Nearly three months into Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), U.S. House and U.S. Senate Appropriators finally agreed this week on a $1.7 trillion Omnibus spending package that will fund the government through September 30, 2023. The final package covers all federal agencies and departments for the fiscal year, on top of dollars previously appropriated (such as through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law). It also includes emergency supplemental funding for natural disaster recovery and infrastructure emergencies, and to support Ukraine.

After several months of negotiations between the U.S. House and Senate on crafting a final 2022 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) and a Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress passed both bills last week as part of a legislative package with strong bipartisan support. The package, H.R. 7776, is now awaiting President Biden’s expected signature into law.

NACWA is pleased to announce that our PFAS Cost Survey is now open and we highly encourage member participation before January 13, 2023. The Association needs your help conducting a comprehensive, national cost analysis to estimate the impacts of PFAS on the clean water community.

The White House recently released its first comprehensive guidance to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was enacted in August 2022. The Biden Administration has been working over the past few months to begin implementing the IRA, recognizing the tight timelines provided by Congress in the Act to get programs running and dollars invested.

Last week, EPA Assistant Administrator Fox responded to a recent letter from NACWA outlining a set of federal clean water technology principles and policy recommendations put forth by NACWA’s Water Technology & Innovation Investment Task Force.

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) is pleased to provide you with the November/December 2022 Regulatory Update.

NACWA co-hosted a Symposium December 13 with the Agricultural Nutrient Policy Council (ANPC), entitled Collaborative Watershed Projects to Reduce Nutrient Losses and Protect Water Quality, at the Reservoir Center for Water Solutions in Washington, DC.

NACWA joined fellow public sector organizations in sending a letter December 15 to leaders of the House and Senate calling for Congress to waive Pay as You Go Act (PAYGO) requirements on Build America Bonds (BABs).

EPA released a pre-publication version of its proposed Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) for 2023-2025, which also contains changes to the RFS regulations that may benefit clean water utilities. The RFS program incentivizes the production of transportation fuels from renewable biomass, including biosolids. The regulatory changes could provide more options for utilities to generate these fuels.

NACWA hosted a virtual press conference on Dec. 14 to highlight the growing affordability challenges impacting communities all across the country and to emphasize the need for more federal investments in clean water. As part of the event, the Association also released a fact sheet outlining how affordability issues are growing in every corner of the nation.