Water Utility Council Report
Larry Lloyd, P.E., WUC Chair
There are currently several national issues facing the water industry which also have
the potential of impacting water utilities in the Southwest Section of AWWA. One of the
key benefits of being a member of AWWA is their advocacy on our behalf in
Washington, DC, with both Congress and EPA. The DC office of AWWA does an
excellent job of monitoring potential legislation and regulations which might affect all of
us, and communicating to the membership the status of those issues and what we as
individual members can do to impact the outcome. During our most recent Section
WUC conference call, several of these issues were discussed.
In June of this year, the President signed into law the Water Resources Reform
Development Act (WRRDA). This legislation primarily sets out spending priorities for
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on water projects. This year, the legislation also
included the authorization for the establishment of a Water Infrastructure Finance &
Innovation Authority (WIFIA) pilot project for both the COE and EPA. AWWA has for
years sought the approval of WIFIA legislation as another financing option for utilities
with large projects (greater than $20 million). New federal programs must be successful
at two levels in Congress. The first, which the WIFIA program has achieved, is to be
authorized. The second, and frequently more difficult hurdle, is to have funds
appropriated to execute the authorized program. During the debate of WIFIA in
Congress, concerns were raised that the approval of WIFIA might hurt the existing
SDWA State Revolving Fund appropriations. With Congress looking for ways to cut the
federal deficit, if money was appropriated for WIFIA, then would Congress seek to
“balance” that new cost by reducing funding for the SRF program? AWWA’s position
has consistently been to fund both program at adequate levels. SRF funds typically go
to smaller projects so that the funds can be spread out across the state, particularly to
those smaller utilities that might have difficulties in self-financing their projects. WIFIA
funds would go to larger projects, typically those in larger utilities. If you support the
WIFIA program, please let your representatives in Washington know of your support as
this program comes up for funding later this year.
Another topic garnering a great deal of attention nationally has been the proposed new
EPA regulations defining “waters of the U.S..” For many years, both EPA and COE
have been involved in permitting construction activities that impact waters of the U.S.
(typically wetlands, streams, etc.). These construction projects normally require
obtaining a Section 404 permit from COE before disturbing the waters of the U.S.
Federal court rulings a few years ago caused confusion with respect to the definition of
waters of the U.S., and the associated regulatory and permitting requirements. EPA
issued their proposed new rule in an effort to clarify exactly what constitutes waters of
the U.S. Those regulations are open for comments from the public through Oct. 20,
2014. If you are interested in this issue and how it might impact your utility, I encourage
you to read the actual proposed regulation in the Federal Register and then submit
comments as you may deem appropriate.
The final two major topics of discussion during our WUC conference call concerned the
Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 3 (UCMR3) and the Chemical Facilities Antiterrorism Standards (CFATS). Under UCMR3, utilities that provide drinking water for
more than 10,000 people, plus some selected smaller utilities, were required to sample
and analyze their water for a specified list of contaminants. The UCMR program is
contained within the SDWA and requires EPA to evaluate additional potential
contaminants every five years to determine if any of those contaminants should be
regulated on the federal level. The data from the UCMR3 sampling indicates whether
the contaminant is found throughout the country, and if so, in sufficient quantities to
pose a health concern. So far, early indications are that at least five contaminants may
meet these two criteria for future regulation – chlorate, chromium, hexavalent chromium,
strontium and vanadium. As the sampling and analysis is completed, other
contaminants may also make this list.
The issue of the exemption of water and wastewater utilities from CFATS continues to
make the water industry news. Following the explosion and fire at the chemical facility
in West, Texas, a multi-agency workgroup was tasked with seeking ways to improve
safety and security of chemical facilities in the U.S. This workgroup recently completed
their 100+ page report. The report in part encourages the removal of the CFATS
exemption of water/wastewater utilities. Two of the utilities on the conference call have
switched or are planning to switch from gaseous chlorine to an alternative method of
chlorination. Both utilities made this choice based on local conditions related to the
location of their water treatment facilities within developed neighborhoods. If utilities
were to lose the exemption from CFATS, then all utilities that use gaseous chlorine
would have to evaluate other technologies under the Inherently Safer Technology (IST)
provisions of CFATS. Once again, if you have a position on this issue, please make
your congressional delegation aware of your position and the implications of switching
to an alternative chlorine feed system.
I encourage all of you to follow the issues facing our industry through the various
communications received from AWWA, and to be an informed and active participant in
the regulatory and legislative process. Your WUC welcomes two new members to the
Council from Oklahoma, Joan Arthur from the City of Tulsa, and Racheal Pierce from
Oklahoma City. Hope to see you all in Tulsa in October.