Clean Water Current

EPA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced a Memorandum of Understanding last week to streamline coordination between FEMA and the EPA-funded State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs, allowing the SRFs to help restore vital water infrastructure more rapidly during times of disaster.

NACWA and several member utilities joined the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) in a June 3 meeting with EPA to discuss the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. EPA attendees included Clint Woods, Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, and Jeff Lape, Deputy Director of the Office of Water’s Office of Science and Technology.

In comments submitted on June 6, NACWA supported EPA’s proposed label language for chlorine gas used as an antimicrobial in swimming pools, hot tubs, and spas. Since excess chlorine can potentially interfere with the biological processes used to treat wastewater or have adverse aquatic impacts if discharged into storm drains, the Association agreed with EPA’s proposed instructions: “Before draining a treated pool, spa, hot tub, or fountain, contact your local sanitary sewer and storm drain authorities and follow their discharge instructions.”

The Association and its hundreds of public clean water agency members across the country are mourning the victims, many of whom were public utility employees, of the shooting late last week in Virginia Beach, VA. The senseless attack took the lives of 12 people.

After a weeklong Memorial Day work period, Congress gets back to work this week in DC for what is expected to be a busy summer ahead. In the House, several Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) appropriations bills are anticipated to come before the full chamber for a vote, including the Interior & Environment Appropriations bill, which passed through the committee in late May.

NACWA’s specialty conference for clean water communicators, Strategic Communications:H2O (StratComm), convened in Cleveland, OH this week, with more than 120 participants from all over the country—the largest turnout ever in its three year history.

Many NACWA members across the country have been affected by severe weather events in the last few weeks, seeing their communities suffer often devastating impacts. For those members, and the communities they serve, please know that we are here to support you. If there is any way that NACWA staff or our national network of utilities and experts can be useful to you, we encourage you to contact us at 202-833-2672 or utilize our online Engage forum.

The EPA announced an application process for $14 million worth of grants to help reduce nutrients in the Great Lakes Basin. The grants will be focused on reducing nutrients from agricultural and stormwater runoff and are being issued pursuant to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) action plan. NACWA has successfully advocated in recent years for strong federal funding for EPA’s geographical programs like the GLRI and is pleased to see the funds being made available.

The House Appropriations Committee passed its Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) Interior & Environment Appropriations bill on May 22, which funds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and included a significant increase for key EPA programs. This occurred on the same day President Trump broke off discussions with Congressional leaders on a comprehensive infrastructure package.

Important bipartisan legislation was introduced by US House Representatives Lori Trahan (D-MA) and Darin LaHood (R-IL) on May 15 to extend the authorization of the Clean Water Act, Section 221 Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Control Grants, which provides grants to states and municipal entities for treatment works to intercept, transport, control, treat, or reuse municipal combined sewer overflows; sanitary sewer overflows; and/or stormwater.

US House Representatives Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) and Steve Stivers (R-OH)—Co-Chairs of the bipartisan House Municipal Finance Caucus—introduced The Investing in Our Communities Act (H.R. 2772) on May 15, which would amend the federal tax code to reinstate the option for a single advance refunding of municipal bonds.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) held a legislative hearing on May 22, to consider numerous bills for addressing PFAS concerns that have been introduced this congressional session.

Over 200 pretreatment professionals met in Tacoma, WA May 14 – 17 for NACWA’s annual Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Workshop, which featured presentations by EPA staff, utilities, and consultants. NACWA extends a big thank you to all the participants, and especially to Member Utility the City of Tacoma Environmental Services Department for being such welcoming hosts!

NACWA members that purchased liquid aluminum sulfate may qualify for either the Direct or Indirect Liquid Aluminum Sulfate Settlement. This litigation alleges that the leading manufacturers of liquid aluminum sulfate, commonly referred to as “Alum,” conspired to allocate territories, and/ or not compete for each other’s historical business by rigging bids, allocating customers and stabilizing the price of Alum sold in the United States between January 1, 1997 and February 18, 2011.

The NACWA Security & Emergency Preparedness Committee heard a presentation by guest speaker Jake Schmitter, Senior Manager for Training and Exercises at the Electricity-Information and Analysis Center (E-ISAC), during its May 23 web meeting on the upcoming GridEx V exercise. Water and wastewater utilities can experience adverse impacts during a significant electric utility outage, and GridEx is a useful exercise for exploring these interdependencies and how utilities can respond to emergencies resulting from cyber and physical attacks.

The federal government released its Spring 2019 Unified Agenda on May 22, providing updates on the timing for all of its ongoing regulatory activity.

The Association’s Water Quality Committee met via conference call on May 22 and discussed the latest developments from the EPA and around the country.

NACWA Member Utility the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) recently unveiled its Community Benefits Dashboard, which is a tool that tracks and transparently reports out on the utility’s Community Benefits Program and Environmental Justice investments.

NACWA conveyed the public clean water sector’s perspective to the US Supreme Court on May 16 in one of the most significant Clean Water Act (CWA) cases to reach the High Court in decades. For more information and analysis, see NACWA’s recent Advocacy Alert.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change held a legislative hearing on May 15, entitled Protecting Americans At Risk of PFAS Contamination & Exposure. The hearing aimed to address the tsunami of legislative bills that have been introduced in the 116th Congress on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).