Clean Water Current

NACWA supported improved label language for swimming pool and root control pesticides in two January 17 comment letters.

As anticipated, on Friday, January 10 the US House of Representative voted to pass major legislation to regulate PFAS. The final package, H.R. 535, the PFAS Action Act of 2019 passed the House with a vote of 247-159, with overwhelming support from the House Democratic majority.

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) proposed a set of sweeping changes last week to the rules governing how environmental reviews of proposed Federal actions are conducted under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The US Senate unanimously passed comprehensive legislation, S. 1982, the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act on Thursday, January 9. As previously reported, this legislation is a key part of a comprehensive package aimed at reducing the prevalence of marine debris and trash in the nation’s waterways. Among other provisions, the bill requires a Report to Congress from the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee on microfiber pollution.

Last week, NACWA staff spoke before the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) Water Security Work Group to brief several DC area public clean water utility managers regarding ongoing PFAS legislative developments in Congress.

The Association’s previous General Counsel, Amanda Waters, left at the end of December to pursue opportunities in the private legal sector. NACWA thanks Amanda for all her hard work and dedication to the Association and wishes her well in her future endeavors.

Congress returned to Washington this week from the holidays and the U.S. House, led by its Democratic Majority, is eager to vote on legislation to regulate PFAS.

After two years of negotiations, EPA on December 27 proposed settlement agreements for Massachusetts and New Hampshire’s small municipal separate stormwater sewer system (MS4) permits. NACWA played an instrumental role working with impacted member utilities in these two states to negotiate a favorable settlement.

NACWA submitted comments January 2 on EPA’s recent proposal to alter the administrative appeals process through the Agency’s Environmental Appeal Board (EAB), support efforts to streamline the process but expressing concern over plans to eliminate stakeholder input and increase Agency political influence over the EAB’s deliberations.

In comments filed December 18 on EPA’s September 2019 notice, Water Quality Trading Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program (84 Fed. Reg. 49293), NACWA thanked EPA for its continued interest in jumpstarting market-based and other innovative approaches to improving water quality.

Before leaving Washington at week’s end for the holidays and the year, Congress is expected to pass a final Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) omnibus appropriations package that will fund the federal government at increased spending levels for the remainder of the fiscal year and includes several key NACWA and clean water sector priorities.

NACWA submitted comments to EPA December 16 on the draft Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP) which lays out 46 proposed actions to guide water reuse initiatives across the sector.

EPA is soliciting public comments on a proposal to create a new, time-limited alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process, which would result “in a fundamental change to the Agency's long-held administrative exhaustion requirements” and make significant changes to the appeals process before the Environmental Appeals Board (EAB).

NACWA held a conference call with its State and Regional Partners on December 17 to discuss legislative efforts to address the problem of wipes improperly flushed into sewer systems.

NACWA convened a call last week at the request of the New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA) to discuss PFAS, EPA’s action on this issue to date including work under the Agency’s PFAS Action Plan, and how various states are tackling this complex topic.

In an important legislative achievement for NACWA and the clean water sector, House and Senate negotiators released their compromise Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA - the Full report and summary are viewable online) earlier this week and excluded the most problematic PFAS provisions.

NACWA helped spearhead a meeting of diverse stakeholders last week to discuss water affordability challenges. The group came together to discuss respective priorities around water affordability issues, potential areas for collaboration, and interest in advancing federal legislation.

EPA sent a proposed regulatory determination to establish a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for PFOA and PFOS, two of the most well-known PFAS constituents, to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on December 4. This is consistent with the Agency’s PFAS Action Plan, which envisioned EPA beginning this regulatory process.

NACWA’s Water Quality Committee held its last committee call of 2019 on December 4 and discussed a myriad of recent developments on the water quality front that will spill over into 2020.

NACWA and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) hosted Part 2 last week of a 4-part webinar series Dealing with Disruption: Operationalizing Resilience in the Water Sector.