NACWA provided its initial thoughts, in a June 19 letter to EPA, regarding the Agency’s new effort to redefine “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS).

NACWA joined with a coalition of water sector organizations June 15 on a letter to oppose proposed cuts in the Trump Administration’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Water and Wastewater Loan and Grant program.

The wipes industry is trying to block the District of Columbia’s wipes legislation, the Nonwoven Disposable Products Act of 2016, through the Congressional appropriations process. DC’s legislation is the first in the US to address the problems caused by flushable and non-flushable wipes.

EPA has taken action in a legal case involving development of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) that could have national legal ramifications, and in which NACWA will soon be participating.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt sought to defend the Administration’s proposed EPA budget last week as he testified before the House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations subcommittee.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a confirmation hearing June 13 for Susan Bodine, President Trump’s nominee to lead EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA).

A legal challenge to water quality trading appears to have been beaten back in Pennsylvania, but the plaintiffs in the case have indicated they are looking for additional opportunities to attack the practice.

EPA signed the final Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Dental Category, also known as the “Dental Amalgam Rule,” for a second time on June 9. The final rule is significantly different than the proposed rule, due in part to the extensive comments submitted by NACWA.