohio

During the first official meeting of the Facility and Collection System Committee (formerly the Wet Weather Issues Committee), Committee Co-Chair Karen Pallansch provided an overview of some exciting changes to the Committee’s structure. The Committee’s name change reflects the growing interest in treatment facility and collection system issues beyond the wet weather arena. In addition, the Committee will now have at its disposal several Issue Leaders that will be the primary points of contact on critical issues such as blending, sanitary and combined sewer overflows (SSOs and CSOs), and general collection system issues. Issue Leaders will provide NACWA with added flexibility in responding to new issues that arise in this critical area.

David Williams, Blending Issue Leader, informed the Committee that in the weeks following the Committee’s last meeting in May, EPA’s proposed blending policy was withdrawn by the Agency. Benjamin Grumbles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Water, indicated in a May 19, 2005, letter that the Agency would continue to review policy and regulatory options to manage the issue of blending. NACWA continues to engage EPA on the issue and has begun a dialogue with organizations in D.C. in an effort to craft an approach for addressing the blending issue.

Following an informative presentation on maximizing treatment plant capacity in peak flow conditions, the Committee discussed EPA’s recent initiatives on SSOs. First circulated in March 2005 at a meeting of state water regulators, the EPA ‘fact sheet’ on SSOs asserts that current Clean Water Act permits should already include capacity, management, operation, and maintenance (CMOM) provisions. In addition, EPA’s ‘fact sheet’ indicates that municipal satellite collection systems (those owned or operated by an entity other than a POTW) with a potential to discharge should also have Clean Water Act permits. NACWA is planning a meeting with EPA to discuss the Agency’s next steps on the ‘fact sheet’ later this month.

Adel Hagekalil, NACWA’s Collection System Issue Leader, provided the Committee with an overview of the City of Los Angeles’ collection system odor control efforts. In addition to more process-oriented fixes such as chemical addition and odor control facilities, the City of Los Angeles is also looking to the public to enhance their master planning activities. Topics like odor control are among some of the new issues the Facility and Collection System Committee will continue to monitor.

Legal Affairs Committee
Chair, Lisa Hollander, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Ohio
Vice Chair, Terry Satterlee, Little Blue Valley Sewer District, Mo.

Due to the large number of cutting-edge legal issues in play, NACWA’s Legal Affairs Committee held its first- ever Committee meeting during a Summer Conference in Hilton Head, S.C. The Committee began with presentations on recent federal cases that could set precedent for the clean water community. The Committee discussed the importance of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s recent holding that EPA cannot require facilities with only the “potential” to discharge to apply for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. This holding could impact EPA’s efforts to develop a permitting program for satellite collection systems – many of which also have the potential to discharge. The Committee also heard a summary of the D.C. Circuit’s June decision rejecting a municipal challenge to EPA Region 3, 4 and 6’s anti-blending policies. NACWA chose not to participate in a petition for rehearing of the case en banc before the D.C. Circuit in favor of working in other venues for a clear national blending policy.

Next on the agenda was the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s June decision upholding EPA’s rejection of Indiana’s and Ohio’s whole effluent toxicity (WET) provisions as inconsistent with EPA’s Great Lakes Initiative (GLI) and rule. The municipal challengers in the Sixth Circuit are seeking rehearing of the case, and plan to use language from NACWA’s December 2004 WET case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) to make their argument. The Committee also received information regarding the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit’s decision upholding a general NPDES permit for small construction projects – a decision stemming a recent tide of cases finding a general permit approach to be inconsistent with certain Clean Water Act (CWA) provisions. NACWA is considering advocating for a general permit approach to collection systems, making the Seventh Circuit’s decision helpful.

The Committee then reviewed a new draft of EPA’s fact sheet urging permitting authorities to include collection system capacity, management, operations and maintenance (C-MOM) provisions in NPDES permits, and to issue NPDES permits to satellite collection systems, based upon existing NPDES regulations. The Committee agreed that it is generally supportive of EPA’s efforts to address satellite collection systems, and of C-MOM provisions, but questioned whether EPA’s approach is legally supportable – particularly given the
Agency’s past efforts to develop an SSO regulation. The Committee will work with the Facilities and Collection System Committee in the coming weeks to provide preliminary feedback to EPA on its draft fact sheet.

The Committee considered a disturbing trend in California – Clean Water Act (CWA) citizen suits against satellite collection systems for their SSOs. These suits allege that the SSOs are illegal discharges because the satellite systems do not have CWA NPDES permits. The Committee noted that until a comprehensive program exists for satellite systems, the prevalence of such suits will continue to rise. The Committee agreed that this development bolsters the need for NACWA to actively pursue with EPA the need for a national SSO program.

