Clean Water Current

The US Supreme Court announced this morning that it has granted certiorari in Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (Case 18-260) to resolve the circuit split on the limited question of whether the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires a permit when pollutants originate from a point source but are conveyed to navigable waters by a nonpoint source, such as groundwater.

EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) released its annual report on February 8 covering its initiatives and actions for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. The report looks at several different criminal and civil enforcement “outcomes” including enforcement actions initiated and concluded, as well as penalties assessed.

With the 116th Congress now well under way, NACWA encourages all of its members to engage with their respective U.S. Representatives and Senators about the value that public clean water utilities bring to their communities and the challenges faced each day in providing these essential services.

The Director of Charlotte Water, Angela Lee, testified on behalf of NACWA and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) last week before the full House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee regarding the specific needs of the clean water sector.

NACWA joined with more than 100 organizations across the infrastructure spectrum last week — representing transportation, water, airports and many more — to underscore the need for strong legislative progress on key infrastructure issues.

NACWA’s 2019 Winter Conference took place last week in Albuquerque, New Mexico and featured engaging discussions around the intersection of clean water and drinking water policy issues, especially the federal Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act.

The House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee have announced the final water subcommittee assignments for the 116th Congress. NACWA utilities represented by any of these Members of Congress are encouraged to reach out to your elected officials and ensure the officials understand your key policy priorities. NACWA’s Congressional Toolbox is a helpful resource to do this.

Prior to the five-week federal government shutdown, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army had scheduled a public hearing in Kansas City, KS for those interested in presenting data, views, or information regarding the pre-publication Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rulemaking.

Registration is now open for the National Water Policy Fly-In — convening April 3 – 4 in Washington, DC — which serves as the anchor event for Water Week 2019. As has been made clear in recent weeks from comments by President Trump and congressional leaders, there is strong interest in Washington to advance a bipartisan infrastructure package. But in order to ensure that any package includes water as a top priority, it is critical that policy-makers hear directly from you about the specific challenges facing your utility and community.

Top officials in EPA’s Office of Water are looking to jump-start work on market-based programs, including water quality trading, in an effort to address nutrient-related and other types of water pollution across the country. David Ross, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water, issued a memorandum on February 6 to the Regional Administrators for the Agency’s ten regional offices “updating” EPA policy on water quality trading, and outlining six “Market-Based Principles” that are intended to facilitate broader adoption of such programs.

Director of Charlotte Water, Angela Lee, will testify this week on behalf of NACWA and the Water Environment Federation (WEF), in front of the full House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee regarding the needs of the clean water sector.

Within hours of getting back to work after the longest federal government shutdown in history, EPA released its Year in Review for 2018, which provides a high-level summary of the Agency’s accomplishments during 2018 across all of its programs. The document also includes accomplishment summaries for each of the ten EPA Regions.

President Trump called for a broad infrastructure investment package in his State of the Union address last night, again raising the possibility of an infrastructure bill that could gain bipartisan support.

NACWA submitted comments January 29 on three pesticides undergoing registration review by EPA, recommending changes to labeling of the products to better protect wastewater treatment, the aquatic environment, and collection system workers.

EPA released a pre-publication version of its proposed Fiscal Year 2020 – 2023 National Compliance Initiatives this week, and the proposal includes some important positive developments for the public clean water utility sector. Most notably, the proposal moves away from a focus on addressing sewer overflows via enforcement and encourages them to be addressed via the Clean Water Act permitting process.

NACWA delivered an address, on February 4, before the National Rural Water Association’s (NRWA) Board of Directors as part of Association’s Washington, DC Capitol Hill Rally.

NACWA was thrilled to be a sponsor and active participant at last week’s 2019 VerdeXchange meeting in Los Angeles.

Congress and the President agreed late last week to end the five-week partial federal government shutdown and re-open under a three-week continuing resolution (CR) that will temporarily fund the government, including EPA, until February 15.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied, on January 17, the environmental groups’ request for rehearing en banc of the Tennessee Clean Water Network v. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) case.

Registration is now open for the National Water Policy Fly-in—convening April 3 – 4 in Washington, DC—the highlight event of Water Week 2019, which runs March 31 – April 6.