Clean water is at the forefront on Capitol Hill this week, as Congress works to address the growing affordability and infrastructure needs of the sector.

EPA published a notice in today’s Federal Register announcing an allocation formula for the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants Program. The funding for this Program was originally authorized 20 years ago but money was never appropriated until the 2018 and 2019 America’s Water Infrastructure Act process that secured $28 million and $40 million in appropriations, respectively.

NACWA submitted comments to EPA February 22 on the Agency’s recent Interim PFAS Destruction and Disposal Guidance. The draft Interim Guidance was a product of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY 2020 NDAA), which directed EPA to publish within one year an informational document that addresses the current state of knowledge and the scientific gaps in the destruction and disposal of PFAS.

Momentum is building for state legislation on wipes, with California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Minnesota recently introducing bills.

While EPA and the 10 Regional Administrators previously signed the 2021 Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) for industrial stormwater discharges, it never made it into the Federal Register by January 20 and was caught up in the Biden Administration’s regulatory freeze. This roadblock was removed on February 19 when EPA issued a Federal Register Notice for the final 2021 MSGP and appendices with an effective date of March 1, 2021.

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Last week, House Congressional committees completed work on their respective portions of the next COVID-19 relief package under the budget reconciliation process.

EPA announced the availability of the public review version of the Draft Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks:1990-2019 in the February 12 Federal Register. NACWA submitted comments on the Inventory in December 2020, during the expert review phase, and the Association will also submit comments during the public review phase.

In the wake of a cybersecurity incident at the Oldsmar, FL drinking water utility, the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC) is offering a free two-month trial for water utilities, with no payment information required.

In a win for Montana municipal wastewater dischargers, a District Court that previously ruled the state’s nutrient water quality standards variance for municipal dischargers must require compliance with stringent numeric criteria by the end of its term has determined that the state may hold off on revising the variance while the case is being heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.