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April 24, 2020
The Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee released its bipartisan draft version of the 2020 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) this past week, which includes several top clean water priorities that NACWA has been advocating for over the past year.
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April 24, 2020
NACWA joined with the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the Water Research Foundation (WRF), and the WateReuse Association to host a webinar April 22 providing an update on key clean water sector advocacy issues.
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April 24, 2020
In a highly anticipated Clean Water Act (CWA) decision, the U.S. Supreme Court this week held that discharges originating from point sources that reach navigable waters through groundwater and other diffuse media are subject to CWA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting requirements if they are the “functional equivalent” of discharges made directly into those waters.
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April 24, 2020
Congress moved this week to advance another emergency supplemental spending package to provide more funding for COVID-19 testing, hospital aid and small business loans, as it struggles to support overwhelmed health systems and contain the national economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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April 24, 2020
In a Notice published in the Federal Register on April 21, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army (Army) finalized the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which provides updated regulations on what waters fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act.
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April 24, 2020
As part of the ongoing mediation for Massachusetts and New Hampshire’s small municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) general permits, EPA published a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register of the proposed permit modifications on April 23.
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April 17, 2020
Congress announced this week it is delaying its return to Washington DC until at least May 4 due to continued social distancing efforts around the COVID-19 outbreak.
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April 17, 2020
NACWA joined with the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) in filing an amicus brief earlier this week with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) in support of Member Agency the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Petition for Review of a Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by EPA Region 9.
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April 17, 2020
EPA published a notice in the Federal Register on April 10 seeking public comment on the WaterSense Program and requesting information on any data, surveys, or studies to help assess consumer satisfaction with WaterSense labeled products.
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April 17, 2020
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently issued two memos – one on March 31 and one on April 13 – outlining its policy to temporarily suspend certain affirmative civil debt collection and enforcement activities, including those related to environmental consent decrees and settlement agreements, through May 31, 2020 to “mitigate the financial impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.”
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April 17, 2020
In a final rule published in the Federal Register on April 15, EPA is finalizing a suite of changes to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) eRule to be consistent with current municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4s) permit requirements.
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April 10, 2020
NACWA and the water sector continue to engage with Congress on a daily basis to ensure future stimulus legislation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic includes assistance to public clean water utilities. This assistance will help clean water agencies maintain critical services during the coronavirus pandemic and to mitigate projected losses of revenue and impacts to scheduled investments.
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April 10, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has offered NACWA and its members the chance to highlight the importance of the water sector and its workforce. Beginning at the onset of the pandemic, NACWA launched the hashtag #H20Heroes on Twitter to acknowledge its water professionals standing on the frontline of this crises.
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April 10, 2020
NACWA’s Small and Mid-Size Utility Executive Workgroup hosted a call on April 6 as a follow-up to the Association’s COVID-19 Webinar. Nearly 50 utility executives came together to discuss best practices and continuity of operation resources as well as financial implications related to the coronavirus pandemic.
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April 10, 2020
In recent comments, NACWA asked EPA to consider aquatic impacts of pet flea shampoos and treatments that contain methoprene, a chemical that is used in pet flea treatments.
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April 3, 2020
The ink had barely dried on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which passed into law Friday, March 27th, when policymakers turned their focus to the next phase of coronavirus response and recovery this week.
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April 3, 2020
NACWA hosted a webinar with over 1000 attendees on April 2 to highlight top utility leaders’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and engage in a question and answer session.
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April 3, 2020
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) this week published guidance on how it intends to implement the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), including a directive that public works personnel be considered “emergency responders” under the law.
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April 3, 2020
EPA issued a news release on March 30 to encourage Americans to only flush toilet paper. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and toilet paper shortages, wastewater utilities have seen an increase in flushing of wipes and other materials.
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April 3, 2020
EPA’s newly appointed Municipal Ombudsperson, Jamie Piziali, met virtually with NACWA staff on March 30 to discuss NACWA’s long-standing work on Integrated Planning initiatives, including the importance of having an Ombudsperson office within EPA’s Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations serve as a liaison between EPA Headquarters, municipalities, state regulators and EPA Regional Offices.