ACWA Weekly Wrap Vol. XV, Issue 28 (Week of August 26, 2024)

News

Updated Effective Utility Management Primer

Effective utility management practices are the foundation for building and sustaining the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of the drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems that make up the water sector. The EUM initiative takes a broad look at all aspects of water sector system sustainability, from product quality to customer satisfaction. It is supported through the collaboration of EPA and professional associations across the water sector. The Primer provides a common framework for water sector systems to assess their strengths and areas for improvement, set priorities, and measure progress through a process of continual improvement leading to long-term sustainability.

EPA is hosting a webinar on the updated Primer. Details are available here.

GAO Releases Report on CWS Needs Survey & SRF Allocation Formulas

GAO convened a panel of experts to develop a new formula largely based on states’ clean water needs. Under the current Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) program grant formula, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allots a fixed percentage of annual appropriations to each state. From 2019 through 2023, states received annual grants averaging from $6 million to $208 million. States used most of their Clean Water SRF funding for wastewater infrastructure, such as treatment plants and sewer pipes.

A panel of experts convened by GAO agreed on a new formula emphasizing clean water needs and including population and economic burden. The experts used GAO’s multi-step formula development process to consider how these and other variables align with program goals, including water quality and affordability. Experts also stated that EPA should periodically update the allotment percentages based on current data to reflect changing conditions. Using the expert-developed formula with 2022 data, 31 states would receive the same or higher allotment, up to a 260 percent increase. The remaining 19 states would receive a lower allotment, as much as a 53 percent reduction. While the expert-developed formula would allot a majority of funding based on need, EPA’s Clean Watersheds Needs Survey does not fully estimate states’ clean water needs.

EPA Releases Integrated Reporting Memo Topic Index

EPA has released a new tool to help states retrieve information from past Integrated Reports. The new tool is an alphabetical index of topics addressed in Integrated Reporting memorandum from 2002-2024, which will facilitate retrieval of current and past content by topic. This index is now available here.

EPA Awards Research Grant to Develop and Demonstrate Technology to Detect and Degrade PFAS

This week EPA announced a research grant for Clarkson University to develop and demonstrate technology to detect, monitor and degrade PFAS surface and groundwater that may be used as drinking water sources.

Funding for this project will go towards developing a new portable nanosensing technology, which will rapidly predict the level of PFAS exposure, while also measuring the effectiveness of PFAS remediation efforts. More information on the project may be found here.

Petition to Withdrawal NC NPDES Authorization

The week EPA received another petition to withdrawal a state’s NPDES program- North Carolina. Under EPA’s regulations, citizens may petition EPA to withdraw a state’s authority to administer the NPDES program. Petitioners identified changes to state law as a major reason for pursuing this petition. For example, the state amended the state laws governing the appointment and composition of the State’s Environmental Management Commission (“EMC”) and Rules Review Commission (“RRC”) to ensure these commissions will block NCDEQ’s development and use of numeric water quality standards for PFAS and 1,4-dioxane, and to impede implementation of the narrative standards. The state legislature enacted laws prescribing specific permitting conditions for discharges from fish farms and wastewater discharges into small creeks and streams which unlawfully usurp the State’s environmental agencies’ authority to evaluate permit applications and issue permits tailored to the discharger and receiving waterbody. The new laws also prevent the public from participating in the permitting process and they violate the backsliding provisions of the Clean Water Act. The state legislature also gave ultimately decision-making authority over NPDES permits to the Office of Administrative Hearings, unilaterally changing the terms of the MoA between the state and EPA regarding authorization. Finally, the petitioners are claiming the state budget has perpetually and systematically underfunded DEQ for more than a decade. When EPA receives such a petition, EPA generally works with the state and the petitioner to resolve the issues that the petition raises and strengthen the state’s NPDES program. There are currently 12 states with unresolved petitions for withdrawal. NPDES State Program Withdrawal Petitions | US EPA

