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REMINDER: Our next Suburban Council of Governments meeting will be next Thursday, July 28, from 10:00 until 11:30 at 4747 East 49th Street in Cuyahoga Heights. Questions? Contact Jacqueline Muhammad, Senior Manager of Government & Customer Relations, 216.881.6600 x6725 or muhammadj@neorsd.org.
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A LETTER FROM OUR CEO
With only a few short months to go before the Sewer District celebrates its 50th anniversary at our annual Clean Water Fest September 17, we have a host of accomplishments to highlight. In celebration of this milestone, we created six commemorative seals showing how our work has impacted public health and water quality in the region over the past half-century. In addition to the treatment of wastewater, the Sewer District manages a 476-mile network of streams, pipes and culverts spanning the City of Cleveland and 61 member communities within our service area. It’s therefore fitting that the theme of July’s seal is Resilience and highlights our Regional Stormwater Management Program. This Bulletin’s featured article details the programs managed by the District’s Watershed Programs department.
At the beginning of 2022, we announced two exciting new changes to our cost-saving programs. We raised the threshold under which customers qualify for savings – from 200% of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) to 250%. Additionally, qualifying renters responsible for paying their sewer bills can enroll in our Affordability Program. These changes were enacted to better insulate our most financially vulnerable customers from the effects of rate increases.
Through our rate study, we identified an additional 40,000 customers who now qualify for our cost-saving programs because of these changes. The challenge remains, however, that many of these customers have not yet learned about our programs. On May 21, the Sewer District and other utilities and low-income service providers convened at GlenVillage in Cleveland’s Ward 9 for the District’s first Utility Assistance Resource Fair, followed on June 18th by a second fair at the Friendly Inn Settlement in Cleveland’s Ward 5. This summer, we’ll host four more Utility Assistance Resource Fairs throughout our service area. Additional details about these fairs, including dates and locations, can be found below.
Finally in this Bulletin, we continue to monitor relevant state and federal legislation and report on it accordingly.
I remain proud of our clean water work and thank you for your role supporting our efforts.
Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells
Chief Executive Officer
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Clean Water Fest is back in person and better than ever Saturday, September 17 from 9am until 4pm. Free and open to all, our celebration features tours, trucks, exhibits, games, giveaways, and more! See all we have to offer at cleanwaterfest.com!
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WATERSHED PROGRAMS | Quarterly Feature
The Watershed Programs staff work with local communities within the District’s service area on both wastewater and stormwater issues. Three dedicated Watershed Team Leaders serve as direct liaisons between the District and each of the 62 communities. This link depicts the communities within each of the Watershed Team Leaders’ service areas.
The Watershed Team Leaders have a variety of roles and responsibilities. This includes working with the Grant Funding Administrators to provide communities with funding assistance. Watershed Programs staff administer the following grant programs and services to help communities address their local sewer system needs, as well as flooding, erosion, and water quality issues:
Member Community Infrastructure Program
The Member Community Infrastructure Program (MCIP) is an annual, competitive grant funding program provided by the Sewer District to assist communities and eligible political subdivisions in addressing water quality and quantity issues that adversely impact human health and the environment through cost-effective sewer infrastructure projects. Annual funding provides the opportunity to fund local sewer infrastructure repair and rehabilitation.
To learn more about the Program, please contact your Watershed Team Leader or Linda Mayer (Grant Programs Administrator II) at mayerl@neorsd.org. Additional details on the Member Community Infrastructure Program can be found here.
In April, the District released the 2023 Member Community Infrastructure Program (MCIP) Request for Proposals (RFP). $15 million in funding will be available for the 2023 grant year.
The MCIP grant funds are provided by the District by reimbursement directly to the community based on MCIP project costs. Applications were accepted for design-only, design and construction, and construction only projects with awards being announced in August. The District may provide funding up to 75% of project costs. Eligible projects include, but are not limited to:
- Removal/elimination of failing home sewage treatment systems
- Mitigation of sanitary sewer overflows and illicit discharges
- Improvements to local sewer systems level of service
- Management of stormwater flow that improves combined or sanitary sewer level of service
- Mitigation of infiltration & inflow
Community Cost-Share Program
The Community Cost-Share (CCS) Program provides funding to Member Communities for community-specific stormwater management projects. Twenty-five percent of the annual Stormwater Management Program Fee collected in each Member Community is available to that community in their respective Community Cost-Share account. Member Communities can request funds from their Community Cost-Share account through an application to the Sewer District for stormwater management projects that address stormwater flooding, erosion, or water quality problems that benefit the local or regional stormwater system.
