Clean Water Current Archive

As of press time, Congress was scrambling to complete negotiations on its final Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) appropriations package and reach agreement on more federal COVID-19 relief.

NACWA and the Montana League of Cities and Towns (League) filed a brief last week asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana to stay its recent order compelling the State of Montana to adopt a new compliance timeline for its nutrient variance for municipal dischargers despite the appeals over that very timeline from the State of Montana, NACWA, the League, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Spurred on by recent criticisms of the national biosolids program and concerns that EPA may need to invest more in its biosolids efforts, EPA virtually convened the first National Biosolids Stakeholder Meeting since 2010 on December 8, 9 and 10.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on December 9 that it had finalized targeted modifications to the 2016 Massachusetts and New Hampshire municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) general permits.

NACWA’s Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Committee met on December 8 to discuss implementation of the Dental Amalgam Rule and discuss PFAS issues.

NACWA submitted a list of items to the incoming Biden-Harris Administration’s EPA transition team last week recommending tangible actions the new administration could take during its first 100 days in office to support the public clean water sector.

The International Water Services Flushability Group (IWSFG) has published an updated version of its flushability specifications.

On November 24, EPA Region 1 issued the final Great Bay Total Nitrogen General Permit (GP) for 13 eligible wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) that discharge nitrogen within the Great Bay watershed in New Hampshire.

Several pieces of legislation are making their way to the House and Senate floors this week for final consideration as Congress hopes to conclude its work for this session before the holidays.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week released a proposed guidance memorandum providing information on the application of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund to the Clean Water Act Sec. 402 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) recently issued an opinion denying NACWA member the City and County of San Francisco’s appeal of a Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by EPA Region 9 and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board for its combined sewer system discharges.

As Washington gets set for a new Administration and Congress next year and a busy legislative agenda ahead, the advocacy voice of the public clean water sector will be more critical than ever to ensure our policy goals are heard under what is expected to be a divided government.

The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, a research center at Duke University that focuses on applied environmental policy research, is engaged in a research project to better understand the role and use of State Revolving Funds (SRFs) in the nation’s water service systems. Specifically, the project is conducting a series of studies to understand:

A spin-off of University of Arizona’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, AquaVitas, was awarded a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) contract to provide additional support for COVID-19 wastewater surveillance on November 13.

EPA’s Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water, Dave Ross, recently signed a memorandum addressed to EPA Regional Administrators recommending an interim strategy on PFAS specifically for federally issued National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permittees. However, it is likely many state permit writers will also follow the memo’s recommendations.

With Congress set to adjourn for the year by mid-December, the House and Senate are working quickly to finalize all outstanding remaining legislation. Congressional focus is on “must pass” legislation to fund the government past its current December 11 expiration date.

(December 2, 2020) –NACWA submitted comments November 19 on EPA’s Draft Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks:1990-2019 as part of the expert review process.

A workgroup of NACWA members met on November 23 to discuss Action 2.2.4 of EPA's Water Reuse Action Plan

With the continued uncertainly around COVID-19, the National Water Policy Fly-In partners have made the decision to not hold an in-person event in 2021.

Raftlis recently completed a nationwide utility survey, with the assistance of NACWA and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), to better understand the financial impact on water sector utilities from the COVID-19 pandemic.