Clean Water Current Archive

EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance released a memo last week further empowering states to take the lead on environmental enforcement issues, furthering EPA’s efforts to place states in the lead of enforcement actions.

NACWA held its quarterly conference call with its State and Regional Partners on July 11. The group heard from the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) regarding their efforts to push non-flushable wipes legislation at the state level and the testing and grassroots initiatives they are engaging in between sessions.

NACWA was honored to be invited to speak at the Arkansas Water & Wastewater Managers Association’s (AWWMA) Annual Conference last week to learn about the Arkansas clean water sector’s priorities and challenges, and to present a national update on NACWA’s advocacy priorities.

As Congress returns from its July 4th Recess, the U.S. House of Representatives has increased its focus on PFAS, including legislative language that has potential serious consequences for public clean water utilities. Immediate NACWA utility action to contact Members of the House is critical to address these concerns.

The US Supreme Court has announced it will hear oral arguments November 6 in a closely watched case over whether pollutants that travel via groundwater can be regulated under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

NACWA submitted comments to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week on EPA’s Study of Oil and Gas Extraction Wastewater Management, which considered the current management practices for wastewater generated by both conventional and unconventional (“fracking”) oil and gas extraction from onshore facilities.

NACWA sent a letter to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 2, requesting assistance in clarifying influent and effluent sampling requirements for pretreatment programs of publicly owned treatment works (POTWs).

A new report by the Northeast-Midwest Institute assesses the implementation of a federally funded conservation program, with a particular concentration on its potential to improve water quality, focusing on a set of locations across the Upper Mississippi River Basin.

A major bipartisan effort to address PFAS chemicals advanced last week, as a package of bills that had been passed by the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee was successfully attached to the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act. The Defense bill passed the Senate on an 86-8 vote.

The US House of Representatives passed a Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) spending package on June 25, which includes significant increases for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies. The bill (H.R. 3055) would provide $9.5 billion to EPA in FY20, a roughly $1.5 billion increase over current (FY19) spending. This spending would be the second-highest EPA budget in history.

NACWA presented at a workshop last week in Los Angeles hosted by member utility LA Sanitation and Environment (LASAN) to discuss how integrated planning (IP) has the potential to more strategically help Los Angeles, and communities across the country, better manage costs and prioritize their clean water investments.

NACWA member utility the Louisville/Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) released the first ever water equity roadmap for the metropolitan Louisville area on June 27.

NACWA joined the WateReuse Association, the American Water Works Association, the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, the Water Environment Federation and the Water Research Foundation to submit comments to EPA on July 1 to inform EPA as it develops its Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP). Through this joint sector effort, comprehensive input was compiled and prioritized.

After months of consideration and bipartisan negotiation, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee last week marked up and unanimously passed via bipartisan agreement a comprehensive PFAS legislative package, the PFAS Release Disclosure and Protection Act of 2019 (S. 1507), to respond to growing public concerns about PFAS.

NACWA joined a host of public clean water associations in filing an amicus brief on June 24 that defends the legality of water quality trading.

The US House of Representatives is expected to complete its work this week on several more of the 12 annual Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) appropriations bills for federal funding. The House finished debate last week, and passed a “minibus,”—a reference to a smaller “omnibus” spending bill—which incorporated four of the twelve annual bills, including funding for the US Army Corps of Engineers and US Department of Energy, among others.

NACWA joined with other organizations from the water sector last week to discuss workforce challenges facing clean water and drinking water utilities in a meeting with senior EPA Office of Water officials.

The US House of Representatives began floor consideration last week of the first set of Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) funding bills with several key agencies addressed in this first package, including the Department on Energy (DOE) and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

NACWA met with senior EPA Office of Water and Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance staff again last week to discuss compliance issues for combined sewer overflow (CSO) communities that reach the end of their long-term control plans (LTCPs).

After months of consideration and bipartisan negotiation, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee released final text of a comprehensive piece of legislation late last week to respond to growing concerns about PFAS.