Clean Water Current

After several months of negotiations between the U.S. House and Senate on crafting a final 2022 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) and a Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress passed both bills last week as part of a legislative package with strong bipartisan support. The package, H.R. 7776, is now awaiting President Biden’s expected signature into law.

NACWA is pleased to announce that our PFAS Cost Survey is now open and we highly encourage member participation before January 13, 2023. The Association needs your help conducting a comprehensive, national cost analysis to estimate the impacts of PFAS on the clean water community.

The White House recently released its first comprehensive guidance to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was enacted in August 2022. The Biden Administration has been working over the past few months to begin implementing the IRA, recognizing the tight timelines provided by Congress in the Act to get programs running and dollars invested.

Last week, EPA Assistant Administrator Fox responded to a recent letter from NACWA outlining a set of federal clean water technology principles and policy recommendations put forth by NACWA’s Water Technology & Innovation Investment Task Force.

NACWA co-hosted a Symposium December 13 with the Agricultural Nutrient Policy Council (ANPC), entitled Collaborative Watershed Projects to Reduce Nutrient Losses and Protect Water Quality, at the Reservoir Center for Water Solutions in Washington, DC.

NACWA joined fellow public sector organizations in sending a letter December 15 to leaders of the House and Senate calling for Congress to waive Pay as You Go Act (PAYGO) requirements on Build America Bonds (BABs).

EPA released a pre-publication version of its proposed Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) for 2023-2025, which also contains changes to the RFS regulations that may benefit clean water utilities. The RFS program incentivizes the production of transportation fuels from renewable biomass, including biosolids. The regulatory changes could provide more options for utilities to generate these fuels.

NACWA hosted a virtual press conference on Dec. 14 to highlight the growing affordability challenges impacting communities all across the country and to emphasize the need for more federal investments in clean water. As part of the event, the Association also released a fact sheet outlining how affordability issues are growing in every corner of the nation.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was passed in August 2022 and outlines aggressive action to address climate change. While the $740 billion package is not focused directly on water, many of the provisions in the bill include potential impacts to clean water via the nexus with climate change, clean energy, conservation, and environmental justice.

After the midterm elections, Congress was faced with a hefty to-do list before the end of the year - including reauthorizing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passing the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), and reaching compromise on a funding agreement to keep the government open, to name a few.

U.S. EPA Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox issued a new memorandum, Addressing PFAS Discharges in NPDES Permits and Through the Pretreatment Program and Monitoring Programs, to states’ regulatory authorities on December 5 detailing recommendations on how the Agency would like states to leverage Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits to reduce PFAS discharges into waters.

In a notice published in the Federal Register on November 30, EPA seeks to collect information from wastewater laboratories, including POTWs, on the “analytic ability of laboratories that perform chemical, microbiological and whole effluent toxicity analyses.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. Census Bureau revised and finalized new criteria for how it defines urban areas based on the 2020 Census. The Bureau's new criteria eliminate the term "urbanized areas," which will have a subsequent impact on how EPA and states designate and regulate Phase II municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) under the Clean Water Act.

As anticipated, EPA recently proposed a rule to eliminate the de minimus reporting exemption that allows facilities to avoid reporting PFAS to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution on November 30 to force rail worker unions to accept an agreement negotiated in September by the White House. The Senate is expected to quickly consider the measure next.

The Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) met on November 15 to discuss issues related to the security and emergency preparedness of the water sector, particularly cybersecurity and supply chain issues. The WSCC also met with the Water Government Coordinating Council (GCC) the following day.

On November 29th, U.S. EPA announced the release of $52 million in grants to states to improve essential stormwater infrastructure, reduce sewer overflows and invest in water reuse projects. States must apply to EPA to secure the funding for projects in their local communities, so clean water agencies interested in this program should contact their state water financing authorities.

The White House released an updated version of its Justice40 screening tool on November 22, the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST 1.0), to incorporate new data and improvements aimed at ensuring historically disadvantaged communities see the benefits of climate and infrastructure investment.

NACWA, along with the Water Environment Federation, the American Water Works Association, the US Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities, wrote EPA Administrator Michael Regan and the Acting Administrator of the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Dominic Mancini, November 10 to raise concerns with EPA’s revised Financial Capability Assessment Guidance.

NACWA’s Board of Directors and many leaders of the Association’s standing committees met this week in St. Pete Beach, Florida for their annual Leadership Meeting. The event provides an opportunity for NACWA’s utility leadership to discuss key issues facing the Association and clean water sector and plan for the year ahead.