Advocacy & Analysis
For more than 40 years, NACWA has been the leader in national clean water advocacy, and the strongest voice for publicly owned wastewater and stormwater utilities. Whether educating lawmakers on key clean water issues in the halls of Congress, advancing critical regulatory priorities with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or other federal agencies, or litigating in courts across the nation on behalf of municipal clean water interests, NACWA is always at the forefront of the advocacy effort, representing clean water utilities, their communities and their ratepayers.
We invite you to learn more about NACWA’s current advocacy initiatives and read in-depth analyses of how current legislative, regulatory, and legal developments will impact public clean water agencies. From late-breaking news in our Advocacy Alerts to more comprehensive coverage of key advocacy priorities in our Updates, NACWA’s resources provide a comprehensive source of clean water information. This page also highlights current NACWA advocacy campaigns and contains critical advocacy tools to help clean water agencies add their voice to that of others around the country in elevating clean water as a national priority.
Advocacy
Alerts
April 2024 Regulatory Update
Regulatory Perspectives
NACWA’s Comprehensive Advocacy Strategies on PFAS Are Bearing Fruit at EPA and in Congress… But There’s More to Do
NACWA’s consistent efforts to leverage its regulatory, legislative and legal advocacy to carve out PFAS protections for water systems both at EPA and on Capitol Hill are noticeable and gaining traction, even with the arrival of EPA’s final rulemaking on April 19 to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).
In releasing its final rulemaking, EPA simultaneously issued an Enforcement Discretion and Settlement Policy memo. The memo notes that “EPA does not intend to pursue entities where equitable factors do not support seeking response actions or costs under CERCLA, including, …publicly owned treatment works, municipal separate storm sewer systems, … and farms where biosolids are applied to land.”
This language is a product of NACWA’s regular and proactive engagement with EPA on the consequences that CERCLA will have on the public clean water community. While EPA has continued to assert that it cannot provide exemptions from CERCLA liability—that we must take that ask to Congress—the Agency has addressed some of NACWA’s concerns where it believes it does have authority through this memo.
Shifting to Congress, momentum toward a bipartisan solution is resonating with a growing segment of Congress. In recent weeks, bipartisan legislation (H.R. 7944) was introduced in the U.S. House by Representatives Curtis (R-UT) and Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) that would provide statutory liability protection for water systems. The House bill mirrors S. 1430 led by Sen. Lummis (R-WY) last year, which was recently the focus of a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing at which NACWA Board Member Michael Witt testified. This hearing helped clarify for the Committee the pressing need for a CERCLA PFAS exemption for water systems, and with EPA’s release of the final rule and memo, NACWA is urging continued bipartisan talks toward a legislative solution that would build upon EPA’s memo and provide water systems protection from third party lawsuits.
It is truly unfortunate that EPA placed clean water agencies and other passive receivers in this position in the first place. The manufacturers of these chemicals are the reason PFAS is pervasive in commerce and subsequently in the environment, and in addition to holding the true polluters accountable, we need a greater focus on source control.
It’s even more unfortunate that NACWA’s and other organization’s numerous conversations with the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on this rule’s economic impacts failed to move the needle. In issuing the final rule, EPA blatantly disregarded the true costs of CERCLA’s liability scheme on clean water agencies and ratepayers. The final rule paves the way for extensive litigation and future site cleanups where costs could be pushed onto passive receivers like public clean water agencies.
EPA’s hazardous substance designation for PFOA and PFOS will be effective 60 days after its forthcoming publication in the Federal Register. NACWA will not be stepping off the gas – quite the opposite. NACWA continues to urge Congressional action and is also weighing legal options. We are working around the clock with various partners, including the Water Coalition Against PFAS and other stakeholders, to consider all possible advocacy actions with EPA, in Congress and in the courts.
Please continue your outreach to your Congressional offices on this issue. To help utilities navigate the PFAS landscape, NACWA has an updated PFAS considerations document and a communications toolkit. Specific to CERCLA designations, NACWA also developed a reportable quantities calculator to help determine whether a utility’s effluent discharges or biosolids generation could trigger CERCLA PFAS reporting requirements.
NACWA is unique in the water advocacy space given the strength of our legislative, regulatory, legal, and communication advocacy skills, and we are bringing all those formidable resources to bear on your behalf to deal with the growing challenge posed by PFAS. We are already seeing the beneficial results of our efforts, but there is much more work to do. Please reach out to any member of the NACWA Government Affairs staff with questions or concerns.
--Emily Remmel, NACWA Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs
Top Stories
NACWA Meets with EPA Office of Water Political and Career Staff
NACWA staff had two meetings on April 17 and April 18 with U.S. EPA Office of Water leadership to discuss public clean water agency priorities.
On April 17, NACWA’s government affairs staff had its monthly meeting with top staff from the Office of Wastewater Management. The overarching theme that NACWA raised was the growing water affordability strains, regulatory burdens, staffing, and
operational challenges that utilities face. NACWA also discussed EPA’s Water Affordability Needs Assessment process which recently got underway to comply with a Congressional mandate that NACWA requested as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Additionally, NACWA flagged concerns that the Association is tracking related to the Supreme Court’s decision on municipal impact fees in Sheetz vs. County of El Dorado, and expressed appreciation for EPA’s collaborative efforts on cybersecurity with the clean water community. As always, NACWA appreciates the opportunity to raise priorities and get timely updates from EPA.
On April 18, NACWA staff met with the recently-appointed Acting Assistant Administrator of Water, Bruno Pigott, and his key team members. Similarly, an overarching theme from NACWA was the strain many public clean water agencies face from compounding
challenges – and how clean water utilities must be viewed as true partners with the federal and state governments to maintain and expand progress in clean water and public health protection. Other discussion items included efforts to elevate
success stories from investment in water and continue productive dialogues on water affordability and biosolids management.
NACWA greatly appreciates the opportunity for ongoing dialogue on critical priorities with the EPA. Contact Kristina Surfus, NACWA’s Managing Director of Government
Affairs, to discuss further.
EPA Initiates Water Affordability Needs Survey
EPA’s Office of Water held a series of three informal workshops in late March and April and is planning a call with the general public in May to solicit ideas and input for its planned Water Affordability Needs Assessment. NACWA and others in the water sector advocated for the Needs Assessment, which EPA is required to complete as part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
At a high level, the Needs Assessment is focused on providing a national picture of the impact of water service bills on low-income households. Congress viewed it as a necessary precursor to potentially establishing a permanent low-income assistance program, and EPA will be completing a Report to Congress that may inform future debate around federal investment in water in general and around low-income assistance in particular. Given this, it is critical that EPA develop a meaningful assessment that accurately captures the state of need.
NACWA and its Affordability Task Force are engaging with EPA directly for further focused discussion on how the Association believes the assessment should be structured. The Association will also make sure EPA is considering previous work completed by the water sector and led by NACWA on this issue, including last year’s Low-Income Water Customer Assistance Program Assessment Study.
