Clean Water Current

A new report, published by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, examines potential careers and opportunities for African Americans in the water sector.

As public and political attention continues to mount over per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), NACWA is forming a workgroup of member public utilities to help provide guidance to other clean water agencies and is also launching a PFAS resources website.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on November 6 on a critical Clean Water Act (CWA), there is new uncertainty as to whether the case will ultimately be argued before the High Court.

David Ross, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water, yesterday unveiled a draft of the Agency’s much anticipated National Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP).

Following the summer recess, Congress returned to Washington, D.C. this week for a busy September. As reported in last week’s Clean Water Current, several important issues including Fiscal Year 2020 federal funding, PFAS, and a 2020 Water Resources Development Act are on the horizon.

NACWA hosted a Colorado Utility Executive Forum on September 5 at member utility the City of Aurora’s Binney Water Purification Facility, bringing together 34 individuals from over 16 public utilities for a day long discussion on issues critical to Colorado and the region.

NACWA was thrilled to attend the annual 5 Cities Plus conference last week, hosted by Association member the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD). Other NACWA members making up the 5 Cities consortium and participating in the conference included Columbus, OH, Louisville, KY, Indianapolis, IN, and Cincinnati, OH.

David Ross, head of EPA’s Office of Water, recently issued a policy memorandum rescinding any draft or interim guidance documents from the water office that were issued more than two years ago and never finalized in an effort to “increase transparency and regulatory certainty for stakeholders.”

NACWA provided input August 27 to Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif) on planned legislation to address plastic pollution with a broad range of measures.

After more than a month away from Washington, DC in their home states and districts, Members of Congress return to Capitol Hill next week for what is expected to be a busy fall. While several hot button issues are part of the mix, the legislative calendar includes several items that impact public clean water utilities.

During meetings on Capitol Hill and at EPA August 22, the lead authors of the joint NACWA, American Water Works Association (AWWA) and Water Environment Federation (WEF) report, Developing a New Framework for Household Affordability and Financial Capability Assessment in the Water Sector, provided additional background on a proposed new approach to evaluate household affordability and utility financial capability to replace EPA’s current method that relies on median household income

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released a new policy memo August 21 that significantly restricts the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in settlement agreements with state and local governments, including wet weather consent decrees. The new DOJ position comes despite strong pushback from EPA to limiting the use of SEPs.

NACWA submitted comments August 23 to EPA on a proposed new analytical procedure for validating 24 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry analysis.

NACWA was active at the Water Finance Conference in Washington, DC last week, serving as the lead sponsor of the event and speaking on a number of topics including affordability and low-income ratepayer water assistance programs.

NACWA met with key Congressional staff last week regarding pending legislation on PFAS to further educate them on potential unintended consequences of the bill on public clean water utilities.

A federal district court in Washington, DC issued a decision last week in Anacostia Riverkeeper, et al. v. EPA, et al. addressing critical Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and permitting issues.

In comments submitted August 15, NACWA asked EPA to consider exposure pathways from pesticides used indoors in its revised Endangered Species Act (ESA) biological evaluation method for pesticides.

Oregon recently became the latest state to pass pharmaceutical take-back legislation with SB 212 Solid Waste: Pharmaceutical and Sharps Waste Stewardship, which was signed into law by Governor Kate Brown.

NACWA attended an Innovative Financing Strategies for Reducing Nutrients Workshop last week co-hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

NACWA has been informed that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) may be pushing back on the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in federal wet weather consent decrees currently being negotiated.