NCDP - Organization and Management for Phase 2

The NDWRCDP has been conducted in two phases. The administration of the ongoing Phase 2 is discussed below. A description of the Phase 1 administration can be found here.

The fiscal administration of Phase 2 of the NDWRCDP is conducted by the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) through a Cooperative Agreement with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development (USEPA-ORD). Donald Brown is the USEPA Project Officer responsible for oversight of this Cooperative Agreement. A Decentralized Systems Advisory Committee (DSAC) that includes WERF and its cooperative partners was formed to help evaluate national needs and provide guidance relative to funding priorities for the four topical areas developed under Phase 1: Environmental Science and Engineering, Management and Economics, Regulatory Reform, and Training and Education. Additionally, DSAC members may receive a portion of the funds through sub-grants to conduct research and advance the mission of their organization. The DSAC partners are:

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA),
Coalition of Alternative Wastewater Treatment (CAWT),
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI),
Consortium of Institutes for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment (CIDWT), and
National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA).

With the input of the DSAC, WERF developed a Decentralized Research Advisory Council (DRAC) to determine the annual projects and priorities for research in the Environmental Science and Engineering topic area, while the other three research topic areas have been the focus of the DSAC partners. DRAC members are volunteers who serve three-year renewable appointments.

All projects proposed by the DRAC and DSAC are approved by the WERF Board of Directors. WERF projects have volunteer Project Subcommittees (PSCs) for each project or Issue Area Teams (IATs) for challenges that are tasked with drafting the Request for Proposals, selecting a contractor, and overseeing the project. A WERF staff member provides support to the PSC or IAT and Principal Investigator.