News
House Holds Hearing on State Revolving Funds and Infrastructure
House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held a hearing entitled “The Clean Water State Revolving Fund: How Federal Infrastructure Investment Can Help Communities Modernize Water Infrastructure and Address Affordability Challenges.” The hearing focused on reauthorizing the Clean Water SRF and the development of an infrastructure package. Both parties seemed to agree that an infrastructure package should include some water infrastructure focus. This hearing followed the introduction of a bipartisan House Bill that would increase Clean Water SRF authorized levels to $4 billion annually (H.R. 1497). ACWA will continue to follow the bill’s progress. For more information, please contact Frances Bothfeld.
EPA Schedules Additional WOTUS State Outreach Session in Seattle, WA
In response to state requests, EPA and the Army have scheduled an additional half day state forum in Seattle, WA on April 3rd (in addition to the meetings in Atlanta and Albuquerque). You can register for the forum here. For more information, contact Julian Gonzalez.
EPA Opened Registration for Upcoming Water Quality Standards Academy
The next Water Quality Standards Academy will be held in the Washington, D.C. area on April 29th-March 3rd. Registration is now open and will close on March 13th, or when capacity is reached. The Water Quality Standards Academy provides technology transfer and implementation information to WQS professionals associated with the federal, state, tribal and local agencies as well as the private sector. For more information and to register please see the registration page.
Wheeler Orders EPA’s ORD to Research PFAS in Agriculture
Administrator Wheeler ordered EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) to research the effect of PFAS on agriculture and rural economies. This would fill a perceived gap in the recently released PFAS Action Plan. The Action Plan mainly focused on regulatory actions surrounding drinking water and groundwater. However, agricultural and rural communities are also worried about irrigated water and contaminated soils.
EPA Soliciting Co-regulator Feedback on Implementation Guidance
ACWA held two webinars with the EPA to go over the draft implementation guidance for the proposed microcystins and cylindrospermopsin recreational criteria and the aluminum criteria. The EPA is now soliciting feedback for co-regulator review. Feedback is due March 15th. If you are interested in providing feedback and have not yet received the documents, please contact Frances Bothfeld.
Meetings
Mid-Year Meeting 2019
ACWA block of rooms are SOLD OUT!
A list of alternative lodging accommodations are available on the MYM web page.
The agenda for the Mid-Year Meeting is still under development and is subject to refinement.
This meeting is planned as a day and a half meeting. State attendees will lead discussions relevant to states priorities. Members are encouraged to attend. Meeting registration can be found here. Members and invited guest, if you encounter problems logging into Member 365, go here. View the draft agenda here.
We currently have a limited number of scholarships available for Mid-Year Meeting 2019 state travel support. ACWA member organizations who would not otherwise be able to send a representative to an ACWA Mid-Year or Annual meeting and members who are seeking assistance to bring another staff member who would not otherwise be able to attend, preference will be given to those members. The scholarships will cover meeting registration fee, airfare, local travel, hotel and associated taxes. If you are interested in applying for a scholarship, please contact srolland@acwa-us.org.
2019 National NPDES Permit Writers Workshop
The State/EPA 2019 National NPDES Permit Writers Workshop will be held September 17-19, 2019 in Washington, DC. This meeting is intended to help support states and EPA to showcase permit writer innovations, assist with analysis of training, guidance, tools, and other support material needs, improve administrative efficiencies, clarify roles and responsibilities, build stronger linkages to WQS & TMDLs, modernize permit terms and data management, discuss program performance measures, and identify program areas where targeted technical assistance would be most beneficial. For more information, contact Sean Rolland or see our website.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We ask that members registering to meetings please use your state email addresses and login credentials provided. If someone is registering on your behalf that does not have an account in Member365 make sure that they have access to your login credentials so as not to create conflicting or overlapping information within the system.
Job Opportunities
Kansas Department of Health & Environment
The Watershed Planning, Monitoring, and Assessment Section in the Bureau of Water is hiring an Environmental Specialist to serve as the coordinator for the Kansas Surface Water Quality Standards (KSSWQS). The position is located in Topeka, Kansas and offers the opportunity to oversee the review of surface water quality standards. Duties include analyzing environmental data sets, performing and presenting on independent research, writing technical reports in support of agency positions, and supporting the NPDES Water Quality Certification Program. If you like to learn while working in a setting that encourages independent reasoning combined with the support of an experienced team, please consider applying. For more details, see the position announcement (Req.# 192278).
Washington Department of Ecology
Washington Department of Ecology, has several new positions open. To view go here.
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has a vacancy for the position of Bureau Chief of the Water Quality Bureau located in Des Moines, IA. This position provides oversight to the state of Iowa’s water quality programs, including an $18M budget and over 100 full time employees. For specific job duties, requirements, and application information, visit https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/iowa , and search by job title (Job Number: 19-02077).
Coming Soon…
Introductions to Standards and Criteria Webinar *states only*
March 21, 1pm-3pm EST
Contact Frances Bothfeld for a registration link
