The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Community Services has set a new date for a webinar for water and wastewater utilities to learn more about the emergency Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP): Thursday, August 12th from 3:00-4:00 PM Eastern. We expect a registration link from HHS within the week, which NACWA will include in the next Current.

NACWA’s 2021 Utility Leadership Virtual Event took place this past Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by the Annual Association Business Meeting and Awards Presentation.

Over the last eighteen months, cities on the frontline have been navigating the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The water sector faced its own unique challenges, as utilities across the country did their best to maintain essential services such as access to water and sanitation. Those who had implemented digital capabilities were far better equipped to weather the storm, focusing the industry’s attention on the role of digital solutions in promoting greater resiliency.

As the Senate focuses its work on turning the high level bipartisan infrastructure framework released in late June into actual comprehensive legislation, NACWA sent a letter to Congressional Leadership last week urging that the highest level of funding for clean water infrastructure be provided in the form of direct investment.

In the last Clean Water Current, NACWA included a save-the-date for Thursday, July 22nd for a one-hour webinar to be hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services for water and wastewater utilities to learn more about the emergency Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP).

Have you registered for NACWA’s upcoming Utility Leadership Virtual Event? Happening next week on July 20 and July 21, NACWA is hosting this free leadership event that will explore how water sector leaders have an opportunity to highlight the essential role they play in their communities and to influence how infrastructure conversations ultimately play out on the national stage.

EPA has approximately $5.5 billion in credit for Fiscal Year 2021 that could finance over $11 billion in water infrastructure projects through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program.

NACWA has asked EPA to consider the risks to utility operations and the aquatic environment when evaluating pesticides for classification as a Minimum Risk Pesticide. This classification exempts certain pesticides from registration and other regulatory requirements under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). EPA is currently considering potential modifications to the Minimum Risk Pesticide Program.

The US Water Alliance recently kicked off a survey on climate resiliency as part of a larger Climate Resilience Through One Water: Framework and Utility Action Guide project.

Prospects for an infrastructure deal began to solidify late last week with an announcement between the White House and a bipartisan group of 21 Senators on June 24th that a deal had been struck on an infrastructure package.