NGWA Washington Update
September 2012
In this issue:
Drinking Water and Infrastructure News
Perchlorate drinking water standard development update
And more….
Geothermal Heat Pump News
Senate passes NGWA-supported measure recognizing GHPs as renewable
energy
And more…
Groundwater Availability, Protection and Remediation News
Senate Subcommittee releases Interior, EPA 2013 funding bill
And more…
Hydraulic Fracturing News
House bill would limit federal authority over hydraulic fracturing
And more…
Transportation and Safety News
House panel takes FMCSA to task over truck safety tracking system
Other News
Groundwater professionals are optimistic about future business prospects
Save the Date: NGWA Washington Fly-in, February 25-26, 2013.
Newsletter Contact: Christine Reimer, National Ground Water Association, creimer@ngwa.org
*****
Drinking Water and Infrastructure News
EPA scientists discussed analytical methods and treatment options for its upcoming perchlorate
drinking water standard at a September 20 meeting. During the meeting, participants raised
concerns about a “low level” standard being set. In particular, commenters highlighted cost
implications, the natural occurrence of perchlorate, the potential for large groundwater basins
that have been recharged with Colorado River water or generally for systems drawing from the
Colorado River to be affected, the disinfection process as a perchlorate source, and whether the
public health risk from very low level exposure has been sufficiently documented. Copies of the
meeting presentations are available from Chris Reimer, NGWA, at creimer@ngwa.org.
Separately, EPA’s Science Advisory Board Perchlorate Advisory Panel held a September 25 call
to discuss perchlorate’s health risks and a draft report reviewing an Agency White Paper. Both
activities are moving toward an early 2013 statutory deadline for a proposed rule.
Most Farm bill programs, including Rural Development Programs, will not be affected until
early spring by Congressional failure to enact a new Farm bill. Congress returned to
campaigning without agreeing on extension of the Farm bill, which expired on September 30.
Rural Development programs, including water and wastewater funding programs, are
permanently authorized and are funded through annual appropriations (see later articles in this
newsletter on FY 2013 funding measures). Funding for pending rural development loan and
grant applications may be affected, however. The Congressional Research Service released in
late July a related report. See recent news article also.
U.S. EPA’s Technical Support Center hosted a webinar on implementation of the third
Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 3) rule. The rule was signed by EPA
Administrator, Lisa P. Jackson on April 16, 2012. As finalized, UCMR 3 will require monitoring
for 30 contaminants using EPA and/or consensus organization analytical methods during 20132015. Copies of the presentations are available for attendees (see link provided to NGWA) and
will soon be posted on the UCMR website. General compliance and implementation questions
should be sent to UCMR3@glec.com. Questions related to the applicability of this rule to a
specific system can be sent to: UCMR_Sampling_Coordinator@epa.gov.
EPA released an updated Drinking Water Treatability Database. The data base contains
information on contaminants and treatment options. “It’s potentially the largest single
compilation of referenced drinking water treatment data in one place,” remarked EPA’s Richard
Miltner, an environmental engineer and the database administrator.
EPA awarded funding in September for drinking water treatment methods research and technical
assistance. Almost $1.5 million in funding is going to three universities to develop sustainable
drinking water treatment methods. The grantees include:
University of Nevada, Reno – quantifying the range of drinking water
contaminants and contaminant classes that can be removed by membrane
distillation, and developing and testing a small-scale pilot system that operates
using waste heat
University of Florida, Gainesville and University of South Florida, Tampa –
identifying, testing, and evaluating the sustainability of ion exchange processes
that can treat entire groups of chemical contaminants.
Clarkson University, Potsdam, N.Y. – engineering, developing, and
demonstrating an integrated process comprised of membrane technology and
electrical discharge plasma generated via a novel reticulated vitreous carbon
(RVC) electrode material.
Also, the Agency awarded nearly $15 million in funding for training and technical assistance to
small drinking and wastewater systems (serving fewer than 10,000 people) and to private well
owners. Recipients include the National Rural Water Association, the Texas Engineering
Extension Service, the New Mexico Environmental Finance Center, and the Rural Community
Assistance Partnership.
Geothermal Heat Pump News
The Senate on September 22 passed legislation, H.R. 4850, defining geothermal heat pumps
(GHPs) as renewable energy under the Energy Policy Act’s (EPAct). EPAct requires that in
2012 not less than 5% of electricity used by the federal government comes from renewable
sources. In 2013, the percentage rises to 7.5%.
