Clean Water Current Archive

Members of Congress old and new arrived in Washington this week to begin the 117th Congress. With Democrats winning both Senate races in Georgia on January 5, they will now control the Senate as well as the House and the White House. This will create a very different political dynamic in Washington and will present new opportunities and challenges for the public clean water sector.

Just before the holidays, EPA published an interim guidance document on PFAS destruction and disposal and is seeking public comment by February 22, 2021. NACWA is closely reviewing the document but is also interested in any member feedback.

NACWA filed another brief this week in ongoing litigation over a challenged nutrient variance in Montana.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a pre-publication version this week of its final reissued and modified streamlined Clean Water Act Section 404 permits, known as “nationwide permits” (NWPs), which included key NACWA recommendations.

NACWA submitted its formal transition letter to the incoming Biden-Harris EPA transition team this week outlining the Association’s advocacy priorities for the incoming association.

The Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) released a December 14 memo encouraging water and wastewater utilities to contact their state and local public health agencies about prioritization of their staff for COVID-19 vaccinations.

As of press time, Congress was scrambling to complete negotiations on its final Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) appropriations package and reach agreement on more federal COVID-19 relief.

NACWA and the Montana League of Cities and Towns (League) filed a brief last week asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana to stay its recent order compelling the State of Montana to adopt a new compliance timeline for its nutrient variance for municipal dischargers despite the appeals over that very timeline from the State of Montana, NACWA, the League, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Spurred on by recent criticisms of the national biosolids program and concerns that EPA may need to invest more in its biosolids efforts, EPA virtually convened the first National Biosolids Stakeholder Meeting since 2010 on December 8, 9 and 10.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on December 9 that it had finalized targeted modifications to the 2016 Massachusetts and New Hampshire municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) general permits.

NACWA’s Pretreatment & Pollution Prevention Committee met on December 8 to discuss implementation of the Dental Amalgam Rule and discuss PFAS issues.

NACWA submitted a list of items to the incoming Biden-Harris Administration’s EPA transition team last week recommending tangible actions the new administration could take during its first 100 days in office to support the public clean water sector.

The International Water Services Flushability Group (IWSFG) has published an updated version of its flushability specifications.

On November 24, EPA Region 1 issued the final Great Bay Total Nitrogen General Permit (GP) for 13 eligible wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) that discharge nitrogen within the Great Bay watershed in New Hampshire.

Several pieces of legislation are making their way to the House and Senate floors this week for final consideration as Congress hopes to conclude its work for this session before the holidays.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week released a proposed guidance memorandum providing information on the application of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund to the Clean Water Act Sec. 402 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) recently issued an opinion denying NACWA member the City and County of San Francisco’s appeal of a Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by EPA Region 9 and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board for its combined sewer system discharges.

As Washington gets set for a new Administration and Congress next year and a busy legislative agenda ahead, the advocacy voice of the public clean water sector will be more critical than ever to ensure our policy goals are heard under what is expected to be a divided government.

The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, a research center at Duke University that focuses on applied environmental policy research, is engaged in a research project to better understand the role and use of State Revolving Funds (SRFs) in the nation’s water service systems. Specifically, the project is conducting a series of studies to understand:

A spin-off of University of Arizona’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, AquaVitas, was awarded a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) contract to provide additional support for COVID-19 wastewater surveillance on November 13.