Based on the first suite of calls, it is clear EPA looks to build upon work already done by associations and other experts in this realm. However, EPA has a short timeline, intending to complete this work by October 1, 2024. NACWA will be providing resources and input to EPA in the near term and working to help ensure this effort accurately reflects the true water affordability need and moves the ball forward on elevating the water affordability challenge.
NACWA will update members on developments and provide details on the May public input session when available. In the meantime, any members with questions can contact Kristina Surfus, NACWA’s Managing Director of Government Affairs.
Air Quality
NACWA Asks EPA to Reconsider California Plan for Ozone Emissions
NACWA asked EPA to reconsider its disapproval of the South Coast Air Basin Contingency Measure Plan for the 1997 Ozone Standard in April 3 comments, echoing requests by the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) and NACWA public agency members in California.
EPA's disapproval of the plan could affect public wastewater agencies in California and potentially in other parts of the country. Although emissions from the stationary sources regulated by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have been reduced by 70 percent relative to 1997 levels, the federally regulated sources – including aircraft, ships, trucks, and locomotives – have only reduced emissions by 15 percent. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or Cynthia Finley.
Clean Water Funding/Finance
EPA Releases Two New Reports Highlighting Innovation Through the CWSRF
EPA issued two new reports in April that highlight federal efforts through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) to finance various technologies to assist communities in addressing growing clean water challenges. Development of these reports was spurred in large part by NACWA’s advocacy efforts.
These new reports released by EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management identify more than $12.5 billion in innovative projects through the CWSRF to ensure clean water while providing guidance to help utilities build intelligent water systems with established technologies. Details on each report are below:
- Clean Water State Revolving Fund: Investing in Communities Through Water Innovation
This report provides an overview of CWSRF investments representing a broad mix of innovation across the nation for different types of communities, different regions, and different types of technology. - Investing in Intelligent Technology: Facing Today’s Wastewater Challenges with the Future in Mind
This document is for communities that want to learn how other communities of various sizes, locations, and demographics are developing intelligent water systems and using CWSRF money to invest in technologies today for a more efficient and resilient water system in the future. The document provides a brief overview of select intelligent technologies such as telemetry, advanced metering, real-time controls, and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems.
Contact Matt McKenna at 202/533-1825 or Matt McKenna.
Emerging Contaminants
EPA Designates PFOA, PFOS As Hazardous Substances
On April 19, U.S. EPA moved to formally designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). This action marks the first time that EPA has utilized its authority to directly designate hazardous substances under CERCLA Section 102(a) without those substances first being designated as hazardous or toxic under the primary federal air, water, or toxics statutes.
The Agency also published a corresponding enforcement discretion memo outlining that “EPA does not intend to pursue entities where equitable factors do not support seeking response actions or costs under CERCLA, including, but not limited to, community water systems and publicly owned treatment works, municipal separate storm sewer systems, publicly owned/operated municipal solid waste landfills, publicly owned airports and local fire departments, and farms where biosolids are applied to the land. For these same parties, EPA can use CERCLA statutory authorities when appropriate to enter into settlements that provide contribution protection from third party claims for matters addressed in the settlement.” Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact Kristina Surfus at 202/833-4655 or Kristina Surfus or Amanda Aspatore at 202/833-1450 or Amanda Aspatore.
NACWA Submits Comments on EPA’s RCRA Hazardous Constituent Listing Proposal
In comments submitted to the Agency on April 8, NACWA supported EPA’s proposed rulemaking to list certain PFAS as hazardous constituents under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
A hazardous constituent listing under RCRA is narrow, and NACWA believes the corresponding application of RCRA’s Corrective Action framework is the right environmental response tool to address localized significantly contaminated sites from particular treatment, storage, and disposal facilities.
NACWA also noted in its comments that in crafting RCRA, Congress clarified that solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage are not solid wastes as defined under RCRA and, therefore, cannot be considered RCRA hazardous wastes. The exclusion covers industrial wastes discharged to domestic sewer systems, even if the industrial wastes themselves would otherwise be regarded as hazardous wastes. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact: Emily Remmel at 202.533.1839 or Emily Remmel.
EPA Releases Updated Destruction and Disposal Interim Guidance for PFAS
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its new Interim Guidance on the Destruction and Disposal of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Materials Containing Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances for
public comment on April 8.
This is EPA’s second iteration of the guidance document and is required under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020. The interim guidance highlights the state of the science of PFAS destruction and disposal techniques and identifies three large-scale capacity technologies for managing PFAS-laden materials: thermal destruction, landfilling, and underground injection. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact: Emily Remmel at 202.533.1839 or Emily Remmel.
Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention
NACWA Asks DEA to Evaluate Environmental Impacts of Pharmaceutical Disposal Methods
In April 1 comments, NACWA asked the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to thoroughly evaluate the effectiveness and environmental impacts of methods for the destruction of unused pharmaceuticals. The DEA published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to seek information about destruction methods other than incineration that will meet the Agency’s standard of rendering unused pharmaceuticals unavailable and unusable for practical purposes.
NACWA explained that drug take-back programs have been supported by its member utilities, which ask their communities not to flush unused prescriptions or dispose of them in the trash. NACWA has also supported providing mail-back envelopes with prescriptions, since they have been used effectively in the past and result in destruction of the pharmaceuticals through incineration. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or Cynthia Finley.
EPA Publishes Draft POTW Influent Study in Federal Register for 60-Day Public Comment
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is formally moving forward with its proposed POTW Influent Study in an Information Collection Request (ICR) notice published on March 29 in the Federal Register.
NACWA has engaged with the Agency for over a year on concerns with its proposed study design and ways to improve or reduce the burden on clean water utilities. The Agency has revised its initial study design in some ways due to concerns raised by NACWA members, but NACWA and its members will want to comment on the proposal again before the May 28 deadline. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
NACWA will be submitting comments to EPA. If members have additional input, please contact Cynthia Finley, NACWA’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, or Emily Remmel, NACWA’s Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs.
Contact Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or Cynthia Finley.
Regulatory Updates
April 2024 Regulatory Update
Regulatory Perspectives
NACWA’s Comprehensive Advocacy Strategies on PFAS Are Bearing Fruit at EPA and in Congress… But There’s More to Do
NACWA’s consistent efforts to leverage its regulatory, legislative and legal advocacy to carve out PFAS protections for water systems both at EPA and on Capitol Hill are noticeable and gaining traction, even with the arrival of EPA’s final rulemaking on April 19 to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).
In releasing its final rulemaking, EPA simultaneously issued an Enforcement Discretion and Settlement Policy memo. The memo notes that “EPA does not intend to pursue entities where equitable factors do not support seeking response actions or costs under CERCLA, including, …publicly owned treatment works, municipal separate storm sewer systems, … and farms where biosolids are applied to land.”
This language is a product of NACWA’s regular and proactive engagement with EPA on the consequences that CERCLA will have on the public clean water community. While EPA has continued to assert that it cannot provide exemptions from CERCLA liability—that we must take that ask to Congress—the Agency has addressed some of NACWA’s concerns where it believes it does have authority through this memo.