The passage of legislation out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the
full Senate approval is a HUGE step forward. The Association thanks Senators Shaheen (DNH), Portman (R-OH), and Sanders (I-VT), among others, for their interest and support. Also,
Senate passage would not have been possible without the help of NGWA Washington Fly-in
attendees and the many other Congressional visits and contacts made throughout the year by
NGWA’s Washington Representatives, members and others.
The House-passed version of H.R. 4850 does not contain the GHP provision. Both the House
and Senate have left Washington until after the election. NGWA is reaching out to
Congressional offices to assess next steps for moving the measure forward. If ultimately signed
into law, the change would increase opportunities not only in the federal government renewable
energy marketplace, but also advance GHP inclusion in other future energy legislation.
Two Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports released in September highlight ongoing
policy discussions on whether to renew or continue renewable energy tax incentives. The
debate is prompted in part by the expiration of some renewable energy provisions, e.g. wind
energy production tax credits at the end of 2012, as well wider energy and tax reform
discussions.
A September 18 CRS report, Energy Tax Incentives: Measuring Value Across Different Types of
Energy Resources, concluded that relative to their domestic production levels, current federal
support for renewable energy exceeds funding for fossil fuels. Fossil fuels accounted for 78
percent of total energy production and received 12.6 percent of tax incentives. Renewable
energy, including renewable fuels, accounted for 10.7 percent of energy and received 68 percent
of the energy related tax incentives. Nearly half of the 68 percent went toward biofuels.
According to the CRS report, the renewable energy tax incentives are expected to decline by
nearly 50% from 2011 to 2015.
In the second report, Residential Energy Tax Credits: Overview and Analysis, DRS reviews the
residential energy efficiency tax credit, which expired at the end of 2011, and the residential
renewable energy tax credit available through 2016, under which GHP residential installations
fall. Among the policy options discussed in this report are letting the tax credits expire,
extending or modifying them or replacing them with a grant or rebate, which could make them
“more widely available, and not be limited to taxpayers with tax liability.” The GHP tax
incentives do not expire until 2016, but NGWA is following the debate as a preemptive measure.
New renewable energy investment outpaced fossil fuel generation investment in 2011
worldwide. According to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance report, $237 billion was invested in
renewable versus $223 billion for additional fossil fuel generation. The web site also reported on
survey results showing that 85% of consumers want more renewable energy and 49% show a
willingness to pay more for products made with renewable energy, while corporations are
continuing to show preference for investing in renewable energy.
U.S. EPA will extend its ENERGY STAR Most Efficient recognition into 2013. Proposed
criteria for gaining the recognition were released for 11 product areas, one of which includes
GHPs. Comments are accepted on the proposed criteria until Friday, October 12, 2012 at
mostefficient@energystar.gov.
A bill, AB 2339, signed into California law on September 27, requires the state Energy
Commission, working with others, to evaluate and recommend policies and strategies that
overcome GHP deployment barriers. The review will also include identifying the impact of
GHP use on reaching the goals under the California Global Warming Solution Act of 2006 and
achieving the state’s energy efficiency goals. The Energy Commission must include the
evaluations and recommendations in the integrated energy policy report for calendar year 2013.
Groundwater Availability, Protection, and Remediation News
The Senate Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee released a draft FY 2013
bill on September 25. The move was somewhat unexpected given the passage of the continuing
resolution (see below). Senators Reed (D-RI) and Murkowski (R-AK), subcommittee chair and
ranking members, said in a written statement that they want to move ahead with the
appropriations process. Also, released was a table showing FY 2012 levels, budget estimates,
and the Senate subcommittee’s proposed FY 2013 levels. Under the Senate Subcommittee
proposal, USGS would receive a $15 million increase in FY 2013 over FY 2012. The USGS
water resources area would receive a $1.1-million increase, with the Ground Water Resources
account receiving a $3.7 million increase over FY 2012 funding levels. U.S. EPA would receive
a $66 million increase over FY 2012 when looking at appropriations and recissions. Specific
EPA program areas include: a $2.4 million decrease from FY 2012 for the Leaking Underground
Storage Tank Trust Fund, a $87.2 million decrease for Superfund of which $76 million comes
from the Superfund remedial account, the clean water state revolving fund and drinking water
state revolving fund would remain level at the FY 2012 funding amounts.
The President signed a stop-gap spending bill that keeps the federal government funded through
March 27 unless appropriation measures are finalized sooner. Overall discretionary spending is
kept within the $1.047 trillion limit negotiated in the Budget Control Act. This level represents
an $8 billion increase overall from FY 2012 spending. The majority of the additional
discretionary funding ($5.937 billion) would be appropriated in a .621 percent across-the-board
increase covering all 12 annual spending bills, with the remainder marked for specific programs.
