As with most conferences this year, the Water and Finance Conference went virtual over two weeks from September 8 to September 17. NACWA, a partner of the event, participated in two sessions during the conference — a session on evolving federal and state regulations against the backdrop of funding opportunities and a session on long-term sustainability in a time of uncertainty.

NACWA hosted the latest Hot Topics in Clean Water webinar last Wednesday, September 16 with a focus the ongoing battle over “flushable” wipes.

For three consecutive years, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) has hosted a cleanup event at the Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline Regional Park in Oakland, California. The shoreline park is a restored wetland and a public recreation space set amidst a densely populated urban area. Trash from littering and from the tides builds up along the shoreline, adversely impacting the park’s beauty and its function as habitat for local wildlife.

Conference negotiations between the House and Senate on a final Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) 2020, which could authorize billions of additional dollars for the clean water sector, are in full swing as the two chambers work to hammer out a final bill with the goal of sending it to President Trump’s desk this Fall.

Thanks to years of tireless effort by NACWA, its members and the Association’s water sector partners, EPA has taken a major step toward overhauling its financial capability assessment methodology to better account for the impacts on economically disadvantaged communities.

Conference negotiations between the House and Senate on a final Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) 2020 bill have ramped up over the past week with clean water provisions and billions of dollars in potential funding now coming into focus.

NACWA joined with the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) this week to send a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler flagging the significant financial challenges facing many clean water utilities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and asking the Agency to exercise flexibility in working with utilities whose capital budgets have been impacted by significant economic disruption.

Per Executive Order 13132, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to convene a federalism consultation for public and stakeholder engagement on particular issues that will have a significant and substantial compliance cost for the regulated community.