The Committee meeting concluded with encouragement for all members to attend NACWA’s 2005 Developments in Clean Water Law Seminar, which will be held from November 9 to 11 in Santa Fe, N.M. Program development is already underway and registration information soon will be posted on NACWA’s website.

Legislative Policy Committee
Chair, Marian Orfeo, Massachusetts Water Resources Department, Mass.
Vice Chair, Kevin Shafer, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District, Wis.

The Legislative Policy Committee received reports from NACWA staff on funding cuts to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and other wastewater-related programs in EPA’s fiscal year (FY) 2006 budget. The Committee was updated on Clean Water Funding Task Force’s progress toward finalizing the draft of, and having Congress introduce, the Clean Water Trust Act of 2005. The trust fund discussion focused on highlights of the June 8 House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee hearing on the trust fund as a viable financing option to close the wastewater funding gap, and progress being made in generating grassroots support for the Clean Water America website. Attendees also received an update on legislative initiatives on the issues of blending, sewer overflow control grants and state revolving loan fund bills. The meeting concluded with a discussion of the possible need for a future legislative fix to address third party lawsuits [see related Legal Affairs Committee summary].

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

The Pretreatment and Hazardous Waste Committee spent a large portion of its meeting discussing the Pretreatment Streamlining Rule, which is expected to be signed this month. Members of the Committee and NACWA staff met with representatives of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in May to push for the inclusion of three critical elements in the final rule: a revised definition of what is considered significant non-compliance because about 70 percent of NPDES permit violations are administrative; a more realistic threshold for determining a non-significant categorical industrial user (CIU); and the flexibility to set mass-based permit limits instead of concentration-based limits to benefit dischargers who are implementing water conservation measures. The final rule was supposed to be signed June 30, but got pushed back to August as OMB needed time to consider the NACWA recommendations, which Committee members believe will be in the final rule.

The Committee also learned of plans to work with U.S. EPA on a screener survey pertaining to the development of the effluent limitation guidelines (ELGs) for drinking water utilities. The ELG could affect POTWs that receive discharges from drinking water facilities or that jointly operate wastewater and drinking water treatment plants. An early draft of the survey omitted information on approximately 15 possible waste streams from drinking water utilities that need to be considered in setting pretreatment standards. NACWA will meet with EPA in late August on this issue. Drafts of both the screener survey, used to determine which utilities will participate in the broader survey, and the broader survey itself are available on EPA’s website (http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/guide/dw/index.htm#data).

Another ongoing NACWA initiative is a three-year study on the effectiveness of dental amalgam separators to screen out mercury deposits from dentists’ offices. The final year of data collection is uinderway.

Finally, the Committee discussed an initiative by the Product Stewardship Institute to launch a national pharmaceutical take-back program to reduce the amount of drugs that are flushed into the sewer system. NACWA will study the matter to determine what, if any, role the Association should have in the project.

Regulatory Policy Committee
Chair, Ray Orvin, Western Carolina Regional Sewer Authority, SC.
Vice Chair, Steve Pearlman, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District, Colo.

Following reports from the Chairs of each of NACWA’s Standing Committees and Regulatory Policy Workgroups, the Regulatory Policy Committee considered two TAF requests at their July meeting. The first request, from the Biosolids Management Committee for $20,000, would be used to assist WERF in conducting a project on mercury emissions from biosolids incinerators. The Regulatory Policy Committee in early 2004 provided WERF with a list of research priorities collected from NACWA members, and this effort was one of the top projects identified. WERF and other sponsors will be funding the balance of the $100,000 dollar project that will evaluate mercury emissions and assess existing technologies available for controlling these emissions.

The second TAF request considered by the Regulatory Policy Committee was a supplemental request for NACWA’s ongoing project to better understand the impact of controlling mercury discharges from dental offices. The additional funding of $23,000 will allow the Mercury Workgroup to gather a third year of low-level mercury data from wastewater agencies requiring the installation of amalgam separators at dental clinics. The project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2006. The water quality committee endorsed both projects and will recommend their approval by NACWA’s Board of Directors.

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

The Committee discussed the effect of federal policy, or lack of policies, on water quality issues that affect NACWA Members and result in their absorbing much of the responsibility for program implementation. In the absence of federal government guidance on issues of importance to NACWA members, the Association is launching a number of projects on its own, or in conjunction with other groups such as WERF. This includes the development of a handbook, expected out this fall, on the use attainability analysis (UAA) process and a UAA web seminar on August 17 (http://www.nacwa.org/private/membcomm/memupdate/mu05-12.cfm). The Committee was told that in many cases, NACWA members have better luck working through U.S. EPA’s regional offices than through its headquarters.

