Monday afternoon, Congress released the Fiscal Year 2021 Consolidated Appropriations bill which contains $638 million for low-income water utility bill assistance.

Legislation on wipes is important, but so too is thoughtful consumer education. By fighting this battle on both fronts, NACWA is working hard to ensure a future where only the 3 Ps make it down the drain, and fatbergs – those colossal, congealed masses of wipes, FOG and more – are a thing of the past.

The Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (Central San) provides wastewater collection and cleaning, recycled water production and distribution, and household hazardous waste collection for nearly 500,000 residents and over 3,000 businesses in central Contra Costa County, California. Central San designed the Pipe Protectors Program to fill a void in wastewater education, as Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd-grade programming simply didn’t exist. As more and more schools fully transition to the California Next Generation Science Standards, the need for high-quality science and engineering activities that engage all age groups would become critical.

NACWA submitted its formal transition letter to the incoming Biden-Harris EPA transition team this week outlining the Association’s advocacy priorities for the incoming association.

The Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) released a December 14 memo encouraging water and wastewater utilities to contact their state and local public health agencies about prioritization of their staff for COVID-19 vaccinations.

As of press time, Congress was scrambling to complete negotiations on its final Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) appropriations package and reach agreement on more federal COVID-19 relief.

NACWA and the Montana League of Cities and Towns (League) filed a brief last week asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana to stay its recent order compelling the State of Montana to adopt a new compliance timeline for its nutrient variance for municipal dischargers despite the appeals over that very timeline from the State of Montana, NACWA, the League, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Spurred on by recent criticisms of the national biosolids program and concerns that EPA may need to invest more in its biosolids efforts, EPA virtually convened the first National Biosolids Stakeholder Meeting since 2010 on December 8, 9 and 10.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on December 9 that it had finalized targeted modifications to the 2016 Massachusetts and New Hampshire municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) general permits.

NACWA’s Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Committee met on December 8 to discuss implementation of the Dental Amalgam Rule and discuss PFAS issues.