The FY 2013 funding debate could be revisited after the election in the lame duck or pushed off
until the next Congress.
The Administration released on September 14 a report detailing the projected impacts to
government programs of automatic across-the-board spending cuts (sequestration) scheduled to
begin on January 2, 2013 unless alternative action is taken. The $109-billion in automatic
reductions for 2013 are a result of the congressional committee, formed as a result of the debt
limit law, failure to identify a plan to shave $1.20 trillion in ten years from the deficit. The
report estimates sequestration would result in a 9.4 percent cut in non-exempt defense
discretionary funding, and 8.2 percent in non-defense, non-exempt discretionary funding. It
would also cut 2 percent to Medicare, 7.6 percent to other non-exempt non-defense mandatory
programs, and 10 percent to non-exempt, mandatory defense programs. Congress is expected to
discuss alternatives to sequestration during its packed lame duck session.
U.S. EPA is seeking applications for the Brownfields FY13 Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund
and Cleanup grants. See:
FY13 Guidelines for Brownfields Assessment Grants
FY13 Guidelines for Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Grants
FY13 Guidelines for Brownfields Cleanup Grants
The National Academy has formed a committee on Subsurface Characterization, Modeling,
Monitoring, and Remediation of Fractured Rocks. According to the announcement, the ad hoc
committee will conduct a study to address issues relevant to subsurface flow and contaminant
transport in fractured media, including low permeability and low porosity media, as well as in
deep (3 to 5 kilometers) fracture systems.
A September 19 U.S. EPA workshop brought together technical experts from around the country
to discuss the challenges decisions makers face in managing and using water resources, methods
and tools to support decision-making, and gaps in information that would improve management
and use of water resources. Representing NGWA, Dr. Venki Uddameri, was an expert panelist,
providing input on groundwater’s role, value and management. The workshop was part of
EPA’s study of the importance of water in the U.S. economy aimed at:
Summarizing existing knowledge about the role and importance of water to the U.S.
economy;
Providing information that supports private and public sector decision-making, and
Identifying areas where additional research would be useful.
Side by side comparisons of Presidential candidates’ answers to science-related questions are
posted at http://www.sciencedebate.org/debate12/. Among the questions posed are those related
to fresh water resources, climate change, energy, and science education. The American
Geoscience Institute (AGI) is a partner in the project. AGI includes 50 professional geoscience
societies, including NGWA.
In September, AGI also released Critical Needs for the Twenty-first Century: the Role of the
Geosciences. Providing sufficient supplies of water is one of eight critical needs identified in the
report. Within that need the report specifically recommends, “Monitoring of surface and
subsurface water quantity and quality with a focus on enhancing the National Streamflow
Information Program and building the National Ground Water Monitoring Network.” NGWA
has been a long-time advocate of the National Ground Water Monitoring Network and
participated in development of the AGI report.
Irrigated agriculture accounts for 80-90 percent of consumptive water use in the United States,
according to a recently released Department of Agriculture report. Irrigated farms accounted for
40 percent ($118.5 billion) of the value of U.S. agricultural production nationwide. Nearly 57
million acres were irrigated across the United States in 2007, or 7.5 percent of all cropland and
pastureland. Roughly three-quarters of U.S. irrigated agriculture occurred in the 17 Western
States, although irrigation has been expanding in the more humid Eastern States.
The House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee held a September 20 hearing to
discuss the barriers to greater state authority over the Clean Water Act Section 404 dredge and
fill (wetlands) permit program. Currently only two states, Michigan and New Jersey, administer
the CWA Section 404 program, rather than the 46 states that have assumed authority under the
CWA’s Section 402 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program.
Questions have arisen especially since U.S. EPA revoked a Section 404 permit in 2011. The
hearing brought together U.S. EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers, which has lead responsibility
for administering the Section 404 wetlands permit program, and state representatives.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a September 12 hearing on S. 3469,
the Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2012. The hearing highlighted the Blue Ribbon
Commission on America’s Nuclear Future 2010 report. Among the report’s recommendations
were building one or more geologic repositories where nuclear waste can be permanently buried
and building temporary storage facilities until a permanent repository is available. While no
action is expected this Congress, the hearing was intended to set the stage for discussions next
year, including establishing S. 3469 as the beginning point for those talks.
U.S. EPA added 12 hazardous waste sites to the Superfund National Priorities List in September.