Shifting to Congress, momentum toward a bipartisan solution is resonating with a growing segment of Congress. In recent weeks, bipartisan legislation (H.R. 7944) was introduced in the U.S. House by Representatives Curtis (R-UT) and Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) that would provide statutory liability protection for water systems. The House bill mirrors S. 1430 led by Sen. Lummis (R-WY) last year, which was recently the focus of a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing at which NACWA Board Member Michael Witt testified. This hearing helped clarify for the Committee the pressing need for a CERCLA PFAS exemption for water systems, and with EPA’s release of the final rule and memo, NACWA is urging continued bipartisan talks toward a legislative solution that would build upon EPA’s memo and provide water systems protection from third party lawsuits.
It is truly unfortunate that EPA placed clean water agencies and other passive receivers in this position in the first place. The manufacturers of these chemicals are the reason PFAS is pervasive in commerce and subsequently in the environment, and in addition to holding the true polluters accountable, we need a greater focus on source control.
It’s even more unfortunate that NACWA’s and other organization’s numerous conversations with the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on this rule’s economic impacts failed to move the needle. In issuing the final rule, EPA blatantly disregarded the true costs of CERCLA’s liability scheme on clean water agencies and ratepayers. The final rule paves the way for extensive litigation and future site cleanups where costs could be pushed onto passive receivers like public clean water agencies.
EPA’s hazardous substance designation for PFOA and PFOS will be effective 60 days after its forthcoming publication in the Federal Register. NACWA will not be stepping off the gas – quite the opposite. NACWA continues to urge Congressional action and is also weighing legal options. We are working around the clock with various partners, including the Water Coalition Against PFAS and other stakeholders, to consider all possible advocacy actions with EPA, in Congress and in the courts.
Please continue your outreach to your Congressional offices on this issue. To help utilities navigate the PFAS landscape, NACWA has an updated PFAS considerations document and a communications toolkit. Specific to CERCLA designations, NACWA also developed a reportable quantities calculator to help determine whether a utility’s effluent discharges or biosolids generation could trigger CERCLA PFAS reporting requirements.
NACWA is unique in the water advocacy space given the strength of our legislative, regulatory, legal, and communication advocacy skills, and we are bringing all those formidable resources to bear on your behalf to deal with the growing challenge posed by PFAS. We are already seeing the beneficial results of our efforts, but there is much more work to do. Please reach out to any member of the NACWA Government Affairs staff with questions or concerns.
--Emily Remmel, NACWA Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs
Top Stories
NACWA Meets with EPA Office of Water Political and Career Staff
NACWA staff had two meetings on April 17 and April 18 with U.S. EPA Office of Water leadership to discuss public clean water agency priorities.
On April 17, NACWA’s government affairs staff had its monthly meeting with top staff from the Office of Wastewater Management. The overarching theme that NACWA raised was the growing water affordability strains, regulatory burdens, staffing, and
operational challenges that utilities face. NACWA also discussed EPA’s Water Affordability Needs Assessment process which recently got underway to comply with a Congressional mandate that NACWA requested as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Additionally, NACWA flagged concerns that the Association is tracking related to the Supreme Court’s decision on municipal impact fees in Sheetz vs. County of El Dorado, and expressed appreciation for EPA’s collaborative efforts on cybersecurity with the clean water community. As always, NACWA appreciates the opportunity to raise priorities and get timely updates from EPA.
On April 18, NACWA staff met with the recently-appointed Acting Assistant Administrator of Water, Bruno Pigott, and his key team members. Similarly, an overarching theme from NACWA was the strain many public clean water agencies face from compounding
challenges – and how clean water utilities must be viewed as true partners with the federal and state governments to maintain and expand progress in clean water and public health protection. Other discussion items included efforts to elevate
success stories from investment in water and continue productive dialogues on water affordability and biosolids management.
NACWA greatly appreciates the opportunity for ongoing dialogue on critical priorities with the EPA. Contact Kristina Surfus, NACWA’s Managing Director of Government
Affairs, to discuss further.
EPA Initiates Water Affordability Needs Survey
EPA’s Office of Water held a series of three informal workshops in late March and April and is planning a call with the general public in May to solicit ideas and input for its planned Water Affordability Needs Assessment. NACWA and others in the water sector advocated for the Needs Assessment, which EPA is required to complete as part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
At a high level, the Needs Assessment is focused on providing a national picture of the impact of water service bills on low-income households. Congress viewed it as a necessary precursor to potentially establishing a permanent low-income assistance program, and EPA will be completing a Report to Congress that may inform future debate around federal investment in water in general and around low-income assistance in particular. Given this, it is critical that EPA develop a meaningful assessment that accurately captures the state of need.
NACWA and its Affordability Task Force are engaging with EPA directly for further focused discussion on how the Association believes the assessment should be structured. The Association will also make sure EPA is considering previous work completed by the water sector and led by NACWA on this issue, including last year’s Low-Income Water Customer Assistance Program Assessment Study.
Based on the first suite of calls, it is clear EPA looks to build upon work already done by associations and other experts in this realm. However, EPA has a short timeline, intending to complete this work by October 1, 2024. NACWA will be providing resources and input to EPA in the near term and working to help ensure this effort accurately reflects the true water affordability need and moves the ball forward on elevating the water affordability challenge.
NACWA will update members on developments and provide details on the May public input session when available. In the meantime, any members with questions can contact Kristina Surfus, NACWA’s Managing Director of Government Affairs.
Air Quality
NACWA Asks EPA to Reconsider California Plan for Ozone Emissions
NACWA asked EPA to reconsider its disapproval of the South Coast Air Basin Contingency Measure Plan for the 1997 Ozone Standard in April 3 comments, echoing requests by the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) and NACWA public agency members in California.
EPA's disapproval of the plan could affect public wastewater agencies in California and potentially in other parts of the country. Although emissions from the stationary sources regulated by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have been reduced by 70 percent relative to 1997 levels, the federally regulated sources – including aircraft, ships, trucks, and locomotives – have only reduced emissions by 15 percent. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or Cynthia Finley.
Clean Water Funding/Finance
EPA Releases Two New Reports Highlighting Innovation Through the CWSRF
EPA issued two new reports in April that highlight federal efforts through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) to finance various technologies to assist communities in addressing growing clean water challenges. Development of these reports was spurred in large part by NACWA’s advocacy efforts.
These new reports released by EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management identify more than $12.5 billion in innovative projects through the CWSRF to ensure clean water while providing guidance to help utilities build intelligent water systems with established technologies. Details on each report are below:
- Clean Water State Revolving Fund: Investing in Communities Through Water Innovation
This report provides an overview of CWSRF investments representing a broad mix of innovation across the nation for different types of communities, different regions, and different types of technology. - Investing in Intelligent Technology: Facing Today’s Wastewater Challenges with the Future in Mind
This document is for communities that want to learn how other communities of various sizes, locations, and demographics are developing intelligent water systems and using CWSRF money to invest in technologies today for a more efficient and resilient water system in the future. The document provides a brief overview of select intelligent technologies such as telemetry, advanced metering, real-time controls, and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems.
