Clean Water Current

State bills to address the labeling of wipes continue to gain momentum, with a bill in Washington state passing both legislative bodies and a bill introduced in Minnesota.

As Congressional appropriators begin their Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) appropriations process, NACWA continues to work closely with Members of Congress to secure key clean water funding and provisions in the Interior and Environment bill, which funds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and core clean water programs.

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) proposed the first updates in over four decades to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on January 10, 2020. The rulemaking proposes various updates to the manner in which federal agencies conduct reviews on major or significant actions that could affect the quality of public health or the environment.

On Wednesday, March 4th, NACWA and a group of member clean water agencies from across New England met in Boston with EPA Region 1 Administrator, Dennis Deziel. The meeting provided an opportunity for utilities to elevate clean water priorities to Administrator Deziel, who was appointed in August 2019, and key Regional Office staff.

NACWA has been reviewing the Association’s plans for continuity of operations and for future meetings and events in light of developments surrounding the coronavirus (COVID-19).

NACWA, along with the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the Water Environment Federation (WEF), met with senior EPA Office of Water (OW) and Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) leadership on February 27 to hear an update on work EPA has underway to potentially revise the Agency’s household affordability and utility financial capability methodologies.

After a year-long effort, EPA released the first iteration of the National Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP) on February 27.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler testified before the House Subcommittee on the Environment and Climate Change last Thursday, Feb. 27th concerning EPA’s Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) Budget.

NACWA and the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) met with EPA on February 25 to discuss the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program’s classification of fuel produced through co-digestion of biosolids and food waste.

EPA recently announced it is proposing to extend the Phase 2 compliance deadlines for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Electronic Reporting Rule from December 21, 2020 to December 21, 2023.

NACWA CEO Adam Krantz published an op-ed in Bloomberg Environment yesterday, February 25, highlighting the hard work and remarkable efforts undertaken by public clean water utilities to comply with federally mandated consent decrees regarding combined sewer overflows under the integrated planning framework.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a Report to Congress calling for increased technical assistance to address utility resilience risk and recommending that federal agencies require climate information be considered in the water infrastructure project planning process.

Congress returned to Washington, DC this week for what is expected to be a busy legislative period ahead.

NACWA’s Stormwater Management Committee will hold its first committee meeting of 2020 on March 2 from 3:00 to 4:00 PM ET.

The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) held their Water, Energy and Environment Committee meeting in Washington DC on February 24, and NACWA participated to provide a municipal clean water perspective.

Four of the 2020 Presidential Candidates – Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Tom Steyer and Mayor Pete Buttigieg – convened February 16 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for the first-ever Presidential Candidate Infrastructure Forum.

NACWA recently joined a coalition of wastewater utilities seeking to intervene in litigation brought by an environmental organization in the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri challenging the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of Missouri’s newly adopted “Combined Criteria Approach” for aquatic life nutrient criteria in lakes.

EPA released its Draft Technical Support Document for Implementing the 2019 Recommended Human Health Recreational Ambient Water Quality Criteria or Swimming Advisories for Microcystins and Cylindrospermopsin on December 16, 2019.

NACWA asked EPA to consider aquatic impacts of pet flea shampoos and treatments that contain pyrethroid and pyrethrin chemicals.

In support of its advocacy efforts on behalf of the public clean water sector, NACWA’s leadership and staff regularly field questions from members of the national, local and trade press to provide insight and expert analysis on clean water-related topics.