For the past three decades, DEP personnel have been contributing to a unique inventory of municipal wastewater facilities and their associated construction needs - the U.S.EPA Clean Water Needs Survey (CWNS). The upcoming year 2000 CWNS, the 13th Survey since enactment of the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972, will begin in the summer of 2000.

This survey is a national assessment of needs and is a joint effort by the States and U.S.EPA. It builds on past surveys and includes not only needs for publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities and correction of combined sewer overflows, but also includes needs associated with the management of stormwater, nonpoint source, confined animal feed operations, and point source mining pollution control. It is required by sections 205(a) and 516(b)(1) of the CWA and its 1987 Amendments.

The year 2000 Needs Survey will focus on the expanded CWA funding eligibility under the State Revolving Fund (SRF) authorized by the CWA 1987 Amendments and the GIS location of each facility. Since Congress uses these survey results to create the allotment formula for distributing SRF funding among the states, it is important to provide a comprehensive and accurate account of New Jersey's clean water needs. This helps to secure adequate funding for implementing solutions to various water pollution problems.

The result of this survey will provide Congress with a detailed estimate of the capital costs to construct, upgrade and/or expand publicly owned municipal wastewater treatment facilities, and implement other activities necessary to comply with the requirements of the CWA including stormwater runoff control, nonpoint source pollution abatement in the areas of agricultural cropland sources, animal sources, silviculture, urban sources, groundwater protection, marinas, resource extraction, brownfields, storage tanks, landfills, and hydromodification. In addition, two non-SRF eligible categories, i.e., confined animal feeding operation and point source mining are also included in this survey.

In the last Needs Survey (1996), New Jersey ranked 5th in the nation with total documented and modeled needs at $6.958 billion out of $139.5 billion for the entire nation. These amounts reflect all program categories eligible for SRF funding for pollution control needs expected on January 1, 1996. Specifically, this included $1.984 billion for secondary treatment, $257 million for advanced treatment, $248 million for infiltration/inflow sewer corrections, $247 million for replacement/rehabilitation sewers, $745 million for new collector sewers, $351 million for new interceptor sewers, $3.016 billion for combined sewer overflow controls, and $110 million for nonpoint source pollution control. It is expected that the nonpoint source needs will be substantially increased from this early estimate, as information about nonpoint source needs and the means to model them have improved. For further information, please visit EPA's web site at: www.epa.gov/owmitnet/uc.htm.

The Municipal Finance and Construction Element in the Division of Water Quality will be sending out survey forms in August 2000 to sewerage authorities, municipalities and wastewater engineering firms to request assistance in providing updated and accurate information on anticipated clean water projects, even if they are not applying for State SRF funding for their projects. This will enable the division to fully assess and document New Jersey's clean water needs.

For more information on the Needs Survey or to be sure that your project is included, please contact David Shu, P. E., or Charles Parkell at (609) 633-1208. If you have information regarding nonpoint source pollution costs, please contact Sandra Blick at (609) 633-7045.