Contact Matt McKenna at 202/533-1825 or Matt McKenna.
Emerging Contaminants
EPA Designates PFOA, PFOS As Hazardous Substances
On April 19, U.S. EPA moved to formally designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). This action marks the first time that EPA has utilized its authority to directly designate hazardous substances under CERCLA Section 102(a) without those substances first being designated as hazardous or toxic under the primary federal air, water, or toxics statutes.
The Agency also published a corresponding enforcement discretion memo outlining that “EPA does not intend to pursue entities where equitable factors do not support seeking response actions or costs under CERCLA, including, but not limited to, community water systems and publicly owned treatment works, municipal separate storm sewer systems, publicly owned/operated municipal solid waste landfills, publicly owned airports and local fire departments, and farms where biosolids are applied to the land. For these same parties, EPA can use CERCLA statutory authorities when appropriate to enter into settlements that provide contribution protection from third party claims for matters addressed in the settlement.” Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact Kristina Surfus at 202/833-4655 or Kristina Surfus or Amanda Aspatore at 202/833-1450 or Amanda Aspatore.
NACWA Submits Comments on EPA’s RCRA Hazardous Constituent Listing Proposal
In comments submitted to the Agency on April 8, NACWA supported EPA’s proposed rulemaking to list certain PFAS as hazardous constituents under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
A hazardous constituent listing under RCRA is narrow, and NACWA believes the corresponding application of RCRA’s Corrective Action framework is the right environmental response tool to address localized significantly contaminated sites from particular treatment, storage, and disposal facilities.
NACWA also noted in its comments that in crafting RCRA, Congress clarified that solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage are not solid wastes as defined under RCRA and, therefore, cannot be considered RCRA hazardous wastes. The exclusion covers industrial wastes discharged to domestic sewer systems, even if the industrial wastes themselves would otherwise be regarded as hazardous wastes. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact: Emily Remmel at 202.533.1839 or Emily Remmel.
EPA Releases Updated Destruction and Disposal Interim Guidance for PFAS
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its new Interim Guidance on the Destruction and Disposal of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Materials Containing Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances for
public comment on April 8.
This is EPA’s second iteration of the guidance document and is required under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020. The interim guidance highlights the state of the science of PFAS destruction and disposal techniques and identifies three large-scale capacity technologies for managing PFAS-laden materials: thermal destruction, landfilling, and underground injection. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact: Emily Remmel at 202.533.1839 or Emily Remmel.
Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention
NACWA Asks DEA to Evaluate Environmental Impacts of Pharmaceutical Disposal Methods
In April 1 comments, NACWA asked the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to thoroughly evaluate the effectiveness and environmental impacts of methods for the destruction of unused pharmaceuticals. The DEA published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to seek information about destruction methods other than incineration that will meet the Agency’s standard of rendering unused pharmaceuticals unavailable and unusable for practical purposes.
NACWA explained that drug take-back programs have been supported by its member utilities, which ask their communities not to flush unused prescriptions or dispose of them in the trash. NACWA has also supported providing mail-back envelopes with prescriptions, since they have been used effectively in the past and result in destruction of the pharmaceuticals through incineration. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or Cynthia Finley.
EPA Publishes Draft POTW Influent Study in Federal Register for 60-Day Public Comment
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is formally moving forward with its proposed POTW Influent Study in an Information Collection Request (ICR) notice published on March 29 in the Federal Register.
NACWA has engaged with the Agency for over a year on concerns with its proposed study design and ways to improve or reduce the burden on clean water utilities. The Agency has revised its initial study design in some ways due to concerns raised by NACWA members, but NACWA and its members will want to comment on the proposal again before the May 28 deadline. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
NACWA will be submitting comments to EPA. If members have additional input, please contact Cynthia Finley, NACWA’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, or Emily Remmel, NACWA’s Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs.
Contact Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or Cynthia Finley.
Legislative
Updates
April 2024 Regulatory Update
Regulatory Perspectives
NACWA’s Comprehensive Advocacy Strategies on PFAS Are Bearing Fruit at EPA and in Congress… But There’s More to Do
NACWA’s consistent efforts to leverage its regulatory, legislative and legal advocacy to carve out PFAS protections for water systems both at EPA and on Capitol Hill are noticeable and gaining traction, even with the arrival of EPA’s final rulemaking on April 19 to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).
In releasing its final rulemaking, EPA simultaneously issued an Enforcement Discretion and Settlement Policy memo. The memo notes that “EPA does not intend to pursue entities where equitable factors do not support seeking response actions or costs under CERCLA, including, …publicly owned treatment works, municipal separate storm sewer systems, … and farms where biosolids are applied to land.”
This language is a product of NACWA’s regular and proactive engagement with EPA on the consequences that CERCLA will have on the public clean water community. While EPA has continued to assert that it cannot provide exemptions from CERCLA liability—that we must take that ask to Congress—the Agency has addressed some of NACWA’s concerns where it believes it does have authority through this memo.
Shifting to Congress, momentum toward a bipartisan solution is resonating with a growing segment of Congress. In recent weeks, bipartisan legislation (H.R. 7944) was introduced in the U.S. House by Representatives Curtis (R-UT) and Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) that would provide statutory liability protection for water systems. The House bill mirrors S. 1430 led by Sen. Lummis (R-WY) last year, which was recently the focus of a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing at which NACWA Board Member Michael Witt testified. This hearing helped clarify for the Committee the pressing need for a CERCLA PFAS exemption for water systems, and with EPA’s release of the final rule and memo, NACWA is urging continued bipartisan talks toward a legislative solution that would build upon EPA’s memo and provide water systems protection from third party lawsuits.
It is truly unfortunate that EPA placed clean water agencies and other passive receivers in this position in the first place. The manufacturers of these chemicals are the reason PFAS is pervasive in commerce and subsequently in the environment, and in addition to holding the true polluters accountable, we need a greater focus on source control.
It’s even more unfortunate that NACWA’s and other organization’s numerous conversations with the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on this rule’s economic impacts failed to move the needle. In issuing the final rule, EPA blatantly disregarded the true costs of CERCLA’s liability scheme on clean water agencies and ratepayers. The final rule paves the way for extensive litigation and future site cleanups where costs could be pushed onto passive receivers like public clean water agencies.
EPA’s hazardous substance designation for PFOA and PFOS will be effective 60 days after its forthcoming publication in the Federal Register. NACWA will not be stepping off the gas – quite the opposite. NACWA continues to urge Congressional action and is also weighing legal options. We are working around the clock with various partners, including the Water Coalition Against PFAS and other stakeholders, to consider all possible advocacy actions with EPA, in Congress and in the courts.
