NACWA Member Update (MU06-04)

NACWA continues to play a leadership role on the issue of wastewater infrastructure security. In addition to several federally-funded efforts, the Association is active in a number of security-related initiatives which are described in the paragraphs which follow.

Water Sector Coordinating Council Working on National, Sector Specific Plans
The Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC), with significant participation by NACWA staff and members, is currently reviewing a draft of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP), a document the federal government through the Department of Homeland Security was required to produce under Homeland Security Presidential Directive-7 (HSPD-7). The document is essentially a broad outline of how federal, state, and local governments can prepare for and respond to a terrorist attack or natural disaster.

In addition, the WSCC working on a Sector Specific Plan (SSP), which is focused specifically on the water and wastewater sector. The HSPD-7 directs sector-specific agencies to develop these SSPs, which will serve as a foundation for the NIPP and contain the same type of management approach. These include:

• Identifying the sector’s critical infrastructure and key resources (CI/KR);
• Identifying and assessing the vulnerabilities and interdependencies among CI/KR assets, and analyzing potential risks based on threats and consequences;
• Prioritizing assets based on an analysis and normalization of vulnerability data;
• Developing sustainable programs to protect assets and implementing these programs when necessary; and
• Using metrics to measure and communicate the effectiveness of the SSP.

NACWA members will be involved in this review and kept apprised of new developments as they occur.
The final NIPP is expected out in March, and the SSPs are expected to be developed and released about six months later.

Bills Addressing Security at Chemical Plants, POTWs Introduced in Senate
Leaders of the Senate Homeland and Government Affairs (HGA) Committee concluded nearly a year of negotiations with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the chemical industry with the introduction of bipartisan legislation that would require DHS to regulate the security of thousands of chemical facilities nationwide. The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2005 (S. 2145) (http://www.nacwa.org/private/legreg/legupdate/leg_tracker.cfm#2) would provide broad new authority to DHS to establish risk-based criteria to determine which chemical facilities are vulnerable to terrorist attack and to establish security standards for those facilities. Chemical facilities would be required to conduct vulnerability assessments and create site security and emergency response plans based on their specific vulnerabilities, subject to approval by the Secretary of Homeland Security. Facilities that fail to comply with the security standards would be subject to fines and penalties.

NACWA estimates that about one third of its member POTWs would be covered by the new security legislation because its provisions apply to facilities covered by Clean Air Act §112(r). The bill does not provide financial assistance for public entities to comply with the new mandates. The fate of this new, wide-ranging legislation is uncertain in the 2nd session of the 109th Congress. However, NACWA will work through the NACWA Security and Emergency Preparedness Committee and the NACWA Legislative Policy Committee to determine the appropriate response to S. 2145. NACWA will meet with HGA Committee staff to describe the impact of the bill on POTWs and discuss possible financial assistance for public entities that would have to comply with the new regulations.

A second bill related to wastewater security was introduced by Sen. James Jeffords (I-Vt.), the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, that would amend the Clean Water Act to authorize EPA to provide grants to POTWs, states, or cities to conduct a range of security-related activities. The bill, The Wastewater Treatment Works Security Act of 2005 (S. 1995), would authorize the grants for vulnerability assessments, preparation of onsite security plans and emergency response plans, and the implementation of certain security enhancements.

The bill would authorize $250 million in assistance for completing vulnerability assessments, for immediate security improvements, and for small POTWs. The committee has no plans to take up the Jeffords bill in 2006, but Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who chairs the committee, may introduce his own wastewater security legislation.

EPA Releases Checklists to Help Utilities, Communities in Dealing with Pandemic Flu
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its business and local government planning checklists regarding the pandemic flu. The checklists were prepared by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and identify specific activities that can be undertaken to prepare for a pandemic influenza or any other public health emergency. The business checklist is designed to be used internally within a utility while the state and local checklist would be used by partnering with others in the community such as the public health community, local government, emergency responders and others. These two documents will be posted in the library of the WaterSC, a free service of WaterISAC designed to disseminate security information to the broadest wastewater and drinking water community (www.watersc.org). NACWA will also post these documents to the Security section of its website (http://www.nacwa.org/advocacy/security/) soon. NACWA, through its membership in the Water Sector Coordinating Council, is supporting the federal government in its planning activities, specifically with regard to potential impacts on operations, service delivery and cross-sector interdependencies.

NACWA Participating in Effort to Develop Mutual Aid Agreements
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, drinking water and wastewater utilities have been stepping up efforts to develop mutual aid agreements among facilities in different states similar to a plan used by electric utilities. These would allow utilities to send resources in the form of crews and equipment to assist wastewater and drinking water plants that have been disabled by natural disasters or other events.

In November, NACWA and representatives from utilities in 12 states met in Orlando to look at what Florida and California have developed for emergency response networks (CalWARN and FlaWARN). This was an initial discussion on how to develop/expand networks across the country. Soon after, Texas released its own version, known as TxWARN. NACWA and other associations will work with its members to facilitate the development of these networks. In addition, the associations have signed a collective letter endorsing these networks.

Measures Testing Group Formed to Assess Progress on 14 Features of Security Plan
A Measures Testing Group (MTG), consisting of representatives from drinking water and wastewater utilities and associations, will begin meeting to develop a set of measures for determining progress on the implementation of the 14 features of an active and effective security program. These 14 features were identified by the Water Security Working Group (WSWG) and endorsed by the National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC). Bud Schardein, Executive Director of the Louisville & Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District, will head up the effort for NACWA.