Microplastics in Several Lawsuits

There are currently at least 8 class action lawsuits filed so far in 2024 that articulate inclusion of microplastics as an argument for false advertising/misleading label associated with “all natural” products. The increase in microplastics litigation may be a result of a March 2024 medical study that found microplastics lead to a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. This study comes just 12 months after another medical study found that ingesting microplastics could lead to cancer. Defendants in these lawsuits include BlueTriton Brands, The Wonderful Company, CG Roxane, Danone Waters of America, Phillips North America, and the Handi-Craft Company. Greenwashing, something these companies are being accused of in the lawsuits, is the practice of a company unfairly using environmentally friendly language like “all natural” to play up its green credentials in order to seem more environmentally friendly, with the aim of selling more products. While the focus on microplastics is relatively new, attacking a company for greenwashing has been around since the late 1980s.

EPA Civil Rights Guidance on Procedural Safeguards

On August 22, 2024 EPA’s Office of External Civil Rights Compliance released the Civil Rights Guidance on Procedural Safeguards: Requirements and Best Practices which was developed to assist recipients of EPA financial assistance when developing and improving their legally required civil rights compliance efforts. The Guidance not only sets out EPA’s understanding of existing statutory or regulatory requirements that recipients must adhere to, but also what EPA has determined are best practices for building strong and effective civil rights programs for recipients of EPA financial assistance. Best practices are not themselves legal requirements and do not modify or add to existing statutory or regulatory requirements. EPA believes that civil rights concerns may be addressed proactively by recipients if they have engaged in robust civil rights compliance efforts, in some cases reducing the need for communities to turn to the federal administrative complaint process for relief. For a copy of the new policy, please click here.

Association Updates

Notice – No Wrap the Week of September 2

In observance of the holiday, ACWA will not publish a Weekly Wrap the week of September 2, 2024. Look out for our next edition the week of September 9th, 2024.

ACWA Elects New Officers & Board of Director Regional Representatives

ACWA announced the results of the 2024-2025 Executive Officers and Board of Director Regional Representatives election during the association’s business meeting at the 2024 ACWA Annual Meeting. Along with the Executive Officers, the odd number regions along with the Interstates representatives were on the ballot.

The 2024-2025 ACWA Executive Offices & Regional Representatives are:

Region 1 Brian Kavanah (ME)

Region 2 Jennifer Feltis (NJ)

Region 3 Scott Morris (VA)

Region 4 Anna Truszczynski (GA)

Region 5 Dana Vanderbosch (MN)

Region 6 Jill Csekitz (TX)

Region 7 Lori McDaniel (IA)

Region 8 Lindsey Krywaruchka (MT)

Region 9 Trevor Baggiore (AZ)

Region 10 Vince McGowan (WA)

Interstates Kristin Bowman (DRBC)

President: Adrian Stocks (WI)

Vice President: Shelly Lemon (NM)

Treasurer: Jennifer Zygmunt (WY)

Past President: Amanda Vincent (LA)

Louisiana Clean Water Week Proclamation

Last week, ACWA held its 63rd Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA. To mark the occasion, the Governor of Louisiana issued a proclamation designating August 19th – 23rd, 2024, as “Clean Water Week.” The proclamation not only highlighted the significance of the Annual Meeting but also recognized ACWA as a valuable partner in advancing state water programs. It emphasized the organization’s role in facilitating the transfer of knowledge and sharing best practices among states, interstate agencies, and federal partners.

View the proclamation here.

ACWA Award Winners

ACWA recognized several members and partners during the 63rd Annual ACWA Awards Ceremony. Each of this year’s winners represents the best of ACWA and our profession.

Emerging Leaders Award

The ACWA Emerging Leaders Award recognizes full-time employees of states, interstates, and affiliates “who have demonstrated notable leadership on or contributions to the work of an ACWA committee, task force, and/or workgroup, and show demonstrated potential for future leadership in the Association.”

This year’s winners of this award are Jennifer Zygmunt (WY) and Barbara Bennet (CO).

President’s Service Award

The President’s Service Award, is given annually to a member selected for his/her exceptional service to the Association over the last fiscal year.

The winner of this year’s award is Shelly Lemon (NM).

Exceptional Service Award

The Exceptional Service Award is presented to Association members who have demonstrated a strong commitment to ACWA before their retirement or completion of state service.

