News

ACWA Submits Comments on Water Quality Certification Improvement Rule

ACWA submitted a set of comments on EPA’s proposed Water Quality Certification Improvement Rule. The proposed rule aims to restore state water quality certification authority that was limited by the 2020 Wate Quality Certification rule and retain several best management practices to promote efficiency. ACWA’s comments addressed the scope of certification, the reasonable period of time, modifications, and reopened clauses and identified key definitions that would benefit from greater clarification. ACWA’s comments reflect the diversity of opinions among states and were developed through input from ACWA’s members and Board of Directors.

OSTP Releases National Emerging Contaminants Research Initiative, Strategic Plan

This week, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released the National Emerging Contaminants Research Initiative (NECRI), which “establishes a national vision to provide access to clean drinking water for all Americans.” This endeavor was codified by language in the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act, directing OSTP and the federal CEC Interagency Working Group (IWG) to “improve the identification, analysis, monitoring, and treatment methods of CECs, and develop any necessary program, policy, or budget to support the implementation of the initiative.” While the NECRI appears heavily focused on finished drinking water, “it is recognized that CECs exist in multiple media that may be relevant for addressing public and environmental health needs. These are considered, where appropriate, in [the NECRI]. Further, multi-media (and other) considerations are expected to be addressed in the implementation of the NECRI. The capabilities and approaches developed under the NECRI should lead to a holistic treatment of CECs.”

The NECRI report outlines five research goals: (1) Decrease the time from identification to risk mitigation; (2) promote technological innovation in tools to discover, track, and mitigate; (3) develop and deploy tools and approaches for decision making; (4) coordinate transdisciplinary research activities among Federal and non-Federal partners; and (5) foster transparency and public trust when communicating about these issues.

Over the next year, the IWG is tasked with establishing an implementation framework for the NECRI that “organizes and coordinates the strategic goals, harnesses existing research, and fuels transformative advancements. The information derived from these actions will, in turn, inform DW advisories, standards, and public health actions.”

Consistent with the ACWA/ASDWA Emerging Contaminants Workgroup Recommendations Report, the NECRI aligns with the first of five essential steps in managing CECs nationally:

Establish a National Priority Framework and Research Agenda for Priority Setting
Engage Industry to Develop and Improve Access to Comprehensive Chemical Data
Increase Coordinated Monitoring Across Water Resource Management Programs
Expedite Risk Assessment and Response
Improve Risk Communication

ACWA provided advice to OSTP on the NECRI with partners Association of State Drinking Water Administrators and Environmental Council of the States in 2021. You can access that letter here.

EPA Releases Proposed Rule Requiring TRI Reporting on Diisononyl phthalate (DINP)

This week, EPA issued a supplemental proposed rule that would add a Diisononyl phthalate (DINP) category to the list of toxic chemicals subject to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act and the Pollution Prevention Act.

EPA has also released an updated hazard assessment which proposes that the DINP category can reasonably be anticipated to cause cancer and serious or irreversible chronic health effects in humans; specifically, developmental effects, kidney toxicity, and liver toxicity.

DINP is a common chemical name for a family of di-ester phthalates widely used as plasticizers. These chemicals are colorless, oily liquids with high boiling points, low volatilities, and are poorly soluble in water. The treatment of plastics with DINP-category chemicals provides greater flexibility and softness to the final product. Some of the uses of DINP-treated plastics are the production of coated fabrics, plastic toys, electrical insulation, and vinyl flooring.

In 2000, EPA proposed a rule to add a DINP category to the list of chemicals required to report to TRI in response to a petition, and conducted a hazard assessment on DINP chemicals, which was later revised and again published for comment in 2005. In 2022, EPA agreed through a consent decree to either finalize a rule adding a DINP category to the TRI chemical list in 2023 or withdraw the 2000 proposal.

