News

Senate Approves $55 Billion in Water Infrastructure

The Senate just voted 69 to 30 to pass the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (H.R. 3684). The bill provides nearly $1.2 trillion in funding for infrastructure and includes almost $55 billion in water infrastructure funding. The bill will now move to the House for further action. Here are some of the highlights:

• Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and Drinking Water SRF each receive $11.7 billion over five years ($2.4B/FY22; $2.7B; $3.0B; $3.2B; $3.2B)
• $1 billion will be provided in grants through the Clean Water SRF to address emerging contaminants.
• $4 billion will be provided in grants through the Drinking Water SRF to address PFAS in drinking water.
• $15 billion in loans and grants will be provided through the Drinking Water SRF for lead service line replacement.
• The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) will receive $250 million over the next five years and facilities applying will be required to have only one ratings agency opinion letter (instead of two).
• The EPA Sewer Overflow & Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant Program will receive $1.4 billion over the next five years. Not less than 25% of the fund will to go to rural and financially disadvantaged communities.
• The Alternative Source Water Pilot Program will get $125 million over the next five years.
• The Rural and Low-Income Water Assistance Pilot Program will establish a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program to provide 40 grants per year to utilities to assist low-income ratepayers.
• The Wastewater Energy Efficiency Grant Pilot Program will get $100 million over the next five years.
• The Clean Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Grant Program will get $125 million over the next five years.
• The Small Publicly Owned Treatment Works Efficiency Grant Program will be established with funding levels to be determined.
• The connection of homes and communities to Publicly Owned Treatment Works Grant Program will get $200 million over the next five years.
• The Water Infrastructure and Workforce Investment Grant Program will get $25 million over the next five years.
• The Stormwater Infrastructure Technology Program will get $25 million to create five Stormwater Centers of Excellence and $50 million for stormwater infrastructure planning/development and implementation grants.

EPA Beach Report: 2020 Swimming Season

EPA released EPA’s Beach Report: 2020 Swimming Season, a national summary that reports beach closings and advisories from the 2020 swimming season based on information submitted to EPA by states, territories, and tribes with coastal and Great Lakes beaches. Water samples at swimming beaches are taken to see if levels of specific indicator bacteria exceed the applicable water quality standards. The information in this report covers January 1 through December 31, 2020, and includes data submitted to EPA as of July 20, 2021. Also available on EPA’s website are reports from 2018 and 2019.

“Program beaches” have, at minimum, a program to notify the public if swimming in the coastal water is unsafe due to bacterial contamination, and most also have a program to routinely monitor water quality. Program beaches on U.S. coasts and along the Great Lakes were open and safe for swimming 92% of the time in 2020. The report contains other national-level statistics such as percentage of beaches with advisories and closures, and duration of those advisories and closures. There are 6,349 coastal and Great Lakes beaches in the United States, and 5,055 (80%) of those are “program beaches.” In 2020, 68% of the program beaches were monitored for bacteria. In 2020, 33% of the nation’s program beaches (1,658 out of 5,055) had at least one notification action, which is either an advisory or a closing. View the 2020 beach report here.

Steam Electric ELG Federal Register

Consistent with the goals of EO 13990 which directed federal agencies to review rules issued in the prior four years that are, or may be, inconsistent with protecting public health and the environment and restoring science to tackle the climate crisis, on August 3, 2021, EPA formally announced the decision to consider a proposed rulemaking for revisions to the Steam Electric ELG. As part of the rulemaking process, EPA will likely provide more stringent limitations and standards that are appropriate and consistent with the technology-forcing statutory scheme and the goals of the Clean Water Act. While this rule moves through the administrative process, the 2015 rule will be enforced. EPA intends to sign the notice of proposed rulemaking for public comment in the Fall of 2022. For more information, please contact Richard Benware, Engineering and Analysis Division, Office of Water at benware.richard@epa.gov. The federal register notice link can be found here.

Final 304(a) Numeric Nutrients Criteria for Lakes Released

On August 13th, EPA published notice of the release of Ambient Water Quality Criteria to Address Nutrient Pollution in Lakes and Reservoirs. These national recommended criteria are models for total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations in lakes and reservoirs to protect three different designated uses—aquatic life, recreation, and drinking water source protection—from the adverse effects of nutrient pollution.