The MTG will help EPA refine and develop reporting and verification strategies for the three national aggregate measures recommended by the NDWAC. The three measures of national water security progress are:

• Implementation of “active and effective” security programs as measured by the degree of implementation of the 14 feature program features;
• Reduction in security risks as measured by the total number of assets determined to be high security and the number of formerly high security risk assets lowered to low or medium security risks based on vulnerability assessments; and
• Reduction in the inherent risk potential of utility operations as measured by Clean Air Act Section 112(r) reporting on hazardous substances and by the number of utilities that convert from gaseous chlorine to other forms of chlorine or treatment methods.

The project will involve an in-depth look at each of the measures to determine what types of data could be reasonably reported to assess against each measure, how a baseline might by established, and how to manage any issues associated with data consistency across utilities.

NACWA Releases Decontamination Wastewater Guide to Assist with Emergency Response
The Planning for Decontamination Wastewater: A Guide for Utilities, developed through a cooperative agreement between NACWA and EPA, has drawn a significant amount of interest among utilities and others since its release in October (http://www.nacwa.org/advocacy/security/). The Guide is intended to increase the level of awareness within the wastewater community and provide guidance on how to protect infrastructure from decontamination wastewater generated in response to an attack. Historically, attention regarding the protection of infrastructure has focused on a direct terrorist attack despite the fact that a wastewater treatment system is more likely to be affected by an incident somewhere else in the community where decontamination wastewater is generated and discharged to the collection system. Specifically, the Guide will help managers of wastewater utilities understand the need for pre-planning to prevent, detect, respond to, and/or recover from the impact of decontamination wastewater containing chemical, biological, or radiological (CBR) substances. CBR agents of concern are examined along with 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. Detection, response and recovery and public communication also receive prominent attention. Critical sections on maintaining knowledge and “where to begin and what to do” focus on training, resources and logistics are also included.

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. A more detailed Member Update and a complimentary copy of the Guide was mailed to every NACWA member agency. Association members can also download the Guide from NACWA’s Security webpage (http://www.nacwa.org/advocacy/security/).

Anthrax Protocol Poised for Publication in National Response Team Guidance
A prepublication version of the Anthrax Protocol developed by NACWA and its members in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is available on the Association’s website. The National Response Team, comprised of 16 federal agencies with emergency management responsibilities, is poised to include the protocol in its Technical Assistance for Anthrax Response guidance. The protocol also served as the foundation for the Association’s Decontamination Wastewater Guide. Following the anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001, wastewater utilities in Florida, Washington D.C., and New York were faced with managing the decontamination wastewater generated during the cleanups of several anthrax contaminated buildings. These communities sought guidance from EPA on whether they should allow the discharge of the decontamination wastewater to their collection systems and if so, under what conditions should they accept the wastewater.

With the leadership of the NACWA Pretreatment and Hazardous Waste Committee and officials from the City of Boca Raton, Florida, the Association initiated a dialogue with EPA on the issue and was instrumental in the drafting of the protocol. Based on the response taken by the City of Boca Raton, the protocol serves as a guide to aid wastewater utilities and first responders in establishing communication, properly handling containerized decontamination wastewater, and managing the pretreatment of the wastewater prior to discharge and understanding the conditions under which discharge to the sewer system can take place. The sensitive nature of the subject coupled with the lack of prior study of this issue resulted in multiple levels of review by several federal agencies, delaying the release of the protocol.

Water Contaminant Information Tool Launched by EPA
EPA announced in December the launch of its Water Contaminant Information Tool (WCIT), a secure, password-protected, online database that contains information on contaminants of concern that could pose a significant threat to public health if accidentally or intentionally introduced into drinking water or wastewater (http://www.epa.gov/wcit). This database can be used to help create vulnerability assessments, emergency response plans and site-specific response guidelines. As a response tool, WCIT can provide real-time data on water contaminants to help utilities make better decisions. The WCIT database also helps EPA to determine what information about priority contaminants is missing, which helps guide future research efforts.

Drinking water and wastewater utilities, state regulators, and federal officials would have access to the database. The contaminants of concern addressed by WCIT may or may not be regulated but are those that could pose a threat to public health if released into a drinking water system.

GAO Scopes New Wastewater Security Study
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) continues to develop a new survey in response to a request from the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) to conduct a second study on wastewater security. The GAO is in the process of finalizing the new survey and has sought the input and advice of NACWA and its members throughout the process. The survey instrument will be forwarded to wastewater utilities with service area populations of 100,000 or more in the near future.

WaterISAC and WaterSC
The Water Information Sharing & Analysis Center (WaterISAC) continues outreach to new subscribers. Currently the ISAC has 514 subscribers, with 1,020 end users. A highly secure encrypted instant messaging and virtual meeting space has been implemented that allows WaterISAC subscribers to conduct real time discussions of sensitive security matters. The ISAC is also planning to implement topical discussions this fall using the new secure online chat function.

The WaterISAC’s Water Security Channel (WaterSC) went live in November 2004. This free service provides EPA and DHS security notices to a list of vetted, password protected, e-mail recipients. Most recently, the WaterSC has expanded its reach through regional conference participation and direct mailing. Currently, WaterSC serves 7,960 organizations with 8,980 end users.