Please continue your outreach to your Congressional offices on this issue. To help utilities navigate the PFAS landscape, NACWA has an updated PFAS considerations document and a communications toolkit. Specific to CERCLA designations, NACWA also developed a reportable quantities calculator to help determine whether a utility’s effluent discharges or biosolids generation could trigger CERCLA PFAS reporting requirements.
NACWA is unique in the water advocacy space given the strength of our legislative, regulatory, legal, and communication advocacy skills, and we are bringing all those formidable resources to bear on your behalf to deal with the growing challenge posed by PFAS. We are already seeing the beneficial results of our efforts, but there is much more work to do. Please reach out to any member of the NACWA Government Affairs staff with questions or concerns.
--Emily Remmel, NACWA Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs
Top Stories
NACWA Meets with EPA Office of Water Political and Career Staff
NACWA staff had two meetings on April 17 and April 18 with U.S. EPA Office of Water leadership to discuss public clean water agency priorities.
On April 17, NACWA’s government affairs staff had its monthly meeting with top staff from the Office of Wastewater Management. The overarching theme that NACWA raised was the growing water affordability strains, regulatory burdens, staffing, and
operational challenges that utilities face. NACWA also discussed EPA’s Water Affordability Needs Assessment process which recently got underway to comply with a Congressional mandate that NACWA requested as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Additionally, NACWA flagged concerns that the Association is tracking related to the Supreme Court’s decision on municipal impact fees in Sheetz vs. County of El Dorado, and expressed appreciation for EPA’s collaborative efforts on cybersecurity with the clean water community. As always, NACWA appreciates the opportunity to raise priorities and get timely updates from EPA.
On April 18, NACWA staff met with the recently-appointed Acting Assistant Administrator of Water, Bruno Pigott, and his key team members. Similarly, an overarching theme from NACWA was the strain many public clean water agencies face from compounding
challenges – and how clean water utilities must be viewed as true partners with the federal and state governments to maintain and expand progress in clean water and public health protection. Other discussion items included efforts to elevate
success stories from investment in water and continue productive dialogues on water affordability and biosolids management.
NACWA greatly appreciates the opportunity for ongoing dialogue on critical priorities with the EPA. Contact Kristina Surfus, NACWA’s Managing Director of Government
Affairs, to discuss further.
EPA Initiates Water Affordability Needs Survey
EPA’s Office of Water held a series of three informal workshops in late March and April and is planning a call with the general public in May to solicit ideas and input for its planned Water Affordability Needs Assessment. NACWA and others in the water sector advocated for the Needs Assessment, which EPA is required to complete as part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
At a high level, the Needs Assessment is focused on providing a national picture of the impact of water service bills on low-income households. Congress viewed it as a necessary precursor to potentially establishing a permanent low-income assistance program, and EPA will be completing a Report to Congress that may inform future debate around federal investment in water in general and around low-income assistance in particular. Given this, it is critical that EPA develop a meaningful assessment that accurately captures the state of need.
NACWA and its Affordability Task Force are engaging with EPA directly for further focused discussion on how the Association believes the assessment should be structured. The Association will also make sure EPA is considering previous work completed by the water sector and led by NACWA on this issue, including last year’s Low-Income Water Customer Assistance Program Assessment Study.
Based on the first suite of calls, it is clear EPA looks to build upon work already done by associations and other experts in this realm. However, EPA has a short timeline, intending to complete this work by October 1, 2024. NACWA will be providing resources and input to EPA in the near term and working to help ensure this effort accurately reflects the true water affordability need and moves the ball forward on elevating the water affordability challenge.
NACWA will update members on developments and provide details on the May public input session when available. In the meantime, any members with questions can contact Kristina Surfus, NACWA’s Managing Director of Government Affairs.
Air Quality
NACWA Asks EPA to Reconsider California Plan for Ozone Emissions
NACWA asked EPA to reconsider its disapproval of the South Coast Air Basin Contingency Measure Plan for the 1997 Ozone Standard in April 3 comments, echoing requests by the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) and NACWA public agency members in California.
EPA's disapproval of the plan could affect public wastewater agencies in California and potentially in other parts of the country. Although emissions from the stationary sources regulated by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have been reduced by 70 percent relative to 1997 levels, the federally regulated sources – including aircraft, ships, trucks, and locomotives – have only reduced emissions by 15 percent. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or Cynthia Finley.
Clean Water Funding/Finance
EPA Releases Two New Reports Highlighting Innovation Through the CWSRF
EPA issued two new reports in April that highlight federal efforts through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) to finance various technologies to assist communities in addressing growing clean water challenges. Development of these reports was spurred in large part by NACWA’s advocacy efforts.
These new reports released by EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management identify more than $12.5 billion in innovative projects through the CWSRF to ensure clean water while providing guidance to help utilities build intelligent water systems with established technologies. Details on each report are below:
- Clean Water State Revolving Fund: Investing in Communities Through Water Innovation
This report provides an overview of CWSRF investments representing a broad mix of innovation across the nation for different types of communities, different regions, and different types of technology. - Investing in Intelligent Technology: Facing Today’s Wastewater Challenges with the Future in Mind
This document is for communities that want to learn how other communities of various sizes, locations, and demographics are developing intelligent water systems and using CWSRF money to invest in technologies today for a more efficient and resilient water system in the future. The document provides a brief overview of select intelligent technologies such as telemetry, advanced metering, real-time controls, and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems.
Contact Matt McKenna at 202/533-1825 or Matt McKenna.
Emerging Contaminants
EPA Designates PFOA, PFOS As Hazardous Substances
On April 19, U.S. EPA moved to formally designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). This action marks the first time that EPA has utilized its authority to directly designate hazardous substances under CERCLA Section 102(a) without those substances first being designated as hazardous or toxic under the primary federal air, water, or toxics statutes.
The Agency also published a corresponding enforcement discretion memo outlining that “EPA does not intend to pursue entities where equitable factors do not support seeking response actions or costs under CERCLA, including, but not limited to, community water systems and publicly owned treatment works, municipal separate storm sewer systems, publicly owned/operated municipal solid waste landfills, publicly owned airports and local fire departments, and farms where biosolids are applied to the land. For these same parties, EPA can use CERCLA statutory authorities when appropriate to enter into settlements that provide contribution protection from third party claims for matters addressed in the settlement.” Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact Kristina Surfus at 202/833-4655 or Kristina Surfus or Amanda Aspatore at 202/833-1450 or Amanda Aspatore.
NACWA Submits Comments on EPA’s RCRA Hazardous Constituent Listing Proposal
In comments submitted to the Agency on April 8, NACWA supported EPA’s proposed rulemaking to list certain PFAS as hazardous constituents under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
A hazardous constituent listing under RCRA is narrow, and NACWA believes the corresponding application of RCRA’s Corrective Action framework is the right environmental response tool to address localized significantly contaminated sites from particular treatment, storage, and disposal facilities.