If finalized, the rule would require certain facilities in certain industry sectors (including federal facilities) that manufacture or process more than 25,000 pounds of DINP-category chemicals per year, or otherwise use more than 10,000 pounds of DINP-category chemicals per year, to report certain information to TRI. The data would include quantities of DINP-category chemicals that were released into the environment or otherwise managed as waste.

Since its previous hazard assessment in 2005, there have been additional studies of the health effects of DINP chemicals. Based on EPA’s review of the available carcinogenicity data, EPA proposes to conclude that DINP-category chemicals can reasonably be anticipated to cause cancer in humans. In addition, based on EPA’s review of the available chronic toxicity data, EPA proposes to conclude that DINP-category chemicals can reasonably be anticipated to cause serious or irreversible chronic human health effects at moderately low to low doses, including developmental effects, kidney toxicity, and liver toxicity. The data for DINP demonstrate that DINP has moderately high to high human health toxicity.

DINP is also undergoing a risk evaluation required under section 6(b) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and that the scientific analyses used for this listing will undergo further analyses and review as part of the TSCA risk evaluation process. EPA is not requesting comment in response to this present Notice on any issues related to the TSCA 6(b) risk evaluation as part of this rulemaking; rather, only comments directly related to the TRI listing proposal are relevant to this action.mEPA will accept comments on the supplemental proposed rule for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register via docket EPA-HQ-TRI-2022-0262 on www.regulations.gov.

EPA Updates Safer Chemical Ingredients List

This week, EPA updated its Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL), a living list of chemicals by functional-use class that EPA’s Safer Choice program has evaluated and determined meet the Safer Choice Standard.

In this update, EPA is adding 22 chemicals to the SCIL. EPA is also changing the status for one chemical, a PFAS, on the SCIL and will remove the chemical from the list after one year because of a growing understanding of the potential health and environmental effects. This chemical was originally listed on the SCIL based on data from a closely related PFAS which has already been marked with a grey square on the SCIL earlier this year. EPA’s process for removing a chemical from the SCIL is to first mark the chemical with a grey square on the SCIL webpage to provide notice to chemical and product manufacturers that this chemical may no longer be acceptable for use in Safer Choice-certified products. A grey square notation on the SCIL means that the chemical may not be allowed for use in products that are candidates for the Safer Choice label, and any current Safer Choice-certified products that contain this chemical must be reformulated unless relevant health and safety data is provided to justify continuing to list this chemical on the SCIL. The data required would be determined on a case-by-case basis. In general, data useful for making such a determination would provide evidence of low concern for human health and environmental impacts. Unless information provided to EPA adequately justifies continued listing, this chemical would then be removed from the SCIL 12 months after the grey square designation. After this update is made, there will be a total of 1,055 chemicals listed on SCIL.

Free Water Sector Utility Climate Change Risk Assessment Technical Assistance

EPA’s Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU) initiative provides water sector (drinking water, wastewater, and storm water) utilities and stakeholders with practical tools, training, and technical assistance needed to increase their resilience to climate change. CRWU assists by promoting a clear understanding of climate change and helps to identify potential long-term adaptation options for decision-making related to implementation and infrastructure financing.

Climate change poses significant challenges to water sector utilities in fulfilling their public and environmental health missions. Using CRWU’s Resilient Strategies Guide (RSG) and Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT), water sector utility owners and operators can begin the process of assessing risk from these events. The CRWU team has provided climate change risk assessment technical assistance to 25 water sector utilities in Fiscal Year (FY) 22 and starting in October of 2022, plans to double those technical assistance efforts in FY 23. To see what other utilities have already done related to climate change risk assessment with CRWU visit CRWU’s Case Studies Map.

Recognizing partner utilities’ significant time constraints, EPA provides a targeted and efficient technical assistance process with substantial facilitation support throughout. Utilities are typically asked to designate a lead staff member that spends around 35 to 40 hours to serve as a point-of-contact, participate in webinars and host an in-person site visit. Other staff and experts (such as hydrology modelers, engineers, and treatment plant managers) may spend 5 to 15 hours collecting data and providing feedback on meeting notes and the final report. The total process takes 2 to 4 months, depending on the tools used (RSG or CREAT), frequency of meetings and availability of utility staff and local partners. If you are a water sector utility or know of water sector utilities that want to participate in this process, please identify them to Curt Baranowski (baranowski.curt@epa.gov) by Friday, September 9, 2022.

