Who thinks water conservation is a good idea? It seems the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t. As members of the National Communities Council (NCC) are acutely aware, for years EPA has required some community owners who obtain water from a municipality or other regulated system to engage in duplicative water testing if the owner submetered and billed residents for their usage. I say “some” owners since the policy is so unevenly enforced that some community owners have to spend thousands each year on testing and others don’t. To make matters worse, some even have to test in some of their communities and not in others. EPA has used a broad interpretation of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to interpret “billing” to mean the same as “selling” and therefore force some community owners, apartment building owners and commercial building owners to retest water, even though it acknowledges that submetering has no impact on water quality and that it results in water conservation.

But wait! Last December, EPA decided that billing isn’t selling if you submeter an individual apartment building but it still is if you submeter a manufactured home community. Don’t follow the logic? Neither do we. Which is why MHI filed suit in federal appeals court challenging the new policy on behalf of community owners. We believe EPA made an arbitrary decision to exempt only apartment buildings and has long misinterpreted what “selling” means under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

We have met with EPA several times on this issue and not once has any documentation or evidence been put forth that shows water quality is an issue in communities that submeter. We have explained that this testing requirement often puts these community owners in an untenable situation—they assume a great deal of liability if they ever try to treat water that has already been treated by the municipality. We have also explained that submetering communities often reduces water consumption by 30 to 40 percent. But this has fallen on deaf ears.

As a result of our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking relevant documents on the submetering policy, it’s clear that EPA has no substantive information backing up their position. In addition, almost every commenter on the December policy change supported expanding the exemption to all submetered properties. Unfortunately, EPA has decided that proven methods for water conservation are less important than an unproven water quality concern.

The irrationality of this policy and, worse, its uneven enforcement has forced us to take EPA to court over the issue. EPA is hindering water conservation efforts and unnecessarily driving up costs for our residents who ultimately have to bear the cost of the testing. Hopefully, we will have a resolution before the end of the year.

This effort is one more reason why membership in the National Communities Council is vital for every community owner. We are the one organization that will take on these illogical government policies and regulations. Your continued support and involvement is greatly appreciated.

As always, feel free to contact me at rrand@wi.rr.com.

Richard J. Rand
Chairman, MHI National Communities Council
President, Great Value Homes, Inc.