On the last weekday of 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced the final “Revised Definition of Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rulemaking. EPA has been working on this rule for over a year, and it comes ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s anticipated decision later this year on WOTUS jurisdiction in Sacket v. EPA.

NACWA has learned from EPA that the Agency is moving to finalize its revised Financial Capability Assessment (FCA) Guidance that was released in draft form last year. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently completed its review of the document and determined that it did not create any significant economic impact, paving the way for EPA to issue the guidance in final form.

NACWA submitted comments December 21 addressing how an increase in conservation dollars appropriated in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) can best be spent, including how public clean water utilities can tap some of these funds.

On December 20, EPA released a pre-publication version of a final rule on emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles, including the types of trucks that most utilities use in their daily operations. The rule sets more stringent standards for air pollutant emissions, including nitrogen oxide, ozone, and particulate matter, and incentives the adoption of zero-emission technology for heavy-duty engines.

EPA is inviting water sector professionals and utility staff and managers to join a webinar on January 18 at 1:00 PM ET regarding the newly authorized Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) emerging contaminant funding.

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.