Clean Water Current

NACWA’s thoughts are with all of our members and other utilities that have been impacted by Hurricane Ida. The Association stands ready to provide any assistance it can to utilities that need help.

Speaker of the House Pelosi (D-CA) and a group of ten moderate Democrats reached a deal August 24 to move forward on two of their key legislative priorities: the Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act (i.e. the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill with $550 billion in new spending) and the $3.5 trillion Budget Resolution.

EPA’s Water Permits Division, as part of renewing the information collection request (ICR) for the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program, is considering making minor revisions to the forms and instructions of permit applications.

The Northwest Environmental Advocates (NWEA) recently filed a petition for a writ of mandamus to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit asking the court to force EPA to respond to its February 2017 petition requesting that the Agency revoke the State of Washington’s authority to issue permits pursuant to the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program.

EPA is sponsoring a series of free virtual workshops on water sector cybersecurity. These offerings are timely given that recent cyber-attacks on water and wastewater systems have manipulated treatment processes, disabled process control and business enterprise systems, and stolen proprietary data.

Both the U.S. House and Senate are on recess this week, back in Members’ respective districts and states. However, the House plans to return on August 23, weeks earlier than scheduled, to continue advancing legislation following the Senate’s passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on August 10th.

EPA released its final ambient water quality criteria (AWQC) to address nutrients in lakes and reservoirs on August 13. This publication finalizes the Agency’s 2020 proposed rulemaking that moves towards a national stressor-response modelling framework approach that allows states the ability to input local or regional limnological data to derive more specific numeric nutrient values.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) held a webinar August 12 in coordination with NACWA and the National Energy & Utility Affordability Coalition on the rollout of the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) – the program being stood up by HHS to implement the $1.138 Billion in federal assistance provided for water and wastewater customers through the federal COVID-19 relief packages.

NACWA member Charleston Water System (CWS) recently filed an amended class action complaint against multiple manufacturers and distributers of so-called “flushable” wipes in federal district court seeking to have the court enjoin them from labeling their products as “flushable” in light of the damage they cause to sewer systems.

NACWA has received over 50 responses so far to its most recent survey on COVID-19 and encourages utility members to complete the survey before it closes on Monday, August 23.

After nearly two months of ongoing bipartisan infrastructure negotiations between the White House and a group of 22 Senators (G22) led by Senators Portman (R-OH) and Sinema (D-AZ), the Senate on Tuesday passed the first major comprehensive infrastructure package in decades - the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act - with true bipartisan support on a vote of 69-30.

NACWA is encouraging its utility members to complete this brief survey on their current policies regarding COVID-19 vaccination, return to work plans and related issues.

Just prior to the start of August recess, the House passed its Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill, which provides annual funding for U.S. EPA and its core clean water programs, through an omnibus package, H.R. 4502.

Illinois’ Wipes Labeling Act was signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker on August 6, making Illinois the third state to require “Do Not Flush” labeling on non-flushable wipes.

NACWA’s Board of Directors approved a new environmental justice statement for the Association as part of its meeting in late July.

Your people are the heart, the core, and the future of the clean water sector. Now you have a path for investing in that future: Core Leadership.

NACWA and the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) are collecting information from utilities to support changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program’s classification of fuel produced through co-digestion of biosolids and food waste.

Earlier this year, EPA and the Department of the Army announced their intent to revise the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Biden Administration with the goal of developing a new rule that is durable and supports human health, environmental protection, and the economy.

Early this week the bipartisan group of 22 Senators who have been negotiating with President Biden and the White House on a bipartisan infrastructure bill released legislative text and quickly began to advance it through the Senate with the support of leadership.

NACWA congratulates Kishia Powell, Chief Operating Officer for DC Water, as she takes the helm of the Association as NACWA’s newly elected President for 2021-2022.