NACWA’s Water Quality Committee met virtually last week and discussed a variety of issues including wastewater based-epidemiology, PFAS, and activity in the environmental justice landscape.

EPA recently hosted a Listening Session with a broad array of stakeholders from the water sector, including NACWA. Approximately twenty groups were represented, including environmental NGOs as well as community and environmental justice (EJ)/community advocate organizations to discuss water affordability issues. Radhika Fox, EPA’s Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator of Water, hosted the session with other senior EPA staff present as well.

The Senate took an important first step last week towards passing comprehensive infrastructure legislation with the overwhelming passage of the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 (DWWIA), S. 914.

Administrator Michael Regan announced last week during Water Week the formation of a new EPA Council on PFAS (ECP) that will build upon the momentum already happening under the Agency’s PFAS Action Plan. The ECP will be co-chaired by EPA’s Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox and EPA Region 1’s Acting Administrator Deb Szaro.

The NACWA Board of Directors met this past Thursday, April 29. Over the course of the virtual meeting, the Board discussed several important items, including preliminary approval of the Association’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 General Fund budget and Targeted Action Fund Budget. NACWA will be sending members more information about the preliminary budgets for review and comment soon.

With water policy dominating legislative talks in both the House and Senate, as well as in President Biden’s proposed infrastructure legislation, NACWA has been working tirelessly with the various media outlets to accurately frame the discussions around clean water investment. Over the course of the past two months, NACWA has featured extensively in all major D.C. policy news outlets.

The National Governor’s Association (NGA) convened a two-day virtual roundtable event that brought together some of the country’s stormwater funding and financing experts to specifically address equity considerations. Discussions covered existing funding mechanisms like state revolving funds to the newly created sewer overflow and stormwater reuse municipal grant program to establishing a stormwater utility and developing equitable fee structures.