News
EPA’s FY18 Information Released
On March 23, 2018, the FY18 Omnibus bill became law with the President’s signature. EPA’s funding levels remained at $8.1 billion despite the president’s drastic proposed cuts. Bill highlights include $2.9 billion for Clean Water and Drinking Water SRF, an increase of $600 million, and $63 million for WIFIA, also an increase from previous year’s funding levels. For a more detailed breakdown of CWA-specific funding, please see ACWA’s FY18 Budget Chart or the Committee Report.
EPA Announces Utility of the Future Recognition Program Webinar and Information
Join EPA for an introduction to the Utility of the Future Recognition Program for water sector utilities on a free webinar. The webinar will provide details of how to apply for recognition in 2018 and information from a peer utility that is currently in the program. The webinar is April 5 at 1:00 pm Eastern and will be repeated on April 25 at 1:00 pm Eastern. To register, go here.
The Utility of the Future Today Recognition Program seeks to recognize the achievements of forward-thinking, innovative water utilities engaged in providing resilient value-added service to communities. The Recognition Program, through the aggregation and sharing of utility practices and experiences, enables participants to learn from each other as they grow and sustain their efforts to be, and continually advance the concept of, the Utility of the Future. To date, 78 utilities have been recognized under this innovative program. A list of these organizations and more information is available on the Utility of the Future website here.
2018 Applications will be available April 2 at the Utility of the Future website and accepted until May 30.
Association Updates
Nutrient Reduction Progress Tracker Report Released
Last week, ACWA released the Nutrient Reduction Progress Tracker 1.0 – 2017 Report. The report summarizes the data received through ACWA’s Nutrient Reduction Progress Tracker 1.0 – 2017. This is the first in what will be a series of reports on state progress to reduce nutrient loads based on information from the Nutrient Reduction Progress Tracker.
The Nutrient Reduction Progress Tracker seeks data and information for multiple nutrients topic areas: state strategies, monitoring, assessment, non-point sources, point sources, and drinking water. EPA contributed national data for eight (8) of the questions. For Version 1.0 – 2017, Thirty-one (31) states, including the District of Columbia, submitted responses to the Tracker.
To view the report and to learn more about this effort, go here.
Legal Affairs Committee Survey
The ACWA Legal Affairs Committee co-chairs seek to survey the Committee membership on the nature of Committee quarterly calls. The co-chairs are seeking feedback on topics, issues, and cases members would like to see addressed as well as feedback on the framework of Committee calls, including whether the calls are meeting membership needs or could be otherwise improved. The Committee last held a survey of this sort in 2014.
Please go here to participate in the survey. The survey should take no longer than ten minutes. For a .pdf of the survey, go here.
If you have any questions, please contact Mark Patrick McGuire.
ACWA Farm Bill Priorities
This week ACWA released its priorities for the 2018 Farm Bill. In the document, ACWA expresses its support for a Farm Bill that will ensure robust funding for conservation title programs that prioritize water quality improvement, encourage watershed-based and statewide partnerships to address water quality issues, streamline programs that complicate landowner signup, increase conservation technical assistance, streamline and enhance the flexibility of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, and more. To view ACWA’s priorities, go here.
Meetings
2018 National Pretreatment Meeting
The 2018 National Pretreatment Meeting will be held April 17-18, 2018 in Silver Spring, Maryland at the Tommy Douglas Conference Center (“TDCC”), 10000 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20903. If you plan to attend the meeting, you must register. Please do so by Monday, April 2, 2018. To register for the meeting, go here. To view the most recent agenda, go here.
Lodging is available on site at TDCC at rates of $209 for single room and $249 for a double room (plus tax). To reserve a room, please call 240-645-4000 or email guestservices@tommydouglascenter.com. Please ask for the Association of Clean Water Administrators block of rooms when making your reservation. If you choose to stay at TDCC as part of the ACWA room block, complimentary breakfast and dinner are included with your room. The deadline for the room block is Monday, April 2, 2018. For more information on TDCC, go here.
For more information on the meeting, please contact Mark Patrick McGuire.
2018 Nutrients Permitting Workshop
The 2018 Nutrients Permitting Workshop will be held June 5-7, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio at the Riffe Government Center, 77 S. High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215. If you plan to attend the meeting, you must register. Please do so by Friday May 18, 2018. To register for the meeting, go here. To view the most recent draft agenda, go here.
Lodging is available for the workshop at the Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square. Please ask for the Association of Clean Water Administrators block of rooms when making your reservation.
For more information on the meeting, please contact Mark Patrick McGuire.
2018 Contaminants of Emerging Concern Workshop – Registration Now Open!
ACWA is excited to announce and open registration for the Contaminants of Emerging Concern Workshop for monitoring, standards and assessment state staff. The workshop will be held June 20-21 in Washington, DC. This workshop is meant to facilitate state to state information sharing, identify common issues states are having with contaminants of emerging concern, and provide updates from the state associations, EPA, and other federal agencies on emerging contaminant research, programs, and policy. A preliminary agenda is available here and will be updated periodically. Space is limited, so we are capping the attendance to one participant per state on a first come, first serve basis. Please contact Frances Bothfeld to register for this workshop.
2018 TMDL Modeling Workshop
ACWA is also officially announcing and opening up registration for the TMDL Modeling Workshop which will be held June 19-21 in Denver, Colorado . The workshop will support implementation of state 303(d) programs by building a community of practice among state agency staff who use or want to use TMDL modeling in implementation of state 303(d) programs. This discussion-based workshop will feature presentations, breakout sessions, and dialogue where states will share and highlight modeling implementation success stories, obstacles faced, and lessons learned to begin an ongoing transfer of knowledge between states via the ACWA TMDL Modeling Workgroup.
A very preliminary agenda is available here and will be updated periodically. To attend you must register – the registration deadline is May 31st. To register click here. The registration page also contains information about lodging and a link to reserve lodging. Yesterday, Julian Gonzalez sent out an email to ACWA members and committees with much of the aforementioned information, including an official request for states to submit requests for travel support from ACWA, as we will be providing limited travel support in order to help as many states as possible attend the meeting. If you have questions or want to know more, contact Julian Gonzalez.
2018 National CAFO Roundtable
The 2018 National CAFO Roundtable will be held in Boise, Idaho from Tuesday, September 25, 2018 to Thursday, September 27, 2018. ACWA is still looking for a few volunteers to help plan the agenda. Likewise, if you have specific topics on which you would like to present or you would like to see discussed at the meeting this year, please send us your thoughts and we will share those with the Planning Committee. Finally, ACWA is pleased to be able to help support and organize this meeting because of a cooperative agreement from EPA. As part of that agreement, some state travel funds have been included. Requests for travel support should be submitted to Julian Gonzalez by Friday, March 9, 2018. For more details on the meeting, please go to ACWA’s 2018 National CAFO Roundtable event page.
Job Opportunities
ASDWA Water Policy Analyst – The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) is seeking a Water Policy Analyst. The ideal candidate has a cooperative spirit, is self-reliant, and can see big picture ideas and consequences in the detail of data and information. Interested applicants should send a resume and cover letter to tmaves@asdwa.org by COB Friday, April 27, 2018.
Be sure to check out other opportunities on ACWA’s website.
Coming Soon…
Modernizing Public Hearings ACWA/EPA Call
Wednesday, April 4th, 2018 3-4pm EST
Please contact Frances Bothfeld if you wish to attend