EPA Proposed Settlement RE: Idaho Mercury Standards

EPA is requesting input on a proposed settlement agreement related to Northwest Environmental Advocates, et al., v. US EPA, No. 1:13-cv-263 (D. Idaho). On July 19, 2021, the US District Court for Idaho issued a ruling concluding that EPA’s disapproval of Idaho’s mercury WQS created a mandatory duty EPA to promulgate new criteria for the state. A copy of the decision can be found here. EPA’s is proposing a Stipulated Order as settlement wherein all parties must agree to it before it will be approved by the court. The order requires EPA to promulgate new proposed Mercury Criteria within 18 months of signing. Within 9 months of signature EPA must also determine whether ESA consultation is required. The Stipulated Order notes that if Idaho promulgates and EPA approves updated mercury criteria, the Stipulated Order would be null and void. The comment period on the Stipulated Order is open until September 9, 2022. A copy of the proposed settlement agreement can be found here. Comments can be provided at Regulations.gov.

Association Updates

Save the Date – 2022 National Stormwater Roundtable

October 19 – 21, 2022
Boston, Massachusetts

Purpose:
The 2022 National Stormwater Roundtable supports implementation of federal and state municipal, industrial, and construction stormwater programs nationwide by sharing best management practices, showcasing innovative federal and state programs and initiatives, highlighting new technologies, facilitating discussion on national program enhancements and improvements, identifying state resource needs including tools, training and guidance, and proposing solutions to challenges and barriers faced by the regulators and other stakeholders.

Attendees:
The Stormwater Roundtable is national face to face meeting specifically organized by state and federal regulators for EPA and state program staff representatives. Attendees include:

State managers, permit writers, inspectors, and compliance staff involved in regulating stormwater

EPA Headquarter and Regional staff involved in stormwater regulation
Partnering state and federal agency staff that provide technical and/or regulatory assistance to the stormwater program
Invited guests

Website: 2022 National Stormwater Roundtable – Boston, Massachusetts

ACWA Welcomes New Officers & Board of Directors

ACWA welcomes the following new Executive Officers and Board of Directors:

President                            Mary Anne Nelson (ID)
Vice President                   Amanda Vincent (LA)
Treasurer                            Chris Wieberg (MO)
Past President                   Andy Gavin (SRBC)

Region 1 Tracy Wood (NH)
Region 2 Jennifer Feltis (NJ)
Region 3 Jeffery Seltzer (DC)
Region 4 Jennifer Dodd (TN)
Region 5 Adrian Stocks (WI)
Region 6 Shelly Lemon (NM)
Region 7 Lori McDaniel (IA)
Region 8 Jennifer Zygmunt (WY)
Region 9 Karen Mogus (CA)
Region 10 Randy Bates (AK)
Interstates Evelyn Powers (IEC)

Clean Water Act 50th Anniversary Photo Contest

ACWA and EPA Office of Water are excited to invite you to participate in an upcoming activity that highlights the importance of the Clean Water Act as we prepare for its 50^th Anniversary!

We are asking for photos of the water bodies that you interact with. Any US citizen or permanent resident living in the US or territories over the age of 13 can submit photos for consideration, excluding current federal employees, interns/fellows/externs, or their partners and/or children. ACWA will accept photo submissions between August 9 and August 31.

The photos will then be posted on ACWA’s website and people can vote on their favorites—the winning photos will be used to promote the CWA anniversary. The top three images will also receive a cash prize! The grand prize winner will receive a $500 Amazon gift card. Second and third place photos will each receive $250 Amazon gift cards. Winners will be announced in early October.

You can find more information and submit your photos here.

If you have questions about the contest, please contact Kara McCauley.

