Clean Water Current

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.

EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a final memorandum last week ending a resolution process with EPA’s Office of Water over a November 2018 OIG report criticizing EPA’s biosolids program.

EPA sent an August 6 letter to NACWA, the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA), and two California utilities denying requested changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program that would help utilities to better manage food waste through anaerobic digesters.

NACWA member utilities played an active role at last week’s Transformative Issues Symposium on Workforce, jointly hosted by the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the American Water Works Association (AWWA).

Prior to leaving Washington, DC last week for the August recess, the Senate passed a sweeping two-year budget deal that will raise the federal debt limit until mid-2021 and increase current spending caps put in place by the 2011 Budget Control Act by $320 billion over the next two years.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution last week sponsored by Sens. Brown (D-OH) and Portman (R-OH) marking 50 years of environmental progress since the Cuyahoga River on June 22nd, 1969, which helped serve as the impetus for the Clean Water Act (CWA).

The Kresge Foundation and Spring Point Partners are working on a research project examining the use of green infrastructure (GI) to control municipal stormwater runoff, especially in low-income, climate vulnerable communities, and are interested in learning more information from NACWA members about this practice.

With Congress heading out of DC for its August recess, NACWA and other water sector groups continue meeting with congressional staff regarding the proper path forward on PFAS legislation that takes into account potential unintended consequences on public clean water utilities.

NACWA met this week with David Ross, EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Water, and other senior staff from the Office of Water to discuss a number of the Association’s advocacy priorities including affordability and water quality issues.

A federal district court issued a ruling July 16 in a case brought by environmental groups, which challenged the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) approval of Montana’s general nutrient variance for municipal dischargers.

Members of the US House of Representatives passed a sweeping two-year budget deal last week, before adjourning to leave Washington, DC and head back to their home districts for the August recess.

The Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), sent a letter to EPA yesterday expressing concern over EPA’s current efforts to develop a rule on peak wet weather flow blending at publicly owned treatment works and asking EPA for more information on the practice.

Congress is set to vote in the coming days on a sweeping two-year budget deal that will raise the federal debt limit until mid-2021 and increase current spending caps put in place by the 2011 Budget Control Act by $320 billion over the next two years.

NACWA’s 2019 Utility Leadership Conference drew more than 200 participants last week to Minneapolis, MN to discuss a variety of emerging utility leadership challenges – including workforce, rate setting and affordability, and community and customer engagement – and how today’s clean water utility executives can best positions themselves to adapt to these challenges at both the national and local levels.