Clean Water Current Archive

EPA recently hosted a Listening Session with a broad array of stakeholders from the water sector, including NACWA. Approximately twenty groups were represented, including environmental NGOs as well as community and environmental justice (EJ)/community advocate organizations to discuss water affordability issues. Radhika Fox, EPA’s Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator of Water, hosted the session with other senior EPA staff present as well.

The Senate took an important first step last week towards passing comprehensive infrastructure legislation with the overwhelming passage of the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 (DWWIA), S. 914.

Administrator Michael Regan announced last week during Water Week the formation of a new EPA Council on PFAS (ECP) that will build upon the momentum already happening under the Agency’s PFAS Action Plan. The ECP will be co-chaired by EPA’s Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox and EPA Region 1’s Acting Administrator Deb Szaro.

The NACWA Board of Directors met this past Thursday, April 29. Over the course of the virtual meeting, the Board discussed several important items, including preliminary approval of the Association’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 General Fund budget and Targeted Action Fund Budget. NACWA will be sending members more information about the preliminary budgets for review and comment soon.

With water policy dominating legislative talks in both the House and Senate, as well as in President Biden’s proposed infrastructure legislation, NACWA has been working tirelessly with the various media outlets to accurately frame the discussions around clean water investment. Over the course of the past two months, NACWA has featured extensively in all major D.C. policy news outlets.

The National Governor’s Association (NGA) convened a two-day virtual roundtable event that brought together some of the country’s stormwater funding and financing experts to specifically address equity considerations. Discussions covered existing funding mechanisms like state revolving funds to the newly created sewer overflow and stormwater reuse municipal grant program to establishing a stormwater utility and developing equitable fee structures.

Since $638M in first-ever low-income water customer assistance was signed into law in December – followed by a second tranche of $500M provided in March – utilities have been waiting for the funding to start flowing to help customers in need. NACWA has been in conversation with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) staff standing up the new program, dubbed the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program, or LIHWAP, and offering recommendations, but limited details had been released by the agency until recently.

President Biden delivered his first major address before a joint session of Congress last night to promote the key tenants of his Build Back Better proposal, the American Families Plan, and the American Jobs Plan. He specifically mentioned the importance of clean and safe water for all Americans, and his proposal includes over $100 billion in water infrastructure investment.

One of President Biden’s earliest hires at U.S. EPA, Radhika Fox, has been officially nominated for the role of Assistant Administrator of the Office of Water. NACWA has submitted a letter to Congress in support of her nomination as we believe she will be a strong champion for the clean water sector.

In January 2021, NACWA member utility Charleston Water System (CWS) in South Carolina filed a lawsuit in federal district court against multiple manufacturers, distributors and retailers of so-called “flushable” wipes seeking to have the court enjoin them from labeling their products as “flushable” in light of the damage those wipes have caused to sewer systems.

The water sector once again united this year for Water Week, a yearly event to celebrate the importance of water and advocate for making water a top national priority. This year, due to COVID-19 concerns, events were held virtually.

The deadline has been extended to May for drinking water and wastewater utilities to complete a survey on cybersecurity. The survey is sponsored by national water sector associations, including NACWA, and responses are urgently needed to inform the association advocacy efforts related to cybersecurity.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released additional information April 27 regarding implementation of the $1.138 Billion provided by Congress in December 2020 and March 2021 for emergency low-income household water and wastewater assistance (LIHWAP).

We are excited to announce that Michael S. Regan, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will address the water sector for the first time during the Water Week Policy Zoom-In on Tuesday, April 27, 2:00-4:30 p.m. ET – and the timing could not be more critical. With conversations heating up on a national infrastructure plan, environmental justice, and emerging contaminants like PFAS, EPA Administrator Regan and his team will play a central role in addressing these and other priority issues facing the water sector.

Clean water has been front and center this week before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee and the full U.S. Senate.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Finance Advisory Board (EFAB) convened virtually April 20 and April 21 to discuss progress from several internal workgroups and to review existing charges as well as a new charge that will explore financing pollution prevention efforts for small manufacturers.

This week NACWA hosted its first Hot Topics in Clean Water virtual event of 2021, Security Threats Facing Today’s Clean Water Utilities.

The Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Congressional appropriations process ramped up this week as EPA Administrator Michael Regan testified before both the Senate and House Appropriations Committees.

After receiving support from the NACWA Board of Directors, NACWA has recently begun the process of updating its document, Wet Weather Consent Decrees: Negotiation Strategies to Maximize Flexibility & Environmental Benefit.

The White House released its initial proposed Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) budget on April 9. This document serves to outline the President’s annual funding priorities, which Congress will consider as it drafts its annual Appropriations bills.