2022 ACWA Award Winners

Each year ACWA presents awards during the Annual Meeting to members and colleagues who have demonstrated commitment and leadership. Each of the 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, it is my pleasure to recognize and honor the emerging leaders who demonstrate potential for a leadership role in the future with ACWA.

Richard Friesner from NEIWPCC is an experienced environmental science and policy professional with more than fifteen years of experience in nonprofit, private sector, state, and federal governmental organizations. This includes running a small consulting engineers office for several years, working on water quality sampling and analysis projects at the U.S. Geological Survey, and leading environmental education programs at George Mason University. He joined NEIWPCC in 2016 as the Division Director for Water Quality Programs, where he advises NEIWPCC’s executive director on water quality and environmental policy matters. Dr. Friesner serves on committees and technical advisory groups for entities including the Association of Clean Water Administrators, the Interstate Environmental Commission District, and the EPA’s Nitrogen Strategy for Long Island Sound.

Lindsay Patterson (WY) oversees the development of Wyoming’s Surface Water Quality Standards at the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ). In this role, Lindsay also coordinates Wyoming’s efforts to address nutrient pollution, including Wyoming’s harmful cyanobacterial bloom program, and helps ensure that projects protect water quality by providing feedback on analyses such as those required under the National Environmental Policy Act. To support her work at WDEQ, Lindsay participates in many of the Association of Clean Water Administrators’ committees and has served as the Association of Clean Water Administrators’ Monitoring, Standards, and Assessment co-chair since August 2021.

Environmental Partnership Award The ACWA Environmental Partnership award is presented 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.

Deirdre Finn is Executive Director of the Council of Infrastructure Financing Authorities (CIFA). For more than 30 years, she has worked as a public policy advocate, with a focus on water, environmental protection, education, and emergency management. Deirdre as the leader of CIFA has proven to be a great partner for ACWA as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was moving through Congress and as EPA worked on implementation guidance.

Exceptional Service Award The ACWA Exceptional Service Award, is presented to Association members who have demonstrated a strong commitment to ACWA before their retirement.

Bob Brown (MA) Bob is currently the Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Water Resources at the Massachusetts Department of Water Resources and is a co-chair of ACWA’s Legal Affairs Committee. He has been with the department for over thirty years serving in several capacities in the Office of General Counsel, including the Chief Regional Counsel for the department’s Central Regional Office and the Commissioner’s Legal Counsel for Administrative Appeals.

Erica Gaddis (UT) became the Director of the Utah Division of Water Quality in July 2017 after serving as Assistant Director for 2 years. Prior to joining UDEQ, Erica worked as a consultant with expertise in water resources and water quality. Erica currently works with the Western States Water Council and was recently named to the Leaky Foundation board.

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

Nicole Rowan (CO) serves as Division Director for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Water Quality Control Division. Nicole has over 25 years of experience as an environmental engineer working for the state of Colorado and in private industry.

Tom Stiles (KS) became Assistant Director of the Kansas Bureau of Water in 2017 and two years later took his current position as Bureau Director, overseeing both Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act implementation in Kansas. Stiles has been the President of the Interstate Council on Water Policy, chairman of Western States Water Council’s water quality committee and in 2020-2021, was President of ACWA.

Meetings and Webinars

U.S. EPA on Water Workforce of the Future

Date:               Monday, August 24, 2022
Time:              1:00pm – 2:30pm eastern
Link:              Webinar Registration – Zoom (zoomgov.com)

Summary:
U.S. EPA’s Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center will hold a webinar on August 24 from 1-2 p.m. Eastern on creating the water workforce of the future. Hear from two institutions that are playing an important role. East Central University will discuss a new K-12 STEM-based program called the Educational Program on Awareness, Sustainability, and Service for Water/Wastewater (EdPASS H2o) to educate and prepare students for apprenticeships and jobs in utilities. Grand Rapids Community College will describe a community-based program to educate and prepare students from disadvantaged communities for utility jobs in western Michigan.