NACWA also noted in its comments that in crafting RCRA, Congress clarified that solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage are not solid wastes as defined under RCRA and, therefore, cannot be considered RCRA hazardous wastes. The exclusion covers industrial wastes discharged to domestic sewer systems, even if the industrial wastes themselves would otherwise be regarded as hazardous wastes. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact: Emily Remmel at 202.533.1839 or Emily Remmel.
EPA Releases Updated Destruction and Disposal Interim Guidance for PFAS
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its new Interim Guidance on the Destruction and Disposal of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Materials Containing Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances for
public comment on April 8.
This is EPA’s second iteration of the guidance document and is required under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020. The interim guidance highlights the state of the science of PFAS destruction and disposal techniques and identifies three large-scale capacity technologies for managing PFAS-laden materials: thermal destruction, landfilling, and underground injection. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact: Emily Remmel at 202.533.1839 or Emily Remmel.
Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention
NACWA Asks DEA to Evaluate Environmental Impacts of Pharmaceutical Disposal Methods
In April 1 comments, NACWA asked the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to thoroughly evaluate the effectiveness and environmental impacts of methods for the destruction of unused pharmaceuticals. The DEA published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to seek information about destruction methods other than incineration that will meet the Agency’s standard of rendering unused pharmaceuticals unavailable and unusable for practical purposes.
NACWA explained that drug take-back programs have been supported by its member utilities, which ask their communities not to flush unused prescriptions or dispose of them in the trash. NACWA has also supported providing mail-back envelopes with prescriptions, since they have been used effectively in the past and result in destruction of the pharmaceuticals through incineration. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or Cynthia Finley.
EPA Publishes Draft POTW Influent Study in Federal Register for 60-Day Public Comment
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is formally moving forward with its proposed POTW Influent Study in an Information Collection Request (ICR) notice published on March 29 in the Federal Register.
NACWA has engaged with the Agency for over a year on concerns with its proposed study design and ways to improve or reduce the burden on clean water utilities. The Agency has revised its initial study design in some ways due to concerns raised by NACWA members, but NACWA and its members will want to comment on the proposal again before the May 28 deadline. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
NACWA will be submitting comments to EPA. If members have additional input, please contact Cynthia Finley, NACWA’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, or Emily Remmel, NACWA’s Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs.
Contact Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or Cynthia Finley.
Legal
Updates
April 2024 Regulatory Update
Regulatory Perspectives
NACWA’s Comprehensive Advocacy Strategies on PFAS Are Bearing Fruit at EPA and in Congress… But There’s More to Do
NACWA’s consistent efforts to leverage its regulatory, legislative and legal advocacy to carve out PFAS protections for water systems both at EPA and on Capitol Hill are noticeable and gaining traction, even with the arrival of EPA’s final rulemaking on April 19 to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).
In releasing its final rulemaking, EPA simultaneously issued an Enforcement Discretion and Settlement Policy memo. The memo notes that “EPA does not intend to pursue entities where equitable factors do not support seeking response actions or costs under CERCLA, including, …publicly owned treatment works, municipal separate storm sewer systems, … and farms where biosolids are applied to land.”
This language is a product of NACWA’s regular and proactive engagement with EPA on the consequences that CERCLA will have on the public clean water community. While EPA has continued to assert that it cannot provide exemptions from CERCLA liability—that we must take that ask to Congress—the Agency has addressed some of NACWA’s concerns where it believes it does have authority through this memo.
Shifting to Congress, momentum toward a bipartisan solution is resonating with a growing segment of Congress. In recent weeks, bipartisan legislation (H.R. 7944) was introduced in the U.S. House by Representatives Curtis (R-UT) and Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) that would provide statutory liability protection for water systems. The House bill mirrors S. 1430 led by Sen. Lummis (R-WY) last year, which was recently the focus of a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing at which NACWA Board Member Michael Witt testified. This hearing helped clarify for the Committee the pressing need for a CERCLA PFAS exemption for water systems, and with EPA’s release of the final rule and memo, NACWA is urging continued bipartisan talks toward a legislative solution that would build upon EPA’s memo and provide water systems protection from third party lawsuits.
It is truly unfortunate that EPA placed clean water agencies and other passive receivers in this position in the first place. The manufacturers of these chemicals are the reason PFAS is pervasive in commerce and subsequently in the environment, and in addition to holding the true polluters accountable, we need a greater focus on source control.
It’s even more unfortunate that NACWA’s and other organization’s numerous conversations with the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on this rule’s economic impacts failed to move the needle. In issuing the final rule, EPA blatantly disregarded the true costs of CERCLA’s liability scheme on clean water agencies and ratepayers. The final rule paves the way for extensive litigation and future site cleanups where costs could be pushed onto passive receivers like public clean water agencies.
EPA’s hazardous substance designation for PFOA and PFOS will be effective 60 days after its forthcoming publication in the Federal Register. NACWA will not be stepping off the gas – quite the opposite. NACWA continues to urge Congressional action and is also weighing legal options. We are working around the clock with various partners, including the Water Coalition Against PFAS and other stakeholders, to consider all possible advocacy actions with EPA, in Congress and in the courts.
Please continue your outreach to your Congressional offices on this issue. To help utilities navigate the PFAS landscape, NACWA has an updated PFAS considerations document and a communications toolkit. Specific to CERCLA designations, NACWA also developed a reportable quantities calculator to help determine whether a utility’s effluent discharges or biosolids generation could trigger CERCLA PFAS reporting requirements.
NACWA is unique in the water advocacy space given the strength of our legislative, regulatory, legal, and communication advocacy skills, and we are bringing all those formidable resources to bear on your behalf to deal with the growing challenge posed by PFAS. We are already seeing the beneficial results of our efforts, but there is much more work to do. Please reach out to any member of the NACWA Government Affairs staff with questions or concerns.
--Emily Remmel, NACWA Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs
Top Stories
NACWA Meets with EPA Office of Water Political and Career Staff
NACWA staff had two meetings on April 17 and April 18 with U.S. EPA Office of Water leadership to discuss public clean water agency priorities.
On April 17, NACWA’s government affairs staff had its monthly meeting with top staff from the Office of Wastewater Management. The overarching theme that NACWA raised was the growing water affordability strains, regulatory burdens, staffing, and
operational challenges that utilities face. NACWA also discussed EPA’s Water Affordability Needs Assessment process which recently got underway to comply with a Congressional mandate that NACWA requested as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Additionally, NACWA flagged concerns that the Association is tracking related to the Supreme Court’s decision on municipal impact fees in Sheetz vs. County of El Dorado, and expressed appreciation for EPA’s collaborative efforts on cybersecurity with the clean water community. As always, NACWA appreciates the opportunity to raise priorities and get timely updates from EPA.
On April 18, NACWA staff met with the recently-appointed Acting Assistant Administrator of Water, Bruno Pigott, and his key team members. Similarly, an overarching theme from NACWA was the strain many public clean water agencies face from compounding
challenges – and how clean water utilities must be viewed as true partners with the federal and state governments to maintain and expand progress in clean water and public health protection. Other discussion items included efforts to elevate
success stories from investment in water and continue productive dialogues on water affordability and biosolids management.