These recommended criteria replace numeric nutrient criteria recommended by EPA in 2000 and 2001 for lakes and reservoirs for 12 out of 14 ecoregions of the conterminous United States. EPA has considered the comments provided by stakeholders in Summer 2020, made minor revisions to the draft document in response, and published this final document to provide recommendations for states and authorized tribes interested in establishing water quality standards under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to protect the designated uses of their lakes and reservoirs from nutrient pollution. Changes in the final recommended criteria document, compared to the May 2020 draft posted for public comment, include technical revisions to the models limited to the parameter estimates for the zooplankton model, which were updated to reflect a slight change in how the model calculates seasonal mean biomasses of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Other changes include the addition of an appendix that provides an example workflow for identifying appropriately protective numeric nutrient criteria using the interactive tools, as well as minor editorial revisions that clarify or expand on existing text.

The criteria document can be downloaded here and supporting documentation downloaded in the docket here. The Federal Register Notice can be accessed here and EPA’s webpage, “Ambient Water Quality Criteria to Address Nutrient Pollution in Lakes and Reservoirs,” can be accessed here.

Develop or Update a Wastewater Utility Emergency Response Plan

Last week EPA published a template and instructions to assist wastewater utilities with developing an Emergency Response Plan (ERP). EPA describes an ERP as a “utility’s strategies, resources, plans, and procedures to prepare for and respond to an incident, natural or man-made, that threatens life, property, or the environment. Incidents can range from small main breaks or localized flooding to large scale hurricanes, earthquakes, or system contamination, among other examples.” The template and instructions PDF document features an embedded template in Microsoft Word that can be easily accessed and modified by utility personnel to meet their own needs. The PDF also uses Javascript and must be downloaded to your local machine and must be opened with a PDF Reader. If you have problems accessing the Word template, please contact dwresilience@epa.gov. EPA welcomes comments on the ERP Template and Instructions – please share with dwresilience@epa.gov to provide feedback.

EPA Releases Dredged Material Decision Tool

On August 9, EPA announced the release of a Dredged Material Decision Tool to help federal, state, Tribal, and local partners compare sustainable alternatives for sediment disposal while accounting for economic, environmental, and social impacts. The DMDT combines EPA expertise with insights from stakeholders who manage dredged materials daily, allowing users to better compare potential reuse options based on community needs. Across the United States, dredging is employed to remove sediment from waterways and to maintain federal navigation channels and harbors. About 4 million cubic yards of sediment per year are dredged and then disposed of elsewhere. Sediment is required to meet toxicity criteria before it is reused.

The DMDT scores factors such as habitat impacts, transportation costs, job creation potential and infrastructure improvements. The highest scoring option will be the one that best fulfills stakeholder needs, meets regulatory requirements, and benefits the environment and community.

The DMDT, instruction manual, and supplemental materials can be downloaded on EPA’s website.

EPA Releases Freshwater Explorer Tool, Providing Background and Observed Surface and Well Water Quality Information

To better understand the quality of our freshwaters, EPA scientists have developed Freshwater Explorer, an interactive web-based mapping tool that provides information about background and observed salt and mineral content for freshwater streams, lakes, and wells in all 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The tool provides water quality information to help federal, state, territory, tribal, and local partners make decisions about freshwater resources, and can be used by anyone to better understand national and local water quality issues.

Freshwater, found in lakes, rivers, streams, and other water bodies, contains low concentrations of dissolved mineral ions, including phosphate, nitrate, sodium, and chloride. Increases in minerals and ion levels sometimes indicate a source of pollution in freshwater systems. Higher levels of minerals in the water can cause harmful algal blooms and affect aquatic wildlife. These conditions can increase costs for making water suitable for drinking by people and livestock, as well as for use in agricultural and industrial processes, and water reuse.

Freshwater Explorer uses data from EPA’s Water Quality Portal and includes water quality data records from more than 500 federal, state, and tribal partners. The tool allows users to quickly access and visualize predicted background salt and mineral levels for approximately 2.65 million stream segments of a few kilometers each. The tool includes summary statistics for observed salinity and mineral levels for approximately 289,000 stream locations, 10,000 lakes, and 50,000 wells. New water quality parameters, such as phosphorus, will be added to Freshwater Explorer later this year.

Freshwater Explorer is mobile-friendly and works on all screen sizes, ranging from desktop computers to tablets and mobile phones. The tool works best when launched with Google Chrome. Users can also download Freshwater Explorer and add their own datasets using ArcGIS software.

Learn more here and access Freshwater Explorer here.

