As chemical supply chain issues continue to impact utilities around the country, EPA has published instructions for water utilities on how to use Section 1441 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) or the Defense Production Act to obtain chlorine or any other chemicals needed for treating drinking water or wastewater.

Congressional focus on water legislation continues this week both at the highest levels of leadership – with the White House and Congressional leaders continuing to negotiate a potential bipartisan infrastructure deal – and at the Committee level, where work continues to advance authorization bills.

EPA’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) held its third public meeting of the year last week, highlighting the emphasis on environmental justice (EJ) issues by the new Biden-Harris Administration.

NACWA’s Biosolids Committee will convene on Thursday, June 24 from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. EST on Zoom and will discuss a variety of key issues happening at the federal level. The Committee will be briefed on activities that are ongoing at EPA as well as dive into evolving PFAS matters including NACWA’s recent letter to EPA’s PFAS Council and a new “how-to” guide on modeling the fate and transport of PFAS in biosolids and residuals.

Last week, over 130 communications professionals from the public clean water sector joined NACWA for the second virtual StratComm: H2O event.

Since 2016, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) has worked to demystify the world of wastewater for its community through tours of its Main Wastewater Treatment Plant located in Oakland, CA. When the pandemic struck in March 2020, EBMUD quickly mobilized to replace its in-person tours with virtual tours, allowing community members to visit the plant from the safety and comfort of home.

NACWA sent a letter on June 14 to EPA’s newly formed EPA PFAS Council (EPC) detailing specific recommendations for EPA to consider as it develops a multi-year strategy to address PFAS.

A report will soon be available summarizing the results of the recent utility cybersecurity survey sponsored by NACWA and the other water sector associations. The survey revealed that many utilities are taking the necessary steps to protect their information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) systems, incorporating cybersecurity into risk management plans and protecting IT and OT assets but that there is not consistency across-the-board in planning.

Building on the momentum of last week’s passage of H.R. 1915, the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021 by the Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, the focus shifted this week to the Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee where the Environment Subcommittee marked up and advanced several pieces of water legislation, including H.R. 3293, the Low-Income Water Customer Assistance Programs Act of 2021, which NACWA has continued to champion.