Additionally, the Agency proposed adding another eight sites to the list. Since 1983, 1,676 sites
have been listed on the NPL. Of these sites, 360 sites have been cleaned up resulting in 1,316
sites currently on the NPL (including the 12 sites added). There are 54 proposed sites (including
the eight announced in September) awaiting final agency action.
Hydraulic Fracturing News
Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) introduced the Empower States Act, S. 3573, to establish states as
the primary regulators of hydraulic fracturing. Every state’s geology is different and nobody
knows better than local experts and authorities how best to protect their own environment,
Hoeven said in introducing the bill. Under the legislation, before a federal department or agency
drafts any new regulations relating to oil and gas development, including hydraulic fracturing,
the agency must hold a hearing and consult with the state, tribe and local state agency within the
state or reservation that will be impacted by the new regulation. The agency must also develop a
Statement of Energy and Economic Impact that identifies any adverse effects on energy supply,
reliability, price, and the potential for job and revenue losses to the individual states’ general and
education funds. In addition, the agency must show a state or tribe does not have an existing
alternative and that the new regulation is needed to prevent immediate harm to human health or
the environment. Finally, the Empower States Act allows a state or tribe to seek redress in a
federal court located within its own state or the District of Columbia and requires the court to
thoroughly review the decision and not just rely on the EPA’s findings.
USGS released two reports related to groundwater-quality, quality-control, and well yield data
for two monitoring wells near Pavillion, Wyo. The first USGS report describes the sampling and
analysis plan that was developed to collect groundwater data. A second report provides the raw
data and information from the groundwater-quality samples. USGS conducted the sampling at
the request of the State of Wyoming and in coordination with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency as follow up to questions about potential contamination from oil and gas operations in
this particular area. USGS did not interpret the data as part of this sampling effort. The two
reports can be found at http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/718/ and http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1197/.
In earlier preliminary findings, U.S. EPA had indicated that groundwater and water wells
appeared to have been impacted by hydraulic fracturing operations in this particular area of
Wyoming.
Opponents of a natural gas pipeline are arguing that the required Environmental Impact
Statement must consider the effects of hydraulic fracturing, as a reasonably foreseeable result of
pipeline construction. For the complete discussion of developments, see the September 25
Marten Law article for further discussion.
Transportation and Safety News
The effectiveness of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) truck and
business safety program was examined at a September 13 House Subcommittee on Highways
and Transit hearing. The hearing focused on the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
program and the factors used to identify carrier safety. Both Republican and Democratic
Subcommittee members took FMCSA to task during the hearing. Congressional members
questioned FMCSA over the use of equipment factors, e.g. having a blanket in a sleeper berth, as
a measure of potential accident risk. Problems were especially noted for small firms where one
violation can significantly affect the safety rating, given the lack of inspection data for these
small firms. FMCSA suggested small firms go through weigh stations to get inspections and
build up their records. FMCSA was asked to explain why crashes, where the truck driver was
not at fault, affect a firm’s record. FMCSA response was that studies have shown crashes of any
kind are indicative of future crash risk. Congressional members did not appear swayed.
Congressman Duncan, Subcommittee chair, instead cited a study by Wells Fargo done for the
American Trucking Association that found no meaningful correlation between BASIC scores
and crash risks. At the hearing, the FMCSA official mentioned the upcoming carrier safety
fitness determination proposed rule. NGWA will be monitoring developments, including this
proposed rule action, and providing input to FMCSA and alerting the industry.
Other News:
Groundwater professionals (57%) are generally optimistic about their business prospects over the
next three years. 31% believe the business outlook will remain much the same going forward,
while 11% are somewhat or highly pessimistic. Site assessment and remediation as well as
groundwater resource monitoring, assessment and management work were the top revenue
generation sources in 2011 for private-sector NGWA members. Business growth over the next
three years is expected in the energy sector and water conservation, reuse and wastewater market
segments, according to September 2012 NGWA-member survey respondents.
Survey respondents believe groundwater sustainability and groundwater protection are the top
federal issues on which NGWA should focus. Remediation, household water well system, and
research issues round out the top five NGWA member concerns. NGWA’s Government Affairs
Committee will use the survey results to inform their 2013 plans.
Survey respondents receiving the $50 VISA gift cards are: Owen Goodenkauf, Kent Cordry,
Mark Malander, Joshua Brownlow, Tom Deister, Herbert Vogler, Timothy Ray and three
individuals who asked to remain anonymous. Survey respondents, who requested a copy, will
receive a complete survey summary over the next several days. Thanks goes out to the more
than 1600 members who completed the survey. Time is short these days, and NGWA really
appreciates you sharing some of yours with us.