Throughout the year NACWA has continued to work toward a goal of greater recognition for the incredible progress our members have made – and, in turn, their right to be treated as true and equal partners in clean water alongside federal and state regulators.
NACWA is vigilantly working with U.S. EPA, Congress and the courts to identify opportunities to support flexibility in how utilities pursue clean water compliance. At the same time, we are actively working to increase certainty for clean water utilities under their permits and help avoid regulators or the activist community moving the goalposts, after billions of dollars have been invested.
Key areas of engagement for NACWA this year include:
- Advancing legislation through the U.S. House of Representatives to codify U.S. EPA’s permit shield policy that protects discharges that are in compliance with Clean Water Act permits and to prohibit inappropriately vague permit requirements. As noted elsewhere in the Annual Report, we are also working to address these requirements through the courts.
- Leading a collaborative effort with the broader water sector to actively comment on EPA’s proposed regulatory approaches to PFAS and secure a limited, targeted statutory exemption for the water sector from PFAS liability under the federal Superfund law.
- Collaboratively engaging with U.S. EPA to advance non-regulatory approaches to helping utilities improve their cybersecurity.
- Continuing a productive dialogue with U.S. EPA to advance the use of integrated planning and supporting efforts to train state agencies in its use.
The clean water sector has faced undue scrutiny and targeting this year from some stakeholders, including environmental organizations, as they galvanize around concerns like PFAS. NACWA continues to defend the sector’s right and responsibility to be an active partner, not painted as a culpable party, in negotiations to address these concerns while appropriately ensuring the polluter – not the innocent ratepayer – pays for PFAS removal and remediation.At the national and local levels, NACWA continues to relay the good work underway in the sector and the message that collaboration – among regulators, regulated utilities, local communities, environmental groups and more – is the only true way to make progress toward a common goal of maximizing positive environmental and public health outcomes.