Linking of Violations to Enforcement Action and Final Order

Date:               Tuesday, August 16, 2022
Time:              3:00pm – 5:00pm eastern
Link:              Webinar Registration – Zoom (zoomgov.com)

Summary:

Please join us for an ICIS NPDES – Linking of Violations to Enforcement Action and Final Order Training Webinar on August 16th, 2022, from 3-5 pm ET. The training will cover:

Overview of Enforcement Actions and Final Order
How to enter Enforcement Action data
How to link violations and more

To get more detailed information, please visit our Training Schedule on our ICIS Support Portal (ServiceNow). 

EPA Tools & Resources Webinar — EPA PFAS Strategic Roadmap: Research Tools and Resources

Wednesday, August 17, 2022 at 3-4 PM ET

This webinar will provide a brief overview of EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap and ongoing efforts by EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) to address key PFAS research needs for environmental decision-making. ORD scientists will highlight two recently released data sources: EPA’s PFAS Thermal Treatment Database, which contains information on the treatability of PFAS via various thermal processes, and Systematic Evidence Maps for PFAS, which summarize available toxicity evidence for approximately 150 different PFAS. Recent updates to other PFAS resources will also be shared.

Workforce Webinar: The Role of Academic Institutions

Aug 24, 2022, 1pm EST

Building a “pipeline” of people that are eager to join the water workforce is a critically important goal for creating the water workforce of the future. Academic institutions are key partners in achieving this goal.

Please join us on August 24th to hear from two institutions that are playing an important role. East Central University will discuss a new K-12 STEM-based program called Educational Program on Awareness, Sustainability, and Service for Water/Wastewater (EdPASS H2O) to educate and prepare students for apprenticeships and jobs in utilities. Grand Rapids Community College will describe a community-based program to educate and prepare students from disadvantaged communities for utility jobs in western Michigan.

You can register here.

EPA Webinar – Water System Partnerships: Regionalization Solutions for Drinking Water and Wastewater

Date: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Time: 1:00pm – 2:30pm eastern
Registration: Webinar Registration – Zoom (zoomgov.com)

EPA’s Office of Compliance invites you to a free webinar on
Wednesday, August 31, 2022, as part of EPA’s ongoing Technical
Assistance Webinar Series: Improving CWA-NPDES Permit Compliance at Small
Wastewater Treatment Systems.

See the attached detailed announcement for our next scheduled webinar on
August 31 (1:00-2:30pm ET) titled, Water System Partnerships:
Regionalization Solutions for Drinking Water and Wastewater, featuring
Sarah Buck from Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) and Carla
Hagerman from US EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management in Washington, DC. See
the attached detailed announcement for a more detailed description and/or CLICK HERE to register.

Water system partnerships are an effective cross-program tool for increasing
technical, managerial, and financial (TMF) capacity. This webinar will provide
an introduction to TMF capacity, the broad spectrum of water system
partnerships, and how partnerships can improve TMF Capacity and increase
compliance. Wastewater case studies will be discussed to illustrate the use of
partnerships in this sector.

*Please note that registration for this event will be capped at 1,000
attendees. The first 1,000 people to log on will be admitted to the webinar. If
you are unable to view the webinar live due to capacity restrictions, the
webinar will be recorded and archived on our website.

Job Opportunities

Water Quality Financial Assistance Engineer | Washington Department of Ecology

Location: Lacey, WA
Closing Date: August 29, 2022

In this role, you will be a key member of the Financial Management Section team, serving as the lead environmental engineer supporting the water quality financial assistance programs, including the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) loan program, helping direct the award of over $250 million in grant and loan funding each year in support of community wastewater infrastructure. You will provide expertise and essential environmental engineering technical assistance to local governments, tribes, stakeholders, and other state agencies to ensure compliance with state and federal statutes, rules, and guidelines used to manage the complex multi-million dollar state and federal grant and loan programs for water pollution control facilities to improve and protect water quality statewide.