Clean Water Current

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed its version of the 2018 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), H.R. 8, last week, by a vote of 408 - 2.

NACWA participated in a coordinating meeting last week on a research project to provide water utilities with additional resources around utility governance issues.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) released two circulars last week that look at the impact agriculture has on water resources and aquatic ecosystems.

The next edition of NACWA's Hot Topics in Clean Water Law Webinar series – on June 20, from 2:00 - 3:30 PM ET – places the very latest legal ramifications of climate change front-and-center.

The International Water Services Flushability Group (IWSFG) has published a final version of its flushability specification, which is designed to protect sewer systems and wastewater treatment facilities by ensuring that products labeled “flushable” break apart quickly after flushing and will not cause damage to infrastructure or the environment.

Members of Congress return to Capitol Hill this week from their Memorial Day recess with a full legislative agenda to tackle ahead of their next scheduled recess over July 4th.

As hurricane season officially arrived June 1, NACWA, along with the National Association of Floods and Stormwater Management Agencies (NAFSMA), gathered in in San Antonio, TX last week for a workshop and roundtable discussion on how municipal clean water utilities, stormwater agencies, and flood control districts can learn from past flood events, mitigate risks, and strive for greater resiliency.

Today, important discussions on potential increases in water sector funding are exploring different levels of private engagement; the role of peer-to-peer partnerships; and how fragmentation in the public water and wastewater sector nationwide may limit how much progress can be made.

The next edition of NACWA's Hot Topics in Clean Water Law Webinar series – on June 20, from 2:00 - 3:30 PM ET – places the very latest legal ramifications of climate change front-and-center.

NACWA joined more than 150 federal and state regulators and other stakeholders at EPA’s National Leadership Summit on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), which was held on May 22 in Washington, DC.

The NACWA Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Committee is considering questions and clarifications that are still needed about the Dental Amalgam Separator Rule after EPA published a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document on May 14.

NACWA continues to evaluate EPA’s Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science proposed rulemaking published April 30. NACWA’s initial concern was the short, thirty-day comment period EPA initially established, so the Association filed a joint request with several water sector groups May 23 requesting additional time to review the rule

The NACWA Security & Emergency Preparedness Committee held a web meeting on May 21 with guest speaker Mike Howe from the Texas Section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), who provided a presentation on how the Texas Water & Wastewater Agency Response Network (WARN) helped utilities recover from the impacts of Hurricane Harvey.

Water Infrastructure Investment. Consent decrees. Integrated planning. Affordability. Your utility can be 100% correct on the issues, and still suffer negative blowback due to poorly executed communications on advocacy matters.

The US Conference of Mayors recently released a slide report examining local government construction spending on water and sewer infrastructure, finding that local government expenditures totaled $738 billion for 10 water and sewer asset categories from 1993 to 2017.

The Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee and the House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee this week are marking up their respective versions of the 2018 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), S. 2800 and H.R. 8, with the Senate EPW Committee unanimously voting to move the legislation to the Senate floor.

The U.S House’s 2018 Farm Bill failed on the Floor of the House of Representatives last week by a vote of 198-213. After the failed vote, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) motioned to reconsider the vote at a later date. Republican leadership are now trying to negotiate a path forward on reconsideration and passage.

NACWA, along with a coalition of water organizations including the WateReuse Association, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, the California Association of Sanitation Agencies, and the Central Valley Clean Water Association, submitted comments May 21 to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Water regarding how discharges of pollutants to groundwater should be regulated under federal and state environmental laws.

NACWA participated in the annual Wet Weather Partnership Conference on May 16-18 in Cincinnati, OH, providing an update on legislative and regulatory developments.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has released a new issue paper, Go Back To The Well: States And The Federal Government Are Neglecting A Key Funding Source For Water Infrastructure, that urges states to ramp up use of loan guarantees and issuance of bonds to help close the gap between identified wastewater and drinking water infrastructure needs and available federal funding.