Clean Water Current

More than 30 leaders from clean water utilities across EPA Region 4 gathered in Tampa, FL on February 6 to discuss challenges facing their utilities, provide input to NACWA’s national advocacy priorities and network with peers.

The first substantive hearings on infrastructure in the 115th Congress are getting underway. The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee held a hearing February 1 to solicit testimony from business and labor groups regarding infrastructure investment.

Following the Association’s participation in an Infrastructure Roundtable organized by the Bipartisan Policy Center last November, NACWA is joining a broad infrastructure coalition being organized to help guide the coming debates around infrastructure investment and reform.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed litigation last week against EPA over the Administration’s withdrawal of the Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Dental Category (“Dental Amalgam Rule”). The rule requires all dental offices that place or remove dental amalgam to install separators and follow two best management practices.

NACWA is excited to welcome Emily Remmel to the National Office team. Emily has an aquatic ecology background and a law degree from Vermont Law School.

President Trump and the Republican majorities in both the House and Senate have made clear that tax reform is a key priority this year, which could put municipal tax-exempt bonds at risk.

NACWA and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) staff met on January 22 to discuss DOE programs that are available to clean water agencies, and potential energy priorities for the sector under the new Administration. This is a key element of NACWA’s work on the Utility of the Future concept.

NACWA continued its active work on Capitol Hill last week, meeting with staff from key members of Congress and committees of jurisdiction that will impact the Association’s advocacy agenda. Several committees also held their organizational meetings and announced their leadership for the new Congress.

President Trump signed an Executive Order January 30, setting in motion his promise to repeal two regulations for every new regulation issued.

NACWA’s Energy Workgroup met last week for an informative and engaging discussion on food waste and co-digestion.

The Association’s Small & Medium Workgroup met last week to discuss marketing initiatives for a new Trial Subscription Membership offer for small and medium-sized clean water utilities.

Nearly a decade after NACWA—with a coalition of five other water sector organizations—and EPA first established the Ten Attributes of an Effectively Managed Utility and Five Keys to Management Success, an expanded ten-partner coalition has come together and updated the Effective Utility Management (EUM) Framework and Primer.

Last week, a divided Iowa Supreme Court upheld a state legal doctrine that protects agriculture drainage districts from certain lawsuits.

NACWA joined hundreds of utility representatives, technology providers and other stakeholders in San Diego on January 25 to explore current and future opportunities to deploy smart utility technologies and data analytics to enhance water and wastewater utility operation.

The NACWA Energy Workgroup will host a web meeting on Thursday, January 26, from 2:00-3:00 pm ET, featuring presentations by two utility leaders on food waste and co-digestion initiatives at their plants.

NACWA staff and member agency representatives met with the Agricultural Nutrient Policy Council (ANPC) last week to discuss potential areas of collaboration among the clean water and agricultural communities.

Senate Democrats today released an infrastructure investment proposal and related bill that would pump hundreds of billions of dollars into infrastructure projects nationwide, including $110 billion specifically for drinking water and clean water investments.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a decision January 18 upholding the Water Transfers Rule in Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited Inc. v. EPA, providing a key legal victory for the water sector.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee convened last Wednesday for the confirmation hearing of Oklahoma Attorney General, Scott Pruitt, for the top spot at EPA. The six-hour hearing featured a distinct duality that split down partisan lines.

President Donald Trump was formally inaugurated on January 20, and in one of his first official acts, issued an immediate regulatory freeze on all rules and regulations that have not yet been finalized or published in the Federal Register.