NACWA greatly appreciates the opportunity for ongoing dialogue on critical priorities with the EPA. Contact Kristina Surfus, NACWA’s Managing Director of Government
Affairs, to discuss further.
EPA Initiates Water Affordability Needs Survey
EPA’s Office of Water held a series of three informal workshops in late March and April and is planning a call with the general public in May to solicit ideas and input for its planned Water Affordability Needs Assessment. NACWA and others in the water sector advocated for the Needs Assessment, which EPA is required to complete as part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
At a high level, the Needs Assessment is focused on providing a national picture of the impact of water service bills on low-income households. Congress viewed it as a necessary precursor to potentially establishing a permanent low-income assistance program, and EPA will be completing a Report to Congress that may inform future debate around federal investment in water in general and around low-income assistance in particular. Given this, it is critical that EPA develop a meaningful assessment that accurately captures the state of need.
NACWA and its Affordability Task Force are engaging with EPA directly for further focused discussion on how the Association believes the assessment should be structured. The Association will also make sure EPA is considering previous work completed by the water sector and led by NACWA on this issue, including last year’s Low-Income Water Customer Assistance Program Assessment Study.
Based on the first suite of calls, it is clear EPA looks to build upon work already done by associations and other experts in this realm. However, EPA has a short timeline, intending to complete this work by October 1, 2024. NACWA will be providing resources and input to EPA in the near term and working to help ensure this effort accurately reflects the true water affordability need and moves the ball forward on elevating the water affordability challenge.
NACWA will update members on developments and provide details on the May public input session when available. In the meantime, any members with questions can contact Kristina Surfus, NACWA’s Managing Director of Government Affairs.
Air Quality
NACWA Asks EPA to Reconsider California Plan for Ozone Emissions
NACWA asked EPA to reconsider its disapproval of the South Coast Air Basin Contingency Measure Plan for the 1997 Ozone Standard in April 3 comments, echoing requests by the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) and NACWA public agency members in California.
EPA's disapproval of the plan could affect public wastewater agencies in California and potentially in other parts of the country. Although emissions from the stationary sources regulated by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have been reduced by 70 percent relative to 1997 levels, the federally regulated sources – including aircraft, ships, trucks, and locomotives – have only reduced emissions by 15 percent. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or Cynthia Finley.
Clean Water Funding/Finance
EPA Releases Two New Reports Highlighting Innovation Through the CWSRF
EPA issued two new reports in April that highlight federal efforts through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) to finance various technologies to assist communities in addressing growing clean water challenges. Development of these reports was spurred in large part by NACWA’s advocacy efforts.
These new reports released by EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management identify more than $12.5 billion in innovative projects through the CWSRF to ensure clean water while providing guidance to help utilities build intelligent water systems with established technologies. Details on each report are below:
- Clean Water State Revolving Fund: Investing in Communities Through Water Innovation
This report provides an overview of CWSRF investments representing a broad mix of innovation across the nation for different types of communities, different regions, and different types of technology. - Investing in Intelligent Technology: Facing Today’s Wastewater Challenges with the Future in Mind
This document is for communities that want to learn how other communities of various sizes, locations, and demographics are developing intelligent water systems and using CWSRF money to invest in technologies today for a more efficient and resilient water system in the future. The document provides a brief overview of select intelligent technologies such as telemetry, advanced metering, real-time controls, and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems.
Contact Matt McKenna at 202/533-1825 or Matt McKenna.
Emerging Contaminants
EPA Designates PFOA, PFOS As Hazardous Substances
On April 19, U.S. EPA moved to formally designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). This action marks the first time that EPA has utilized its authority to directly designate hazardous substances under CERCLA Section 102(a) without those substances first being designated as hazardous or toxic under the primary federal air, water, or toxics statutes.
The Agency also published a corresponding enforcement discretion memo outlining that “EPA does not intend to pursue entities where equitable factors do not support seeking response actions or costs under CERCLA, including, but not limited to, community water systems and publicly owned treatment works, municipal separate storm sewer systems, publicly owned/operated municipal solid waste landfills, publicly owned airports and local fire departments, and farms where biosolids are applied to the land. For these same parties, EPA can use CERCLA statutory authorities when appropriate to enter into settlements that provide contribution protection from third party claims for matters addressed in the settlement.” Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact Kristina Surfus at 202/833-4655 or Kristina Surfus or Amanda Aspatore at 202/833-1450 or Amanda Aspatore.
NACWA Submits Comments on EPA’s RCRA Hazardous Constituent Listing Proposal
In comments submitted to the Agency on April 8, NACWA supported EPA’s proposed rulemaking to list certain PFAS as hazardous constituents under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
A hazardous constituent listing under RCRA is narrow, and NACWA believes the corresponding application of RCRA’s Corrective Action framework is the right environmental response tool to address localized significantly contaminated sites from particular treatment, storage, and disposal facilities.
NACWA also noted in its comments that in crafting RCRA, Congress clarified that solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage are not solid wastes as defined under RCRA and, therefore, cannot be considered RCRA hazardous wastes. The exclusion covers industrial wastes discharged to domestic sewer systems, even if the industrial wastes themselves would otherwise be regarded as hazardous wastes. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact: Emily Remmel at 202.533.1839 or Emily Remmel.
EPA Releases Updated Destruction and Disposal Interim Guidance for PFAS
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its new Interim Guidance on the Destruction and Disposal of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Materials Containing Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances for
public comment on April 8.
This is EPA’s second iteration of the guidance document and is required under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020. The interim guidance highlights the state of the science of PFAS destruction and disposal techniques and identifies three large-scale capacity technologies for managing PFAS-laden materials: thermal destruction, landfilling, and underground injection. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact: Emily Remmel at 202.533.1839 or Emily Remmel.
Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention
NACWA Asks DEA to Evaluate Environmental Impacts of Pharmaceutical Disposal Methods
In April 1 comments, NACWA asked the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to thoroughly evaluate the effectiveness and environmental impacts of methods for the destruction of unused pharmaceuticals. The DEA published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to seek information about destruction methods other than incineration that will meet the Agency’s standard of rendering unused pharmaceuticals unavailable and unusable for practical purposes.
NACWA explained that drug take-back programs have been supported by its member utilities, which ask their communities not to flush unused prescriptions or dispose of them in the trash. NACWA has also supported providing mail-back envelopes with prescriptions, since they have been used effectively in the past and result in destruction of the pharmaceuticals through incineration. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
Contact Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or Cynthia Finley.
EPA Publishes Draft POTW Influent Study in Federal Register for 60-Day Public Comment
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is formally moving forward with its proposed POTW Influent Study in an Information Collection Request (ICR) notice published on March 29 in the Federal Register.
NACWA has engaged with the Agency for over a year on concerns with its proposed study design and ways to improve or reduce the burden on clean water utilities. The Agency has revised its initial study design in some ways due to concerns raised by NACWA members, but NACWA and its members will want to comment on the proposal again before the May 28 deadline. Read the full story in the Clean Water Current.