This link will take you to the Community Cost-Share website where you can see all program information and links.
Member Communities may apply for Community Cost-Share Program funds at any time such funds are available in their accounts. All Community Cost-Share funds are distributed on a reimbursement basis.
Additional details on the Community Cost Share-Program can be found here.
Green Infrastructure Grant Program
The Sewer District recognizes the importance of green infrastructure such as rain gardens, bioretention, pervious pavement, and other site-based stormwater management practices in the combined sewer area. The Green Infrastructure Grants Program (GI Grant) is open to member communities, governmental entities, non-profit organizations 501(c)(3), or businesses working in partnership with their communities in the combined sewer area interested in implementing green infrastructure projects that remove stormwater from the combined sewer system.
Private, for-profit entities may also put forward projects in partnership with communities or non-profits. Applicants must demonstrate the ability to ensure the long-term ownership and maintenance of these practices.
The Request for Proposals for the 2023 GI Grant program was released in early July with a submission due date of September 12th. The GI Grant funds are provided by the District by reimbursement directly to the awarded applicant based on GI Grant project costs in relationship to the green infrastructure component of the project. Applications were accepted for design-only, design and construction, and construction only projects with awards being announced in November.
Please click on the links to the GI Grant website and storymap where you can find overall information about the GI Grants Program, past funded projects and the 2023 GI Grant RFP. For more information on the Green Infrastructure Grants Program, please contact Jessica S. Cotton (Grants Program Administrator I) at cottonj@neorsd.org or at (216) 881-6600 x6233.
Watershed Advisory Committee Meetings
Every March and October, the Sewer District holds Watershed Advisory Committee (WAC) meetings in each of the five primary watersheds: Cuyahoga River North, Cuyahoga River South, Rocky River, Lake Erie Direct Tributaries and Chagrin River watershed. The responsibilities of a WAC are to advise the Sewer District on Regional Stormwater Management Program activities and priorities. The WAC meetings provide a mechanism for regular contact between communities and the Sewer District and are a great opportunity for Sewer District staff to provide updates on the following areas:
- Stormwater Master Plans;
- Stormwater Design & Construction Plans; and
- Stormwater Inspection and Maintenance Activities; and
- Stormwater Strategic Support Updates
- Please contact your Watershed Team Leader if you have any questions on any of the above-listed programs:
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Utility Assistance Resource Fair scheduled for August 13
City of Richmond Heights and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District partner to offer utility bill assistance to eligible customers
On Saturday, August 13th, City of Richmond Heights and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District will host a Utility Assistance Resource Fair to offer eligible customers financial assistance on water, sewer, gas and electric bills. The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, City of Cleveland Division of Water, Dominion, First Energy, STEP FORWARD and Community Housing Solutions and others will be on-site. The fair will be held at the Kiwanis Lodge at 27285 Highland Rd from 9am to 12pm. Appointments are preferred and can be scheduled by calling 216-881-8247. Walk-ins will be accepted.
"I’m excited to partner with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District on the Utility Assistance Resource Fair," said Mayor Kim Thomas. "We know that some of those in our community are struggling to pay their bills, so we want to provide any resource that may help."
Eligible customers will be able to sign up for a variety of assistance programs at the fair, including the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s Affordability Program, which provides a 40% reduction on sewer bills, and Crisis Assistance Program, which provides up to a $300 credit on sewer bills.
