Clean Water Current Archive

California’s AB 818 was signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 6, making California the fourth state to require “Do Not Flush” labeling on non-flushable wipes. Similar laws have been enacted in Washington, Oregon, and Illinois, with additional bills pending in Massachusetts and Minnesota.

EPA issued several draft Technical Support Materials on October 6 to support states and authorized tribes in adopting and implementing the Agency’s 2016 recommended Aquatic Life Criterion for Selenium in Freshwater.

In a major victory for clean water utilities, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit this week affirmed that states can take compliance costs into account when setting Clean Water Act (CWA) water quality standards variances, and that such variances do not have to ultimately result in attainment of the underlying water quality standard.

Dr. Jim Pletl, Director of Water Quality for NACWA member utility the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), testified this week on behalf of NACWA before the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee’s Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee on the issue of PFAS and other emerging contaminants. The hearing was entitled “Emerging Contaminants, Forever Chemicals, and More: Challenges to Water Quality, Public Health, and Communities”.

WaterISAC has developed a survey for utilities to report supply disruptions they have experienced, which will help the water sector understand how current supply chain issues are affecting utilities. The information collected will be shared with the sector associations, utilities, and federal partners to help identify areas where the federal government and regional or local networks can assist.

A number of NACWA members, led by the Louisville & Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer Department (MSD), published an op-ed this week calling on Congress to advance key legislative initiatives that would increase funding for clean water investment. The piece was authored by Tony Parrott, Executive Director of Louisville MSD and a member of the NACWA Board of Directors.

EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a recent report recommending that EPA develop an Agency Wide Strategic Action Plan to Address Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs).

Congressional negotiators have bought themselves more time to hammer out agreements to address several looming issues reported on in last week’s Current, most notably avoiding a government shutdown, raising the debt limit, and passing infrastructure investment legislation.

NACWA hosted a joint Legal Affairs Committee meeting and Legal Hot Topics Webinar this week entitled “Waters of the United States” – Where Are We Now On WOTUS?

Congressional negotiators are working furiously against the clock to hammer out agreements to pass critical bills to avoid a government shutdown, raise the debt limit, and advance infrastructure investment legislation.

In comments submitted to EPA on September 24, NACWA, the American Water Works Association (AWWA), and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) offered support for the Agency’s efforts to use the Toxic Substances Control Act’s (TSCA) Section 8(a)(7) reporting and recordkeeping requirements as a means to broaden the universe of understanding on PFAS, where it has been discharged, and its uses.

The NACWA Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Committee will be holding a meeting on Tuesday, October 5, 2:00-3:00 pm ET to discuss EPA’s Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15 and NACWA’s comment on the Plan, which are due October 14.

In a memorandum sent last week to the EPA Regions and Water Division Directors, EPA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water Radhika Fox revoked the previous administration’s January 2021 guidance document, “Applying the Supreme Court’s County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund Decision in the Clean Water Act Section 402 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit (NPDES) Program.”

NACWA submitted initial comments to EPA and the Department of the Army on September 20 urging the agencies to maintain existing and added exclusions for waste treatment systems, stormwater control features, wastewater recycling structures, and groundwater as the agencies begin another effort to revise the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS).

The House and Senate reconvened this week as both chambers work to iron out spending and policy differences on the reconciliation bill and on a short-term spending measure to avert a government shutdown on October 1st.

Following recent high profile cybersecurity incidents, the White House in July released its National Security Memorandum on Improving Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Control Systems, outlining a plan to promote industrial control system (ICS) security in critical infrastructure sectors.

NACWA joined with other organizations in the municipal governance space last week on a letter to the U.S. Treasury Department seeking clarification on the taxability of certain utility financial assistance.

The Executive Highlights and raw data from NACWA’s 2020 Financial Survey are now available for download on NACWA’s website. The Survey’s results reflect input from 109 public agencies, collectively serving more than 74 million people, with more than $159 billion in total asset and over $20 billion in 2019 revenues.

Congressional work on infrastructure continued this week as several U.S. House committees marked up and passed their respective jurisdictional bills related to the “Reconciliation” package as the Democrat Majority looks to further build on the investments that were included in the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

EPA announced its Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15 in the September 14 Federal Register. The Plan is published every two years to outline EPA’s planned studies and rulemakings related to effluent limitation guidelines (ELGs) and pretreatment standards for industrial dischargers. The Plan, an FAQ, and other documents are available on EPA’s website.