Clean Water Current

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Assistant Administrator for Water, David Ross, along with representatives from the US Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Interior (DOI) and Commerce (DOC), hosted a roundtable on nutrient-related pollution in Baton Rouge, LA last week.

NACWA met with senior EPA Office of Water staff last week to discuss compliance issues for combined sewer overflow (CSO) communities that have reached the end of their long-term control plan (LTCP) projects. The conversation focused specifically on communities that may still not be meeting water quality standards, despite having completed all the work and CSO remediation projects that they agreed to under their LTCP, and how to address these issues through future permits.

The 7th Annual Infrastructure Week concluded Monday, May 20 with more than 500 Affiliate organizations hosting nearly 150 events across America to promote infrastructure, a number of them specifically aimed at elevating clean water priorities.

Officials from EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management, along with EPA Regions 6 and 9, held an initial conference call on May 15 with several NACWA members and the North American Development Bank (NADB) to discuss collaboration opportunities with clean water utilities from Mexico. EPA’s primary focus is to mitigate the transboundary contamination that often flows north into the United States, but the Agency is also interested in addressing aging infrastructure and funding issues.

NACWA participated in the Massachusetts Coalition for Water Resources Stewardship’s (MCWRS’s) 10th Annual Water Resources Strategies Symposium last week in Marlborough, MA as part of a panel to discuss the importance of clean water advocacy.

NACWA submitted stakeholder comments last week to the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee on the need for clean water to be a top priority as part of any comprehensive infrastructure legislation during this Congress.

The US House has a full schedule this week addressing water issues, including four hearings scheduled on Wednesday, May 15.

The Water Environment Federation (WEF) hosted its inaugural Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Symposium last week in Fort Lauderdale, FL. During the technical sessions, EPA gave a financing update, and stated that the expert consultants to help advise and inform the Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB) workgroup on stormwater funding should be finalized this week.

The P3Great Lakes Initiative is seeking municipalities from the Great Lakes basin states—Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio Pennsylvania and New York—to finance green stormwater infrastructure via Environmental Impact Bond (EIB).

NACWA participated in the Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies’ (ORACWA’s) annual Stormwater Summit on May 8, providing an overview of national legislative, regulatory, and legal developments impacting municipal stormwater utilities.

A special open panel discussion featuring NACWA Board Members is set to make the case for water infrastructure investment during national Infrastructure Week (May 13 – 20, 2019). The panel—entitled, The Future is Now: Smart Water Infrastructure, scheduled for May 15 in Washington, DC—features NACWA Board Members Kyle Drefuss-Wells, CEO of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, and Ted Henefin, General Manager of the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, among other panelists. They will make the case for smart water infrastructure investment, as the White House and Congress engage in talks over a possible $2 trillion national infrastructure package.

NACWA’s Communications & Public Affairs Committee held a teleconference presentation, Crisis Communications Strategy for PFAS: The Emerging Public Issue, on May 1, with guest speaker, Stephanie York, a Vice President of the crisis communications firm, Hennes Communications—one of the top crisis management firms in the country. An audio recording of the session is now available on NACWA Engage Forum, as well as a PFAS one-page primer/fact sheet that was used during Water Week.

NACWA participated in two sessions at the ALI-CLE 2019 Clean Water Act Conference last week, co-sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute. The conference provides in-depth legal analyses, policy perspectives, and insights on the challenges environmental attorneys and related professionals in water law are facing today.

The Region 8 Pretreatment Association (R8PA) held its Annual Conference from April 30 – May 2, with over 150 attendees from public clean water utilities and state regulatory agencies. The workshop provides an opportunity for pretreatment professionals to learn about regulatory updates, hear case studies from other utilities, and network with one another.

NACWA hosted its quarterly conference call with its State and Regional Exchange Network on Tuesday, April 30. The call featured representatives from numerous state and regional clean water organizations discussing the status of wipes legislation being proposed in California, as well as a wide range of other clean water issues which are playing out on the state level. These issues could have national implications and can benefit from grassroots support.

Congressional work continues this week to advance federal spending bills for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20), which starts October 1. The House Appropriations Committee announced how it will divide up total discretionary federal spending across the 12 spending bills, and early indications are there will be a strong 4.5% increase to the overall Interior-Environment spending which includes EPA’s budget.

President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) met today to discuss the possibility of a bipartisan infrastructure deal, and early reports indicate they reached agreement on the outlines of a $2 trillion infrastructure package. In advance of the meeting, NACWA was active in the media pushing for inclusion of water as a key component of any agreement.

Following two weeks of working in their respective Districts, Members of the House of Representatives and Senate return this week to Washington, DC, with a focus on figuring out what can be accomplished over the next few months until the Fourth of July recess—and before the 2020 campaign season fully dominates the conversation.

With strong bipartisan support, The US House of Representatives passed the Local Water Protection Act (H.R. 1331) earlier this month by a vote of 329-56.

The WateReuse Association convened a water sector gathering on April 18, in Los Angeles, where a variety of water industry experts could discuss the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) current draft discussion framework for development of a National Water Reuse Action Plan.