Clean Water Current

NACWA is pleased to welcome two new members to the Association’s staff.

NACWA released a new document, A Clean Water Utility’s Guide to Considering Source Identification, Pretreatment, and Sampling Protocols for PFAS, on November 25 designed to provide helpful information to utilities that are dealing with growing questions around PFAS chemicals in wastewater and biosolids.

NACWA, along with its partners the American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation, met December 3 with political leadership for both the enforcement and water offices at EPA to discuss the groups’ report, Developing a New Framework for Household Affordability and Financial Capability Assessment in the Water Sector, which outlines a new approach to evaluating household affordability and utility financial capability across all water programs.

NACWA led a group of national and state stormwater associations in filing a November 25 brief with the US Supreme Court in support of the review of a Maryland court decision that could open municipal stormwater utilities to greater Clean Water Act (CWA) liability.

Congress returned to Washington, DC this week for what is expected to be a busy three-week legislative period prior to adjourning for the holiday recess.

In November 25 comments on EPA’s Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 14, NACWA asked EPA to broaden its study of industries that may discharge PFAS.

Members of NACWA’s Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Committee met on November 21 to discuss the implementation of the Dental Amalgam Rule. The 2017 rule requires that dental offices install dental amalgam separators and follow best management practices (BMPs) by July 2020. Dental offices must submit a one-time compliance report to their wastewater utility by October 12, 2020.

Congressional negotiations continue to stall on how to address PFAS in the final Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, Jim Inhofe (R-OK), recently introduced a “skinny” version of the NDAA that solely addresses key military authorizations and excludes contentious “riders” such as PFAS.

Congress is set to pass another short-term continuing resolution (CR) this week to avoid a government shutdown and fund all federal agencies, including EPA, at current spending levels until December 20. The House passed the CR on Tuesday and the Senate is expected to pass it and send it to the President for signature before the current CR expires at midnight on Friday.

EPA is extending the comment period for its recent notice on water quality trading, published in the Federal Register in September. EPA will now accept comments until December 18.

The Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) met on November 13 to discuss security and other related issues that are impacting the water sector, and also met with the Water Government Coordinating Council (GCC) the following day.

EPA announced this week that it will be holding two teleconference calls to brief the public on the continued development of a report on the funding aspects of stormwater.

NACWA’s Board of Directors and leaders of the Association’s standing committees met this week in Austin, TX for the Fall Strategic Leadership Meeting to review the Association’s current advocacy priorities, discuss where those priorities may need change moving forward, and lay the groundwork for revisions to the Association’s Strategic Plan.

EPA released its Systematic Review Protocol on November 7 for five additional PFAS chemicals.

EPA’s proposed new Lead and Copper Rule was published today in the Federal Register, initiating a 60-day public comment period that will close January 13, 2020.

Top congressional appropriators have agreed to another Continuing Resolution (CR) that will fund the federal government through December 20, 2019. A vote is expected next week.

The NACWA Energy Workgroup held a web meeting on November 7 to discuss the current status of food waste co-digestion under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and a case study on a public-private partnership to generate energy with anaerobic digestion at publicly owned treatment works (POTWs).

NACWA was pleased to host a delegation, sponsored by the US State Department, of Palestinian water professionals from the West Bank on November 7.

NACWA staff attended a briefing this week on Capitol Hill hosted by the American Public Works Association (APWA) entitled “Water Issues and Public Works: A Discussion on Water Infrastructure, Regulatory Issues, and Emerging Contaminants.”