Clean Water Current Archive

EPA’s Water Finance Center will be hosting an upcoming webinar on the Agency’s recently proposed draft Financial Capability Assessment (FCA) guidance. The webinar will be on March 14 from 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET.

As part of the NACWA Statement of Principles and Recommended Actions on Environmental Justice, which was approved by the NACWA Board of the Directors last year, the Association is committed to expanding utility peer-to-peer learning and exchange opportunities around diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) efforts.

The official 60-day comment period on EPA’s latest revisions to its Financial Capability Assessment (FCA) document began February 23 with the release of the draft guidance in the Federal Register. Comments are due to EPA by April 25. ​

NACWA sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan on Feb. 24 outlining funding priorities from the municipal clean water sector for the Biden Administration’s upcoming Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) budget request to Congress. This letter builds on NACWA’s annual advocacy to the White House and Congress as funding levels are being set each year. ​

NACWA submitted written testimony on February 18 to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’s Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight opposing Senate Bill 2655, An Act Establishing a Moratorium on the Procurement of Structures or Activities Generating PFAS Emissions.

The NACWA Legal Affairs Committee and Stormwater Management Committee this week jointly hosted a webinar focusing on the definition of "waters of the United States" (WOTUS).

NACWA’s Small & Mid-Size Utility Working Group met virtually this week to discuss clean water funding availability and how to access it. NACWA staff provided an overview and timelines specific to funding that has been made available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the recent Infrastructure Bill, and the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program.

In recent weeks, the White House has begun rolling out program guidance regarding implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure bill for individual infrastructure sectors. The Biden Administration is planning a public webinar series to walk through each agency and sector’s guidance after its release.

EPA released a new draft of its revised Financial Capability Assessment (FCA) Guidance February 16, ahead of a Federal Register notice that will be published in the coming days formally announcing a 60-day public comment period.

NACWA sent a letter to the EPA Office of Water on Feb. 16 further outlining clean water agency priorities related to implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

The U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina recently approved a settlement agreement between NACWA member Charleston Water System (CWS) and major U.S. wipes manufacturer Kimberly-Clark.

The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee held a legislative hearing Feb. 15 to consider H.R. 2021, the Environmental Justice For All Act.

The NACWA Legal Affairs Committee and Stormwater Management Committee will be jointly hosting a webinar focusing on the definition of "waters of the United States" (WOTUS) next Tuesday, February 22nd from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. (Eastern).

After two years of virtual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Water Week 2022 (April 24 – April 30) returns to an in-person format this year in Washington, DC. The cornerstone event, the National Policy Fly-In, is set for Wednesday, April 27th and will be hosted by NACWA, the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the Water Research Foundation (WRF), and the WaterReuse Association.

In comments submitted February 7, NACWA weighed in once again on the latest iteration of EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) proposed rulemaking to establish a “durable” Waters of the United States (WOTUS) definition. ​

EPA recently announced the Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Initiative – Water and Wastewater Sector Action Plan to help improve water utility cybersecurity. The Action Plan is part of President Biden’s Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Initiative, established in the National Security Memorandum on Improving Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Control Systems. Similar plans were implemented last year for the electrical and natural gas sectors.

The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed H.R. 4521, the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act of 2022, which is a comprehensive bill designed to help drive research and innovation to improve American global competitiveness and supply chain constraints in the fields of science and technology.

The White House released a guidebook earlier this week to help state and local government officials understand the billions of dollars that will be made available for numerous programs under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the bipartisan infrastructure package that was signed into law in November 2021.

Bipartisan legislation, led by Representative Lisa McClain (MI-10-R) and Alan Lowenthal (CA-47-D), was introduced today in the U.S. House of Representative to establish standards for the flushability of disposable nonwoven products – commonly known as wet wipes.

NACWA has been engaged in recent weeks with other water sector organizations in advocacy around the Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements that were signed into law as part of the recent bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Ac (IIJA).