This year’s winner is Jenny Dodd (TN).

Environmental Partnership Award

The Environmental Partnership Award is to those persons who have, throughout their careers, demonstrated a true and consistent willingness to work cooperatively with the States and with the various interested organizations to effect environmental improvement.

The winner of this year’s Environmental Partnership Award is Marla Stelk, Executive Director, National Association of Wetlands Managers.

Environmental Statesman Award

The Environmental Statesman Award is the Association’s highest honor and is presented to Association members or individuals who have demonstrated outstanding service to ACWA over a multi-year period.

The winner of the 2024 Environmental Statesman Award is Mary Anne Nelson (ID).

Staff Achievement Award

This award recognizes staff members who have demonstrated outstanding service to the membership and the organization over a sustained, multi-year period.

The 2024 Staff Achievement award is presented to Jasper Hobbs, Environmental Program Manager II, ACWA.

Meetings and Webinars

2024 Water Quality Modeling Workshop – Registration Closing Soon!

Dates: September 16 – 20, 2024
City: Philadelphia, PA

ACWA, in partnership with USEPA, will be holding the 2024 Water Quality Modeling Workshop in Philadelphia, PA, the week of September 16, 2024. The 2024 Water Quality Modeling Workshop supports implementation of state programs by continuing to build a community of practice among state agency staff who use or want to use water quality modeling in state water quality programs.

This year we will be offering hands-on trainings on WASP, SWAT+, and a Modeling 201: Demystifying your Modeling Project course which will feature presentations, case studies, and discussions.

This workshop is for state program managers and staff involved in water quality modeling, as well as for both Regional and Headquarters-based U.S. Environmental Protection Agency managers and staff.

You may register for the workshop here.

To register, you will need access to ACWA’s member portal. If you are EPA staff, please reach out Lexy Bailey (abailey@acwa-us.org) for help getting set up. This workshop has 3 distinct tracks – including two hands-on trainings. Hands on trainings will be offered for WASP and SWAT+. A third track – Modeling 201 – will feature some hands-on work along with lectures and discussions.

Space is limited, so once you register, you will automatically be placed on the wait list. You will receive a confirmation email at a later date. This is to ensure an equal opportunity for some states that may need a few weeks to ensure they are able to participate.

Draft agendas are available here.

Lodging is available at the Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square at the local per diem rate. The workshop will also take place in the hotel’s event space. You may Reserve your hotel room here.

ACWA does anticipate having some travel support for airfare and lodging.

2024 National Stormwater Roundtable – Registration Now Open!

Dates: October 22 – 24, 2024
City: Washington, DC
Meeting Space: EPA HQ Meeting Space
Hotel: Grand Hyatt Washington
Website: 2024 National Stormwater Roundtable

In-person registration is live!! Please note you will be asked to select between Municipal, Industrial, and Construction Stormwater tracks for 1/2 day.

For those registering virtually, please use this link. Virtual registration is live!!

This week ACWA sent out emails regarding agenda topics, potential presenters, volunteers for the Agenda Planning Committee, and travel support. If you did not receive a related email, please contact Sean Rolland at srolland@acwa-us.org.

Cybersecurity Training 102

September 4, 2024; 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM ET|
Register Here: Cyber 102

Join WICRD for a free training focused on Operational Technology (OT). The training will cover threats facing the water sector, ways to protect your OT systems, funding opportunities, and incident response steps. The training has been approved for CEUs by various states.

There is also an available Cyber 101 training that covers an introduction to the basic principles of cybersecurity. The Cyber 101 has also been approved for CEUs by various states. View Recording of Cyber 101. If you have questions related to the trainings offered, contact WaterCyberTA@epa.gov

Fifth CWA National Targeting Center EPA/State Joint Community of Practice Meeting

Date: Thursday, 5 September 2024; 12 – 1PM Eastern
Join: Click here to join the meeting

This will be the fifth meeting between EPA Regional and state staff to share best practices and ideas for inspection and enforcement targeting. Virginia Department of Environmental Quality will be providing an overview of their scoring system that they use in their NPDES inspection and enforcement programs. The U.S. EPA will also provide updates on new features in the Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) platform.

