Clean Water Current

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)’s new Waters of the United States (WOTUS) definition hit the Federal Register today, January 18, and will go into effect in 60 days on March 20, 2023.

EPA’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) recently released guidance, Cumulative Impacts Addendum to EPA Legal Tools to Advance Environmental Justice, outlining the Agency’s legal authorities provided under its various programs to address cumulative impacts on overburdened, disadvantaged communities.

EPA issued a 41-page Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) last week to help states, authorized tribes and territories adopt and implement the 2021 Recommended Ambient Water Quality Criteria to Address Nutrient Pollution in Lakes and Reservoirs.

The 118th Congress has officially been sworn in and has started its legislative work. NACWA has begun outreach to the new Congress, especially newly elected members, to educate them about our priority issues and advance our advocacy initiatives.

NACWA has partnered with Stantec’s Institute for Water Technology & Policy to deploy a comprehensive, national cost analysis to estimate the impacts of PFAS on the public clean water community.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water held its first in-person meeting with water sector association staff for 2023 on January 6. The meeting provided an opportunity for Office of Water Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox, joined by key political and career staff, to outline the office’s priorities for the coming year.

A group of water sector associations met with the White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on January 10 to discuss EPA’s proposal to include cybersecurity in the sanitary surveys that drinking water utilities undergo every three years.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water quietly published its 3rd Draft Method 1633: Analysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Aqueous, Solid, Biosolids and Tissue Samples on December 22, 2022. While not the final method, this iteration considers 40 different PFAS analytes across several environmental matrices – including wastewater and biosolids - and was done in collaboration with the Department of Defense.

As the new year gets underway, NACWA continues to monitor federal implementation of the Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) provisions that were signed into law in November 2021 as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

On the last weekday of 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced the final “Revised Definition of Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rulemaking. EPA has been working on this rule for over a year, and it comes ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s anticipated decision later this year on WOTUS jurisdiction in Sacket v. EPA.

NACWA has learned from EPA that the Agency is moving to finalize its revised Financial Capability Assessment (FCA) Guidance that was released in draft form last year. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently completed its review of the document and determined that it did not create any significant economic impact, paving the way for EPA to issue the guidance in final form.

NACWA submitted comments December 21 addressing how an increase in conservation dollars appropriated in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) can best be spent, including how public clean water utilities can tap some of these funds.

On December 20, EPA released a pre-publication version of a final rule on emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles, including the types of trucks that most utilities use in their daily operations. The rule sets more stringent standards for air pollutant emissions, including nitrogen oxide, ozone, and particulate matter, and incentives the adoption of zero-emission technology for heavy-duty engines.

EPA is inviting water sector professionals and utility staff and managers to join a webinar on January 18 at 1:00 PM ET regarding the newly authorized Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) emerging contaminant funding.

Nearly three months into Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), U.S. House and U.S. Senate Appropriators finally agreed this week on a $1.7 trillion Omnibus spending package that will fund the government through September 30, 2023. The final package covers all federal agencies and departments for the fiscal year, on top of dollars previously appropriated (such as through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law). It also includes emergency supplemental funding for natural disaster recovery and infrastructure emergencies, and to support Ukraine.

After several months of negotiations between the U.S. House and Senate on crafting a final 2022 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) and a Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress passed both bills last week as part of a legislative package with strong bipartisan support. The package, H.R. 7776, is now awaiting President Biden’s expected signature into law.

NACWA is pleased to announce that our PFAS Cost Survey is now open and we highly encourage member participation before January 13, 2023. The Association needs your help conducting a comprehensive, national cost analysis to estimate the impacts of PFAS on the clean water community.

The White House recently released its first comprehensive guidance to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was enacted in August 2022. The Biden Administration has been working over the past few months to begin implementing the IRA, recognizing the tight timelines provided by Congress in the Act to get programs running and dollars invested.

Last week, EPA Assistant Administrator Fox responded to a recent letter from NACWA outlining a set of federal clean water technology principles and policy recommendations put forth by NACWA’s Water Technology & Innovation Investment Task Force.

NACWA co-hosted a Symposium December 13 with the Agricultural Nutrient Policy Council (ANPC), entitled Collaborative Watershed Projects to Reduce Nutrient Losses and Protect Water Quality, at the Reservoir Center for Water Solutions in Washington, DC.