A mysterious pollutant was swirling beneath the streets in one corner of El Paso. Our everyday utility monitoring revealed that high levels of heavy metals – mercury, copper, nickel and aluminum – were flowing through local sewers into one of our four wastewater plants. This was a troubling discovery.

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) is pleased to provide you with the September 2023 Regulatory Update.

Just hours in advance of an expected shutdown of the federal government, public water utility executives from Florida, joined by business and environmental experts from across the country, painted a dire picture of the impact that deep cuts to the Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF) will have on local infrastructure projects across the country.

NACWA joined eight public clean water agency members and two state associations on an amicus curiae brief last week in support of member utility the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (SFPUC) appeal of problematic language in its Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.

NACWA staff met with EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management (OWM) on September 20 to catch up on a variety of efforts underway at the Agency.

NACWA has been active over the past week to push back against PFAS regulatory action that could have potentially significant negative impacts on the clean water sector.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee and Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee held a legislative hearing September 27 entitled “Proposals to Enhance Product Safety and Transparency for Americans.”

A concerning legislative effort in Massachusetts has resurfaced. A bill has been reintroduced in the state Senate, S.2053 (previously S.2566), An Act Establishing a Moratorium on the Procurement of Structures of Activities Generating PFAS Emissions, which would place a moratorium on any existing or potential new structure that may generate PFAS emissions until both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection promulgate air regulation standards for PFAS – actions which are likely years away.