EPA Researchers Analyze 30 Years of Data to Understand How Warming Temperatures Will Affect Harmful Algal Blooms in Reservoirs

While HABs over time seem to have become more frequent and widespread, there is limited historical monitoring data showing the rate and severity of the increase. To address this issue, EPA scientists collaborated with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to compile and analyze over 30 years of monitoring data from 20 U.S. reservoirs (human-made lakes) located in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.

Based on data from these reservoirs, the scientists found that cyanobacteria cell densities, including those capable of producing toxins, have rapidly increased since 2005 with blooms quickly becoming recurrent problems within the span of a decade. By 2018, all 20 reservoirs – including ones with the most forested watersheds – had experienced blooms that posed potentially high risk to human health, based on World Health Organization recommendations.

These results support predictions that longer durations of warmer temperatures, which can be associated with greater water column stability, favor cyanobacteria and contribute to more severe blooms. The earlier warming of surface waters also corresponded with earlier seasonal decreases in dissolved oxygen concentrations in deep waters. This decrease in dissolved oxygen is a sign that stratification, which is when cooler deep water becomes isolated from warmer surface water, is beginning earlier in the year in reservoirs where this occurs.

Learn more about the study here.

Meetings and Webinars

EPA Tools & Resources Webinar: PFAS Technical Support and Scientific Advancements

August 18, 2021

This webinar will share examples of EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) projects conducted in collaboration with and designed by states and tribes to use ORD’s expertise to identify and improve the understanding of what PFAS are present within various media in local areas of concern. Projects range from environmental sampling around manufacturing facilities to evaluation of the effectiveness of well and wastewater treatment.

Register for the PFAS Technical Support and Scientific Advancements webinar.

EPA Webinar: Knowing Your Headworks: Identifying the Pitfalls in Preliminary Treatment

Date:     August 26, 2021
Time:    1:00pm – 2:30pm eastern

Register here.

EPA’s Office of Compliance invites you to a free webinar on August 26, 2021, as part of EPA’s ongoing Technical Assistance Webinar Series: Improving CWA-NPDES Permit Compliance at Small Wastewater Treatment Systems.

Who should attend?

This series it is geared to plant owners and operators of smaller systems with flow of less than 1 million gallons per day. Others include: WWTP owners and operators, municipal leaders, NPDES technical assistance providers, permit writers, compliance staff from state, local, tribal groups.

This webinar will demonstrate examples of the screening and grit removal equipment as well as troubleshooting and maintenance required of this equipment. The presenters will also discuss collection system techniques leading up to the waste coming into the plant.

The Presenters:

Randy Welch is the Technical Assistance Provider for North Carolina with the Southeast Rural Com-munity Assistance Project, Inc (SERCAP). Randy assists communities with water and wastewater operations, financial management, and provides education in order for the community to become financially self-sustaining.

Cary Houchins is an experienced wastewater professional and Technical Assistance Provider with Midwest Assistance Program, Inc. (MAP) which is part of the national network ― Rural Community Assistance Partner-ship (RCAP), a federally funded non-profit organization.

We now have a website to announce future webinars and archive past webinars here.

2021 Virtual Water Quality Modeling Workshop

SAVE THE DATE – ACWA, in partnership with USEPA will be holding a 3-day virtual workshop on Water Quality Modeling. This workshop will take place September 20 – September 22, 2021, from 1-5 PM EST.

Sessions will take place through GoToWebinar and registration is required. This workshop is limited to State, Federal, and Tribal participants. We encourage you to distribute this information widely to your partners.

This year’s workshop will feature 2 tracks that attendees may choose from:

• Data Visualization.
• Using Open-source scripting to streamline modeling tasks.

When available, more information may be found on ACWA’s events page.

You may contact Jasper Hobbs with any questions: jhobbs@acwa-us.org

2021 Virtual Nutrients Permitting Workshop

SAVE THE DATE – ACWA will be holding a virtual Nutrients Permitting Workshop: Permitting for Restoration October 26-28, 2021, 1-5 PM EST.

This workshop is part of a series of meetings focused on nutrients permitting through a grant between EPA, ACWA, and WEF. The workshop series is intended to help support states and EPA to further identify obstacles to nutrient permitting program implementation, highlight opportunities for program improvement, showcase innovations, and assist with analysis of training, guidance, tools, and other support material needs.

This workshop will have days dedicated to the restoration of lakes, rivers, and estuaries.

When available, more information may be found on ACWA’s events page.

