Clean Water Current

NACWA submitted comments this week to the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on draft PFAS legislation, highlighting the critical need for inclusion of a Congressional legislative exemption for public clean water utilities from CERCLA liability for PFAS.

NACWA submitted comments June 28 to the 11 expert members of EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) Biosolids Panel to consider as they develop their final report reviewing the draft Framework for Addressing Risks of Chemicals in Biosolids and the parallel Biosolids Screening Tool (BST).

As federal agencies including U.S. EPA continue working to implement the Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act provisions that were enacted as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in 2021, waiver proposals and guidance have continued to roll out.

The U.S. EPA’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Biosolids Panel will be completing its much-anticipated review of the Agency’s proposed Standardized Framework for Sewage Sludge Chemical Risk Assessment (“Framework”) and Biosolids Screening Tool in the coming weeks. The draft Framework reflects the process EPA plans to use to initially screen pollutants that are found in biosolids and to determine whether a formal risk assessment for a given pollutant is warranted.

On June 21, EPA released the final Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) rule, which sets the renewable fuel target volumes through 2025. NACWA was pleased that the final rule includes a new provision for co-digested food waste that will help clean water utilities benefit from the RFS program.

NACWA met with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on June 27 to provide input for a report on water sector cybersecurity. GAO initiated the report at the request of the US House of Representatives Oversight Committee. The Co-Chairs of NACWA’s Security and Emergency Preparedness Committee – Talyon Sortor and Carol Adams – participated in the meeting.

Earlier this spring, NACWA reported how the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had initiated a water and wastewater utility survey of customer debt and affordability issues.

After a short delay, EPA’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) panel on biosolids will meet for its third and final meeting to review the Agency’s Draft Framework for Assessing Pollutants in Biosolids and its proposed Biosolids Screening Tool (BST).

NACWA staff have been on the road recently with Association partners and members discussing key policy issues.

After the U.S. Census Bureau discontinued its use of “urbanized areas” in the 2020 Census and for future censuses, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a final rule updating its Clean Water Act regulations that relied upon the definition of an urbanized area for defining the boundaries of a small municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s).

In comments sent to EPA Region 1 and EPA Headquarters on June 5, NACWA strongly opposed a number of the Agency’s proposed Clean Water Act (CWA) discharge permits in Massachusetts, where EPA is the direct permitting authority, that would impose impracticable and likely illegal requirements related to climate change.

NACWA recently signed on to a joint letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan asking that the Agency finalize its proposed Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) rule that would allow electricity produced from biomass to qualify for credits in the RFS program. Electricity produced at wastewater treatment utilities would qualify for these “eRINs,” which could benefit utilities that produce electricity from biogas.

In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, clean water utilities have faced novel recruitment and retention challenges directly impacting the ability to recruit and maintain a skilled workforce to address current and emerging utility management issues. NACWA recognizes the many workforce challenges that currently exist throughout the water sector.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently affirmed a lower court holding that NACWA public agency member the City of Wilmington, Delaware may not recoup over $5.8 million in unpaid stormwater management fees from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for several properties the Corps owns within the City.

NACWA held its annual Strategic Communications: H20 Workshop last week in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with over 90 clean water communications professionals from around the country gathering to discuss new innovations in utility communications and engage in peer-to-peer learning and networking.

NACWA and several of its water sector partner organizations met with representatives from multiple EPA offices this week at the Agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The topic: EPA’s ongoing development of a policy memorandum outlining how the Agency intends to exercise its enforcement discretion should it finalize the proposed designations of certain PFAS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund).

In comments submitted to EPA on May 30, NACWA raised several concerns with the Agency’s proposed PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) rulemaking.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week issued their long-awaited decision concerning the scope of federal Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction over “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) in the case of Sackett v. EPA.

On May 31st, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) presided over his inaugural hearing as Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife.

The ongoing negotiations of the debt ceiling deal were concluded between President Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy over the weekend, potentially avoiding a debt default. The legislation suspends the nation’s $31.4 trillion borrowing limit until 2025.