Attendees are asked to bring copies of their utility bills (electric, gas, sewer and/or water) and proof of household income (e.g., paystub, social security statement, most recently filed IRS 1040 or other documentation) to the Resource Fair. To maximize participation in as many programs as possible, attendees should also bring copies of the following, if available:
- Birth certificate(s)
- ID (driver’s license or state ID)
- Supplemental Medical Insurance (if applicable)
- Social Security Card
- Lease Agreement (if a renter)
- Completed HEAP or PIPP Application
"We have offered cost saving programs for several decades, including Homestead, and adding a new program, the Crisis Voucher Program in 2012, so that those facing a hardship could get some relief. Additionally, we added stormwater credits in 2013, providing a reduction in stormwater fees, and, this year, enhanced our Affordability Program requirements, so more customers would be eligible," said Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, Chief Executive Officer of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. "We’re happy to partner with Mayor Thomas on the Utility Assistance Resource Fair, so eligible customers can sign up for those programs and others."
The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District plans to host additional Utility Assistance Resource Fairs in the future. More information to follow.
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LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
State of Ohio News
The statehouse is currently on summer recess.
HB 385 – This is a bill was originally introduced to prohibit a municipal corporation located within the Western Basin of Lake Erie from discharging any amount of waste into Ohio waters. Since then, the bill has considered various changes including retaining the current law that allows a municipal corporation located in the Western Basin of Lake Erie to obtain and operate under an NPDES permit but increases the fine for discharging into the waters of the state in violation of the permit. The fiscal note and local impact statement for the bill can be read here.
HB 422 – This is a bill to limit the amount municipal corporations can recover from property owners of non-owner-occupied properties for unpaid municipal utility and other service rates and charges and to create an appeals process for improper billing of municipal services. This bill passed the Ohio House of Representatives mid – May. A summary analysis of the House passed version of the legislation can be found here.
HB 698 – This is a bill recently introduced to amend the law regarding eminent domain. The bill revises the laws surrounding inverse condemnation claims, the level of the burden of proof required of an appropriating agency, whether an appropriating agency can reduce or revoke a written good faith offer etc. A copy of the introduced bill can be read here.
Capital Budget/Sub HB 687 – The state legislature passed their capital budget bill in early June 2022. $150 million was appropriated to projects in Cuyahoga County.
SB 193 – This is a bill to prohibit political subdivisions from placing a lien on property for unpaid water charges. This bill received three hearings in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The District has concerns with the bill and provided opponent testimony which can be found here.
NPDES Stormwater Permit – The District recently provided comments to Ohio’s EPA for their early stakeholder outreach (ESO) comment period as they develop their 6th generation NPDES Construction Stormwater General Permit (CGP). The current permit expires April 2023.
Loading Analysis Plan (LAP) for the Lake Erie Central Basin Tributaries Watershed – The District provided comments to Ohio EPA regarding their Draft Loading Analysis Plan (LAP) for the Lake Erie Central Basin Tributaries Watershed. A loading analysis plan is the third step in the TMDL development process and lists actions to be taken by Ohio EPA for sampling sites found to be impaired for a beneficial use designation.
Infrastructure Funding – The District is currently reviewing local sewer system projects for member communities that qualify under Ohio EPA’s recently revised disadvantaged community definition in their Clean Water SRF program. Member communities that qualified as a disadvantaged communities submitted local projects to the District for consideration of our submission to Ohio EPA requesting FY 2022 Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funding. Ohio EPA’s call to nominations of projects for IIJA funding occurs during the month of August. The District is seeking only projects eligible for principal forgiveness loans (grants).
Federal News
BABAA/SRF Waiver – Over the past few months, the District has provided U.S. EPA and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Made in America Office with various letters of comments for their consideration regarding the roll out of the Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) requirements and their implementation as they relate to clean water projects. Our most recent letter responded to their proposed BABAA waiver for the SRF program.
FY 2023 District Appropriation Requests – The District submitted the following projects to Congress for consideration of FY 2023 Appropriations Bill funding.
- CSO-249 Elimination Project in Garfield Heights
- Middleburg Hts. and Brook Park Basin Improvement Project (Smith Road Stormwater Project)
- Brooklyn SSO on Ridge Road Project
- Picha Basin Modification and Stream Stabilization Project
- West Park CSO-068 Elimination Project
If you have any questions on the Legislative Affairs report, please contact Danielle Giannantonio, Manager of Legislative Affairs, at giannantoniod@neorsd.org.
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