Clean Water Current

(November 20, 2019) – EPA announced this week that it will be holding two teleconference calls to brief the public on the continued development of a report on the funding aspects of stormwater.

The Agency’s stormwater task force was developed in response to congressional requirements in the 2018 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) as a measure to better understand the diverse yet limited funding opportunities and examples to date for stormwater projects.

EPA has held various regional stormwater stakeholder meetings across the US over the last several months to gather local and regionalized input on how funding for stormwater impacts stormwater infrastructure needs, how it affects affordability, and whether or not stormwater funding sources are sufficient to support immediate capital needs as well as long-term operational and maintenance costs.

The stormwater task force, which has been working since early Spring 2019, is scheduled to submit a funding report in early December and complete its advisory service by 2020. The teleconferences are a last effort to capture concerns over stormwater funding issues before the EPA moves to finalize recommendations and approvals moving forward.

The teleconferences are scheduled for Wednesday, December 4 from 3:00 to 5:00 pm ET and Wednesday, December 18, from 12:00 to 2:00 pm ET. More details can be found in the Federal Register Notice here. If members have questions on the work done to date by EPA and the task force, please contact Emily Remmel, NACWA’s Regulatory Affairs Director.