As the presidential election season swings into high gear, NACWA sent letters last week to the Trump campaign and the Biden campaign outlining key priorities the public clean water sector would like to see discussed on the campaign trail.

The U.S. House of Representatives is set this week to pass another round of COVID-19 relief legislation. The latest iteration is an updated and “pared-down” version of the HEROES Act that passed the House in May.

NACWA joined other municipal and state groups on September 24 for a meeting hosted by EPA’s Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations to hear from Office of Water staff on the Agency’s new affordability proposal and to engage in a dialogue with EPA’s Municipal Ombudsman.

Convening for the third time this year, NACWA’s Water Quality Committee meet virtually via Zoom on September 23.

Much has been, will be, and should be said about the life and passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Ginsburg had a groundbreaking legal career, followed by thirteen years of service on the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and an impressive twenty-seven more as an Associate Justice on the Nation’s highest court - the second woman ever to hold that title. During all of which she was, in the words of Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., “a tireless and resolute champion of justice.”

On September 15, EPA took a major step toward overhauling its financial capability assessment methodology, releasing its Draft 2020 Financial Capability Assessment. A notice seeking public comment was published in the Federal Register on September 18 and feedback on the proposal is due October 19.

EPA last week released a copy of its final action establishing procedures and requirements for how the Agency will manage the issuance of guidance documents, as well as a public petition process for the withdrawal or modification of existing guidance or reinstatement of rescinded guidance.