As chemical supply chain issues continue to impact utilities around the country, EPA has published instructions for water utilities on how to use Section 1441 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) or the Defense Production Act to obtain chlorine or any other chemicals needed for treating drinking water or wastewater.

Congressional focus on water legislation continues this week both at the highest levels of leadership – with the White House and Congressional leaders continuing to negotiate a potential bipartisan infrastructure deal – and at the Committee level, where work continues to advance authorization bills.

EPA’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) held its third public meeting of the year last week, highlighting the emphasis on environmental justice (EJ) issues by the new Biden-Harris Administration.

NACWA’s Biosolids Committee will convene on Thursday, June 24 from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. EST on Zoom and will discuss a variety of key issues happening at the federal level. The Committee will be briefed on activities that are ongoing at EPA as well as dive into evolving PFAS matters including NACWA’s recent letter to EPA’s PFAS Council and a new “how-to” guide on modeling the fate and transport of PFAS in biosolids and residuals.

Last week, over 130 communications professionals from the public clean water sector joined NACWA for the second virtual StratComm: H2O event.

Since 2016, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) has worked to demystify the world of wastewater for its community through tours of its Main Wastewater Treatment Plant located in Oakland, CA. When the pandemic struck in March 2020, EBMUD quickly mobilized to replace its in-person tours with virtual tours, allowing community members to visit the plant from the safety and comfort of home.

NACWA sent a letter on June 14 to EPA’s newly formed EPA PFAS Council (EPC) detailing specific recommendations for EPA to consider as it develops a multi-year strategy to address PFAS.

A report will soon be available summarizing the results of the recent utility cybersecurity survey sponsored by NACWA and the other water sector associations. The survey revealed that many utilities are taking the necessary steps to protect their information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) systems, incorporating cybersecurity into risk management plans and protecting IT and OT assets but that there is not consistency across-the-board in planning.

Building on the momentum of last week’s passage of H.R. 1915, the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021 by the Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, the focus shifted this week to the Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee where the Environment Subcommittee marked up and advanced several pieces of water legislation, including H.R. 3293, the Low-Income Water Customer Assistance Programs Act of 2021, which NACWA has continued to champion.

This week, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Radhika Fox to be Assistant Administrator of the U.S. EPA’s Office of Water. At press time, a vote had not yet occurred but is imminent. In advance, NACWA reiterated its strong support for her nomination. The nomination has advanced swiftly through the Senate, where a hearing and Committee vote on her nomination were held in May.

The Water Research Foundation (WRF) has opened a utility survey to help determine how pretreatment programs fit within One Water frameworks and goals. The survey will allow WRF to identify pretreatment program activities, best practices, opportunities, challenges, and needs to characterize potential opportunities to leverage pretreatment programs for One Water initiatives.

In a rule that took effect June 11, the EPA reversed the August 2020 changes to the organization and function of its Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) issued by the previous administration which altered the process to appeal EPA decisions, including those related to EPA-issued Clean Water Act permits.

Implementation of the new Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) has been gaining steam in recent weeks. Earlier this month, states learned their individual allocations of the total $1.138 billion available nationally and received access to up to 15 percent of their federal allocation for administrative costs to stand up their state’s program. NACWA has posted the allocations and their relative rank here

A group of environmental organizations represented by the Democracy Forward Foundation has petitioned the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to initiate a rulemaking process to clarify that DOJ can use Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) when settling civil enforcement actions brought under environmental statutes, including the Clean Water Act.