Clean Water Current

On February 24, EPA announced each state, Tribe, and territory Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) allotment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23). These funds, totaling $2.4 billion, represent the supplemental funding each CWSRF will receive for FY23 from the BIL, which is providing additional funding to the SRFs over five years. Note that Congressionally directed projects, or earmarks, will not impact these totals like they do annual SRF funding.

NACWA filed an amicus curiae brief last week in support of public agency member Columbus Water Works’ (CWW) challenge to the Georgia Environmental Protection Department’s (EPD) imposition of unsupported, costly permitting requirements for its combined sewer system.

EPA will be hosting a webinar tomorrow, February 23 at 1:00 PM ET, on its new Financial Capability Assessment (FCA) Guidance. All members with questions about the new FCA Guidance are encouraged to register and participate.

NACWA’s Board of Directors met Feb. 14 as part of the Association’s 2023 Winter Conference in Sonoma, California.

NACWA submitted comments February 10 on EPA’s proposed changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) regulations, supporting changes that would help clean water utilities benefit from the program. The RFS provides incentives to produce renewable transportation fuels, including the biogas produced by anaerobic digestion of biosolids.

NACWA joined fellow public sector organizations in sending a letter on February 21 to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler regarding implementation of the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA), which was signed into law in December as an amendment to the annual National Defense Authorization Act.

NACWA sent a letter to Capitol Hill on February 1 outlining the top legislative priorities the Association looks to work with Congress on over the next two years during the 118th session of Congress.

The “Water Coalition Against PFAS” – which includes the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, American Water Works Association, National Association of Clean Water Agencies, National Rural Water Association, and Water Environment Federation - sent a letter February 3 to Congressional offices to formally introduce the Coalition and provide additional information about our collective policy priorities.

NACWA joined with other water, state, and environmental organizations on a February 2 letter to the Biden Administration urging full funding for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) in the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Proposal. The President’s Budget Proposal is anticipated to be released in early March and will help guide Congressional spending negotiations.

NACWA submitted comments to EPA on February 3 supporting the Agency’s proposed rulemaking to change the reporting requirement for PFAS under the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). The proposed rule will add certain PFAS to the list of Chemicals of Special Concern and will eliminate the de minimis exemption that allowed some manufacturers, processors, and users of PFAS to escape reporting if PFAS concentrations were below 1% in mixtures or other products imported, processed, or used.

EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management hosted an informational webinar on January 18 for wastewater utilities about the $1 billion in federal funding made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for clean water agencies to address emerging contaminants.

Over objections from NACWA as well as numerous water sector and municipal organizations, EPA finalized its revised Financial Capability Assessment (FCA) Guidance on February 1. The pre-publication version of the document is available on EPA’s website, and NACWA issued a strong press release in response.

The Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), an association representing state environmental regulatory agencies, released a new report on January 27 outlining various state thoughts on the policies, testing, research gaps, and risk communication challenges relating to PFAS in biosolids.

A group of water sector associations, including NACWA, sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan on January 25 asking the Agency to withdraw its draft memo to state drinking water administrators to include cybersecurity in the Sanitary Surveys that drinking water utilities undergo every three years.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report January 25 examining combined sewer overflow (CSO) issues in the United States. GAO interviewed a number of associations and utilities as part of the report, including NACWA and NACWA members.

NACWA joined 12 other organizations in a letter to Congress last week outlining the critical importance of ensuring communities across the nation have the resources needed to be more resilient to the threats of flooding, major disasters, and other natural hazards.

American Rivers, a grassroots advocacy organization with which NACWA frequently collaborates, recently released its annual community-driven budget and appropriations report entitled the River Budget: National Priorities for Healthy Rivers and Clean Water of Fiscal Year 2024.

EPA released its final Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15 on January 20, which announced a study of PFAS in publicly owned treatment work (POTW) influent. The Plan is published every two years to outline EPA’s planned studies and rulemakings related to effluent limitation guidelines (ELGs) and pretreatment standards for industrial dischargers. The Plan, an FAQ, and other documents are available on EPA’s website.

EPA recently announced that it is extending the deadline for submission of data for its current Clean Watershed Needs Survey (CWNS) to April 28, 2023. The original deadline had been the end of February.

NACWA’s Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) Task Force met last week with EPA staff to discuss considerations related to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for combined sewer system (CSS) communities that have completed an LTCP pursuant to EPA’s 1994 Combined Sewer Overflow Control Policy (CSO Policy).