McGrail To Serve On EPA Subcommittee

HARWICH – Town Administrator Jay McGrail will be spending a little time in Washington, D.C. 

McGrail has been appointed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Local Government Advisory Committee’s Small Communities Advisory Subcommittee (SCAS). 

 The task of the subcommittee is to provide advice and recommendations to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on issues impacting local governments across the country, especially smaller communities, according to Lynzi Barnes, an EPA intergovernmental liaison.

 McGrail received confirmation of the appointment from Zeldin on Oct. 16. He said that he initially didn’t know where the nomination came from, but then recalled having a discussion a year ago with a neighbor who works for the federal government who asked if he had an interest in serving on the panel. 

The appointment, McGrail said, is for one year, and will require him to make three trips a year to Washington for two days per trip. 

Local government advisory committees were established in 1992 to provide advice and recommendations that assist the EPA in developing stronger partnerships with local governments. There are 1,062 advisory committees associated with the federal government that provide advice to the president and executive branch agencies on various issues.

McGrail is not the first person with ties to Harwich to serve on one of those committees. Harwich resident Marina Brock, who worked for the Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment for nearly 30 years, was appointed to a two-year term in 2016 on a 15-member committee advising the EPA on a broad range of environment-related strategic, scientific, technical, regulatory and economic issues. 

“Local governments are on the forefront of addressing environmental and public health issues across the country,” Zeldin’s letter to McGrail reads. “Working across the various levels of government to provide effective and efficient solutions is critical, and SCAS has proven to be a vital part of that work.” 

“It’s definitely an honor,” McGrail said. “When I got the email I was excited.”

 McGrail has not yet received notification of his first meeting, but he is already working through issues he would like to see addressed.

 “I want the EPA to understand how small communities are impacted around drinking water and wastewater issues,” he said. “It’s the biggest focus for me, the impacts on water and wastewater in our area.”

 He cited the need for funding to address drinking water protection and wastewater infrastructure expenses. The state revolving fund’s zero percent loans are not enough; the cost of addressing these issues has major impacts on small communities, he said.

 One example is addressing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which have a major impact on small communities. While that is not an issue in Harwich, McGrail noted he had a lot of experience in dealing with PFAS when he was town manager in Middleboro. 

As for his background in environmental issues, McGrail said he graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst with a plant and soil science degree. 

The position provides no compensation or honorarium, but it pays travel expenses and a per diem allowance, he said. 

There is also one additional benefit McGrail will receive. His daughter, a student at Holy Cross College, will be doing a semester internship in Washington from January to May, and the appointment will provide an opportunity to visit with her, he said.