Clean Water Current

(November 20, 2019) – Congress is set to pass another short-term continuing resolution (CR) this week to avoid a government shutdown and fund all federal agencies, including EPA, at current spending levels until December 20.  The House passed the CR on Tuesday and the Senate is expected to pass it and send it to the President for signature before the current CR expires at midnight on Friday.

The House and Senate are still in negotiations over top-line spending allocations for a full Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 spending bill, as well as contentious policy riders on a variety of issues. 

Given the numerous key clean water priorities secured by NACWA in both the House and Senate passed appropriations bills, NACWA is hopeful that a final agreement can be reached over the next several weeks.  In the meantime, the Association will continue working with Congress to ensure these provisions remain in any final appropriations package and encourages all NACWA members to continue advocating with their respective Representatives and Senators on the importance of funding for clean water programs. 

Also this week, the House moved forward to lay the groundwork for its version of the 2020 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) by holding a hearing entitled “Concepts for the Next Water Resources Development Act: Promoting Resiliency of our Nation’s Water Resources Infrastructure.”  While the hearing focused mostly on the resiliency of United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) projects, NACWA will be working with T&I staff on inclusion of public clean water sector priorities as the committee moves forward with drafting its version of the 2020 WRDA.

NACWA has also been working with Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee staff as they begin to draft their version of the 2020 WRDA, which is expected to be largely clean water focused.

Please contact Jason Isakovic or Kristina Surfus, NACWA’s Legislative Directors, with any questions or to discuss further.