Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
LAWMAKERS urged to aid small utilities.
Arkansan speaks on Clean Water Act
WASHINGTON — A Greenbrier, Ark., man urged U.S. lawmakers Tuesday to support legislation that would give small public utilities greater access to federally funded wastewater experts.
Dennis Sternberg, executive director of the Arkansas Rural Water Association, urged members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to support the proposed Small and Rural Community Clean Water Technical Assistance Act.
Speaking before the subcommittee on fisheries, water and wildlife, Sternberg urged senators to pass the bill “as soon as possible to help small communities with the operation of their wastewater utilities and compliance with the federal regulations under the Clean Water Act.”
If approved, Congress would authorize $15 million per year for five years, money that would be spent providing expertise to public wastewater systems that serve 10,000 individuals or less.
The legislation also would allow states to use some of the federal money they receive to provide similar technical support.
U.S. Sen. John Boozman, a Republican from Rogers, is chairman of the subcommittee and is co-sponsoring the measure.
Tuesday, he stressed the bipartisan nature of the legislation. Sponsored by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., it has seven Democratic co-sponsors and six Republican co-sponsors, from states as blue as Hawaii and as red as Wyoming.
Congress has already authorized technical assistance to help small nonprofit water companies comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The roving experts, called “circuit riders,” can visit 20 communities a month, helping them fix problems and avoid the costly fines that sometimes result from noncompliance with federal anti-pollution laws.
Similar help is needed for sewer systems, Boozman said.
“Many wastewater treatment systems operated by small and rural communities have few staff and limited resources. As a result they may not [have] the expertise to maintain compliance with the Clean Water Act requirements and may not be able to afford a full-time technical expert. On-site technical assistance and education offered by circuit riders provides a cost-effective way to address this issue,” he said.
Sternberg told the subcommittee that 80 percent of the nation’s 16,000 wastewater utilities serve areas with a population of less than 10,000. The percentage is higher in Arkansas where roughly 340 of the state’s 370 wastewater systems are in small communities, he added.