We invite states to share their insights on inspection and enforcement targeting for the next meeting on March 6, 2025. Please send an email to Carey Johnston (johnston.carey@epa.gov) if you are interested in giving a presentation. Please use this link to add your email to our EPA-state NTC CWA CoP distribution list. We will use this distribution list to share updates to the agenda and for future meetings.

No registration required; however, this meeting is only for EPA Regional and state NPDES permitting, enforcement, and information technology staff.

Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA) – Helping Communities Address Their Water Challenges

Thursday, September 10th | 2:00 pm EST

Every community deserves access to clean, safe, and reliable water. Yet, too many communities across America struggle to address water infrastructure needs. EPA WaterTA connects communities with free expert support to find solutions to their drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater challenges.

Join us on September 10 at 2pm ET for our quarterly informational webinar to learn more about WaterTA. This webinar will also highlight two WaterTA initiatives: Engineering Support and Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap.

For more information on WaterTA, please visit www.epa.gov/WaterTA

Climate Change and Financial Strength of Water Sector Utilities

Thursday, September 12th | 2:00 – 3:30 pm EST
Register here

Join us for the webinar “Climate Change and Financial Strength of Water Sector Utilities” hosted by the Climate Finance Working Group. The webinar will feature perspectives from members of the Climate Finance Workgroup representing the water utility, credit rating, investor, and insurance sectors. Each presenter will briefly discuss how climate change threats to the water sector are impacting their line of business in the water sector. The webinar will also include a cross-sector panel discussion that will explore these concepts in greater depth. Don’t miss this opportunity to deepen your understanding of climate change risk and its impact on the financial strength in the water sector.

This webinar will be the first in a series focused on the evolving relationship between climate change and financial strength and how they affect access to financing and insurance in the water utility sector. The Climate Finance Working Group is convened by the EPA’s Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU) initiative.

Creating the Water Workforce of the Future: Webinar Series

September 18th, 2024, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Register Here

Increasingly complex challenges facing water utilities make it imperative that regional partners work together to train and prepare individuals to take on the critical role of operating our nation’s water infrastructure. One successful example is taking place in Northwest Ohio, led by the Toledo Metropolitan Council of Governments (TMACOG), Owens Community College, the City of Toledo, and utility partners across the region. Together, they have developed an innovative program to provide education and training to prepare individuals to operate and maintain critical drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. The program offers training for certification, as well as job placement assistance. Please join us September 18th to hear more about this exciting program, including its successes and challenges.

This webinar is part of an ongoing webinar series hosted by EPA, in partnership with leading water sector organizations around the country. More information on this webinar series can be found at https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-water-infrastructure/water-sector-workforce-webinars

How to Prepare Your Wastewater Utility for Disasters

September 19, 2024, 01:00 PM
Register here

Join EPA for a free webinar on how to prepare your wastewater utility for disasters! This webinar will:

1) Demonstrate how to use EPA’s new Small System Risk and Resilience Assessment (RRA) Checklist for Wastewater Utilities using flood and cybersecurity scenarios,
2) Demonstrate how to use EPA’s Emergency Response Plan (ERP) Template for Wastewater Utilities,
3) Provide information on a new opportunity where small wastewater system operators may be eligible to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for creating an RRA and ERP.

This workshop is meant for small wastewater systems. We also encourage water sector technical assistance providers and consultants to attend. For more information, please contact us at dwresilience@epa.gov.

Job Opportunities

Environmental Engineer, PE

Location: Albany, NY
Closing Date: September 2, 2024

To apply, submit your cover letter and resume by email to jobs@neiwpcc.org. Please reference #24-NY-IEM-001 in the email subject line. Application deadline is September 2, 2024. Accepting applications until the position is filled. A full position description and benefits listing may be viewed at: https://neiwpcc.org/about-us/careers.

Permit Support Lead

Location: Duluth, Detroit Lakes, Brainerd, St. Paul, Rochester, Marshall or Mankato, MN
Closing Date: September 11, 2024