The Committee also discussed draft EPA aquatic life water quality criteria for selenium, and the concerns raised by NACWA in comments submitted in March. NACWA expressed concern that the criteria are based on a single study that has not been replicated and rely on a bioaccumulation factor to convert fish tissue levels to a water-column concentration. Some streams with high levels of selenium have healthy aquatic life indicating the fish have adapted, the Committee was told.

The Committee also focused on implementation guidance for establishing permit limits for methylmercury, which continues to be delayed at EPA in part because of the controversy over Clean Air Act rules to control mercury. NACWA opposes numeric effluent limits for mercury, preferring instead to rely on fish tissue as an indicator of mercury levels.

The Committee received an overview of the first meeting of the Federal Advisory Committee held in June with NACWA as a participant on developing new procedures for determining limits for the detection and quantification of chemicals in wastewater. The meeting focused largely on establishing common areas of interest and setting up a technical workgroup to review and recommend to the committee potential options for determining detection and quantitation limits.

The Committee also heard about plans to develop a white paper with guidance and sample permit language for implementing WET permit limits and a project for implementing adaptive management principles in the TMDL program.

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

The Committee’s discussion initially focused on the forthcoming Planning for Decontamination Wastewater — A Guide for Utilities, which is expected out soon. This guide, being developed through a cooperative agreement with EPA, will help wastewater treatment operators be aware of, and prepare for, possible biological, chemical, and radiological contaminants resulting from terrorist incidents. In addition, NACWA continues its development of a Chlorine Gas Decision Tree, a tool being produced with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to help evaluate alternative disinfection processes to chlorine gas. The Decision Tree is expected to be released in September.

The Committee discussed the key findings of the Water Security Working Group (WSWG), a subset of the National Drinking Water Advisory Committee (NDWAC). The WSWG findings were accepted by the Advisory Committee and forwarded to EPA with the recommendation that the Agency use them in developing a national water security program. Among other things, the findings identify potential failures and threats that utilities should consider in evaluating their security programs and recommends “best security practices”.

The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to do a follow-up study on wastewater security. GAO is doing the initial groundwork to determine the scope of the project and is working collaboratively with NACWA on both the content and identification of potential respondents. The GAO study was charged by the Senate to look at several issues, including the extent to which federal agencies are coordinating their efforts with local law enforcement, first responders and private sector entities, and whether additional legislative action is needed to help federal agencies further secure the nation’s POTWs. These are issues that NACWA has been taking the lead on through this Committee and will continue to participate in actively throughout the GAO drafting process.

The Committee discussed a Wastewater Threat Document released by the Water Environment Federation through an EPA cooperative agreement. The document describes possible vulnerabilities at clean water utilities and reviews the elements that may comprise a threat such as potential adversaries, motives, and objectives. The Threat Document can be found at http://www.waterSC.org.

The Committee also heard updates on the Anthrax Protocol, which offers guidance to first responders to coordinate with managers at POTWs on how to dispose of wastewater generated from decontamination activities. The Protocol served as the basis for the Decontamination Guide and should be available as part of a National Response Team document, titled “Technical Assistance for Anthrax Response Guidance”, which is expected to be released soon. A pre-publication version of the Protocol is available to members only on the Association’s website (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/outreach/2005-07Anthrax.pdf).

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

The Utility Management Committee was updated on the status of NACWA’s 2005 Financial Survey and urged attendees to view and fill out the forms online at CleanWater Central™ (http://cleanwatercentral.org), which also can be accessed through NACWA’s website (http://www.nacwa.org). The Committee also discussed ongoing efforts to add data to CleanWater Central™, including key reports like the Financial Survey in addition to other utility data.

The committee then discussed the concept of asset management, with members noting that a consistent definition for it has yet to be found. NACWA’s next steps in helping members implement asset management was discussed with conversation focusing on the need to update and upgrade the Association’s handbook, Managing Public Infrastructure Assets to Minimize Cost and Maximize Performance, which has sold out and is now out of print.

The Committee was also briefed on work NACWA is doing in helping to craft an ISO management standard for wastewater services that can serve as a helpful tool in POTWs’ utility management efforts. It may be at least two years before a product is generated, the Committee was told. NACWA’s ISO Task Force has provided comments to the most recent versions of the draft wastewater management services standard document. Once these changes are incorporated into a new draft, NACWA will make the draft available to the full membership. This draft will be the focus of the next ISO meeting scheduled for October 2005 in Berlin, Germany. The Association will be sending two representatives to that meeting.