You may contact Jasper Hobbs with any questions: jhobbs@acwa-us.org

EPA Biosolids Webinar Series: Pathogen and Vector Attraction Reduction

August 24th, 2:00-3:00pm EST

Join the EPA Biosolids Program and Laura Boczek from the Office of Research and Development for a webinar on pathogen and vector attraction reduction requirements and methods. This webinar will be recorded and available on the EPA YouTube page for future viewing.

Instructions for accessing the webinar will be provided in an email after registering.

Learn more and register here.

Water Quality Modeling Basics and Beyond Webinar Series: QUAL2k Version 3.0

August 18, 2021
Eastern: 1–3 pm | Central: 12–2 pm | Mountain: 11–1 pm | Pacific: 10 am–12 pm | Alaska: 9 am–11 am

Register Here

This webinar provides an overview of the QUAL2K (Q2K) river and stream water-quality model with special emphasis on features contained in the recent upgrade to Version 3.0. We will start with a summary of Q2K’s history and design including a description of its make-up and capabilities. This is followed by an overview of the major upgrade which has been developed over the past year. Although the theoretical basis of the model upgrades will be touched on, explanations will be couched in qualitative and graphical terms rather than on strict mathematical exposition. A demo will be presented to serve as an intro to using the latest version as well as to illustrate its capabilities. Taught by the model’s creator, Prof. Steve Chapra of Tufts University, this webinar is designed to introduce the model to those that are considering using Q2K for their own river water-quality applications.
Presentation Speaker: Steven C. Chapra, Tufts University

The target audience is Clean Water Act (CWA) water quality regulators in programs such as TMDLs, monitoring, wetlands, standards, nonpoint sources, permitting, and assessment. The Webinar content assumes that audience members have an understanding of basic hydrology and water quality principles. The Webinars are open to everyone and will be relevant to anyone conducting water quality investigations.

EPA’s Water Quality Modeling Workgroup is hosting a series of webinars to help water quality professionals better understand surface water quality modeling and how models can be used to solve common problems that face water quality regulators. The webinars are focused on modeling as it applies to the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), Standards, and Water Quality Permitting Programs, but they are applicable to a wide range of audiences. These two hour webinars cover everything from modeling basics (e.g., model setup and calibration) to applied water quality modeling of different pollutants. Webinars are recorded and archived on EPA’s website here.

Knowing Your Headworks: Identifying the Pitfalls in Preliminary Treatment

Via the EPA Technical Assistance Webinar Series: Improving CWA-NPDES Permit Compliance at Small Wastewater Treatment Systems

August 26, 2021 | 1:00-2:30pm EST

Register Here

This webinar will demonstrate examples of the screening and grit removal equipment as well as troubleshooting and maintenance required of this equipment. The presenters will also discuss collection system techniques leading up to the waste coming into the plant.

Presenters:

• Cary Houchins is an experienced wastewater professional and Technical Assistance Provider with Midwest Assistance Program, Inc. (MAP) which is part of the national network ― Rural Community Assistance Partner-ship (RCAP), a federally funded non-profit organization.
• Randy Welch is the Technical Assistance Provider for North Carolina with the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, Inc (SERCAP). Randy assists communities with water and wastewater operations, financial management, and provides education in order for the community to become financially self-sustaining.

Job Opportunities

Wastewater Engineer – Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Location: Madison, WI

Closing Date: August 15, 2021

These two positions are responsible for administering the department’s WPDES and wastewater plan review programs to ensure compliance with water quality standards and other requirements of the Clean Water Act. The positions will draft industrial WPDES permits that regulate wastewater discharges to waters of the state and review plans and specifications for industrial wastewater treatment systems. This will include preparing necessary environmental assessments of proposed projects, determining the adequacy of plans and specifications, and identifying areas of engineering deficiency. These positions may also represent the Department at public informational meetings, meetings with the regulated community, or permit public hearings, and as necessary, in enforcement proceedings and judicial litigation of permit terms and conditions.  Finally, these positions will contribute to policy development related to regulation of wastewater discharges in the State of Wisconsin.

For more information, click here.

Water Treatment Operator – Minneapolis Department of Public Works – Water Treatment and Distribution

Location: Minneapolis, MN

Closing Date: August 23, 2021

In this position you will operate a wide variety of pumps, valves, and pipes used in the water production system impacting pumping stations, chemical water treatment systems, dewatering facilities, lagoons, and lift stations.  Monitor chemical dosage levels and operate chemical feed equipment to ensure proper functioning and application of chemicals.

For more information, click here.