NACWA will be submitting comments to EPA. If members have additional input, please contact Cynthia Finley, NACWA’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, or Emily Remmel, NACWA’s Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs.
Contact Cynthia Finley at 202/533-1836 or Cynthia Finley.
Advocacy Priorities
Click to Select:
Where do PFAs Come From?
PFAS are released into the environment in many ways, such as through the products that contain them, through improper disposal by manufacturers, and by fire-fighting foam when it is used. Because PFAS are a part of so many products, they are often found in soil and water samples, too. Your wastewater service provider receives water from homes and businesses that contains PFAS, likely from our bodies, dishes, and clothes.
While wastewater systems were not designed to specifically treat or remove PFAS, your providers are prepared to – and have already begun to – study and assess PFAS’ impacts on their treatment facilities, the quality of the water they discharge, and the amount of PFAS that may be found in biosolids.
What are PFAs?
You may have heard about a class of chemicals called PFAS. These chemicals are found in an abundance of products we use every day, to make them stain-resistant, water-repellant, and nonstick. PFAS are therefore found in everything from clothing and furniture fabrics, to carpeting, food packaging, makeup, and fire-fighting foam. PFAS have been added to products for decades, but scientists are only now learning about their pathways from products to people, and the health effects they create. PFAS are so common and abundant in our environment and the products we interact with, that studies have shown that most adults have some levels of PFAS in their blood.
Stormwater
As the nation’s leading advocacy voice for municipal stormwater utilities across the country, NACWA is dedicated to protecting water quality; addressing large scale watershed impacts, such as flooding and erosion; and solving related modern-day challenges, such as water quality impairment from stormwater runoff and land-use impacts.
The Association and its individual members are committed to advancing robust, innovative programs and working collaboratively with regulators and stakeholders. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) MS4 General Permit Remand Rule, issued in early 2017, represents a change in the development and issuance of National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s).
COVID-19 Congressional Advocacy Resources
Since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, NACWA has been working with our clean water agency members and our partner organizations across the water and municipal sector to urge Congress to act to provide federal relief to utilities and assistance to households unable to pay their water bills. NACWA’s ongoing advocacy encompasses direct funding for utilities for lost revenues and COVID-19-related expenses, assistance to households unable to pay their water bills, support for essential employers and workers, stabilizing and improving municipal financing tools, and engaging with the utility perspective in the conversation around water shutoffs.
With the pandemic persisting far beyond initial expectations, Congress has continued to negotiate the terms of another round of major COVID-19 relief, with many twists and turns over the summer and fall. As of late October 2020, differences between Congress and the White House appeared irreconcilable until after the election. NACWA remains engaged with Congressional staff in the meantime as is preparing for further action on the next round of “relief” or “recovery” in late 2020 or early 2021.
Climate Adaptation & Resiliency
Climate change impacts are already affecting clean water agencies and are projected to grow in the years ahead. Increased intensity of storm events and flooding, the threat of sea level rise at treatment works—traditionally located on low-lying coastal land in a community—and increased attention to water scarcity and reuse are just some of the ways in which clean water agencies are seeing impacts from a rapidly changing climate. As the public and government at all levels becomes more concerned, legislative, regulatory and legal pressures to control greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change impacts will grow. Given the critical services clean water agencies provide in their communities, our sector needs to be closely engaged in climate and resiliency conversations.
NACWA believes that climate change is primarily a water issue. The Association’s advocacy focuses on the interrelationships between water resources and climate change. NACWA is also committed to ensuring that greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment are accurately estimated, and that any efforts that impact the wastewater sector are reasonable.
Toilets Are Not Trashcans
NACWA's Toilets Are Not Trashcans campaign is focused on protecting the pipes, pumps, plants, and personnel of wastewater utilities across the nation by reducing the materials that are inappropriately flushed or drained into the sewer system.
Products such as wipes, paper towels and feminine hygiene products should not be flushed, but often are, causing problems for utilities that amount to billions of dollars in maintenance and repair costs—costs which ultimately
pass on to the consumer. Other consumer products contain ingredients, such as plastic microbeads and triclosan, which may harm water quality and the environment. Fats, oils and greases (FOG) and unused pharmaceuticals should also be kept
out of the sewer system.
Nutrients & Farm Bill
Pursuing New Tools to Address Nutrient-Related Water Quality Challenges
Nutrient pollution remains a substantial challenge to the water resources of the United States. Deficiencies in the federal regulatory and policy framework, as well as the lack and inflexibility of financial resources, have constrained needed progress. These factors are driving a strong interest across nutrient management stakeholders in developing and implementing alternative nutrient management approaches.
At the same time, as outlined in more detail below, NACWA played a leading role in securing legislative language in the 2018 Farm Bill that will help public clean water utilities better engage upstream with agricultural partners to achieve meaningful water quality improvements through a holistic, watershed approach.
Integrated Planning
Over the last 45 years, communities have been responding to a growing list of Clean Water Act (CWA) regulatory mandates to improve the nation's water quality. Often taking on compounded wastewater and stormwater responsibilities, many communities are struggling to adequately allocate strained financial resources to these clean water needs.
Thanks to advocacy efforts by NACWA, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and others, EPA recognized the regulated community’s need for flexibility, and developed its Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Planning Approach Framework (IP Framework) in 2012. NACWA and its members have been working with EPA and state water regulators ever since to ensure the Framework can be utilized by communities when appropriate.
Affordable Water, Resilient Communities
There is no issue more central to NACWA’s advocacy than increasing the availability of infrastructure funding for public clean water utilities, which includes increased federal funding to support this critical infrastructure sector.
Originally founded in 1970 as an organization focused on ensuring appropriate distribution of federal construction grant dollars under the Clean Water Act, the Association has maintained a strong commitment to advancing federal clean water funding.
At the same time, NACWA has also evolved over the years to recognize the importance of other water infrastructure funding mechanisms including municipal bonds, innovative financing approaches, and public-private partnerships.
PFAS
Publicly owned clean water utilities are “passive receivers” of PFAS, since they do not produce or manufacture PFAS but de facto “receive” these chemicals through the raw influent that arrives at the treatment plant. This influent can come from domestic, industrial, and commercial sources and may contain PFAS constituents ranging from trace to higher concentrations, depending on the nature of the dischargers to the sewer system.
Although the influent is not generated by the utility, the utility is responsible for treating it under the Clean Water Act. Municipal clean water utilities were not traditionally designed or intended with PFAS treatment capabilities in mind. Today, there are no cost-effective techniques available to treat or remove PFAS for the sheer volume of wastewater managed daily by clean water utilities.
NACWA’s advocacy priorities on PFAS include urging source control, empowering the Clean Water Act pretreatment program, preventing public utilities and their customers from unintended liabilities and costs of PFAS management, and advancing research to support sound rulemaking that protects public health and the environment.
Congressional Toolbox
NACWA encourages all of its public utility members to arrange regular meetings with their Senators and Representatives.