The U.S. Senate began consideration this week of its version of the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which fortunately does not include problematic PFAS provisions for the public clean water utility sector.

NACWA’s Board of Directors and standing committee leaders gathered this week in Charleston, SC for the Association’s annual Fall Leadership Meeting. This was the first NACWA in-person event since February 2020, and attendees were thrilled to see one another and gather together.

After several years of ongoing discussions in Washington, DC about the need for comprehensive infrastructure legislation, and NACWA’s continuous advocacy to ensure public clean water utilities were a key component, Congress finally acted Nov.5 by passing a $1.2 trillion bipartisan bill, H.R. 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which President Biden is expected to sign into law next week.

NACWA hosted a webinar Nov. 9 for public clean water utility executives on the growing challenges presented by PFAS chemicals.

NACWA filed an amicus brief last week supporting a group of Maryland municipalities challenging a state-issued National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit for small MS4 operators that includes requirements beyond the maximum extent practicable (MEP) standard and requires MS4s to address nonpoint source runoff and other third-party stormwater discharges that neither flow into nor discharge from their systems.

John Sullivan, Chief Engineer for the Boston Water and Sewer Commission and a member of the NACWA Board of Directors, testified last week on behalf of the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC) before the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee.

NACWA participated in EPA’s Urban Waters Federal Partnership (Partnership) virtual 10-year Anniversary Celebration Event on Nov. 9 to highlight the milestone of the Partnership and recommit to a Framework for the Future.