Clean Water Current

On August 13th, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that his Chamber will adjourn until Labor Day, dashing final hopes for passage of another phase of federal COVID-19 relief before the fall.

As Members of Congress return to their home states and Congressional districts until after Labor Day for the August recess, Congressional staff have begun the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) 2020 conference negotiation process in hopes of hammering out a final bill for House and Senate passage this fall.

This past week, Congressional negotiations on the next phase of COVID-19 relief stalled without compromise. In response, with protections such as enhanced federal unemployment benefits and an eviction moratorium expiring, President Trump signed Executive Orders over the weekend aimed at providing temporary stability.

NACWA has remained active in its media outreach over the summer months, particularly on the topic of water utility shutoff moratoriums related to COVID-19 and NACWA’s repeated insistence that the federal government must provide financial relief to public utilities to help address pandemic concerns.

NACWA has asked EPA to consider the risks associated with pet flea control products containing fipronil, a pesticide with high aquatic toxicity that can pass through wastewater treatment processes.

Since the Senate Republican majority’s release last week of their proposed next COVID-19 relief package as a counter to the House Democratic majority HEROES Act, which passed the House in May, negotiations on finalizing a next COVID-19 relief/stimulus package have remained at a stalemate.

The recent spate of media coverage surrounding utility shutoffs has continued unabated in recent weeks and months, particularly as more and more households face economic challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a notice published in the Federal Register on August 4, EPA is seeking input on its proposed allotment formula for allocating dollars to states through its Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants Program.

The Environmental Council of States (ECOS) held their 2020 State Environmental Protection (STEP) policy summit virtually last week with a focus on “Partnering on PFAS.” The event featured state and federal perspectives from regulators in addition to lightning round panels led by experts.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) released a pre-publication version of its upcoming proposal to reissue and modify its streamlined Clean Water Act Section 404 permits, known as the “nationwide permits,” or “NWPs.”

The U.S. House last week passed its first Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) omnibus appropriations package, H.R. 7608, that includes funding for USEPA and unprecedented increased levels of federal investment in clean water, including $8.5 billion in funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), which is nearly five times that of current levels.

In another positive step for the water sector on the PFAS legislative front, last week the U.S. House passed its version of the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that excludes the contentious PFAS provisions NACWA and the water sector have advocated against over the past year in order to ensure the ongoing and proper science-driven regulatory process is able to play out.

While the House Democratic majority pushed through its HEROES Act, a comprehensive COVID-19 relief package back in May, the Senate did not start negotiations on its next proposed phase until last week and got off to a rocky start as the Republican majority struggled to reach agreement within the party and the White House.

Politico, a leading political publication that influences federal policy in Washington, DC, has used the inaugural issue of its recently unveiled sustainability publishing vertical to highlight several of the key water issues facing the country.

Jeffrey Clark, head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resources Division, sent a memorandum this week outlining a new policy “strongly disfavoring” federal enforcement in civil Clean Water Act (CWA) cases where a state has previously instituted a civil penalty proceeding under an analogous state law arising from the same operative facts.

Members of the US Department of Agriculture’s Multistate Research Committee, known as W4170, recently completed a rebuttal of the November 2018 EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) report on biosolids land application.

In a webinar on July 23, EPA staff from the Office of Research and Development (ORD) provided a progress update on developing analytical methods for PFAS.

NACWA hosted the third and final session of its three-part webinar series, Partnerships to Reduce the Impacts from COVID-19 on the Water Sector on Tuesday, July 28.

Formal deliberations on the next COVID-19 relief bill began in earnest this week. As talks kicked off on Monday, NACWA sent another letter to Senate leadership urging inclusion of direct clean water utility and ratepayer assistance in the next package.

The water sector continued joint efforts this week to address concerns over funding provisions for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program in the House’s proposed FY 2021 appropriations package for EPA.