News
Competing Senate Permit Streamlining Proposals Include Sec. 401 Changes
Two legislative proposals that address a variety of energy project permit streamlining were released this week. Senator Capito (WV) released the Simplify Timelines and Assure Regulatory Transparency (START) Act, which aims to streamline federal environmental regulatory permitting and project review reform legislation. Capito’s legislation would simplify timelines and assure regulatory transparency and certainty. The legislation would codify the Trump Administration’s WOTUS and Sec. 401 rules, lengthens the term of NPDES permits from 5 years to 10 years and codifies the 2021 nationwide permits that streamline section 404 permitting for energy projects. Additionally, Senator Manchin released the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022, which aims to streamline federal permitting for energy projects. The legislation streamlines National Environmental Policy Act and section 401 water quality certification reviews for energy projects and expands the role of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in reviews of transmission and hydroelectric projects. The legislation also makes changes to the judicial review process for certain energy projects.
Association Updates
Voting Open for Your Favorite Water Photo
The CWA50: Celebrating Clean Water photo contest received more than 200 submissions! We have selected a top 10 and you can now vote for your favorite here. You can vote once a day, so check back often to see how your favorite is doing! Voting is open until 11:58 PM EST on September 30.
The winning photo will receive a $500 Amazon gift card, and second and third place will receive a $250 Amazon gift card. The winners will be announced on ACWA’s website and Twitter on October 18th.
CWA Anniversary Proclamations
The Governor of New Mexico issued a proclamation this week declaring the month of October as the “Month of Clean Water” to honor the 50th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and to recognize the vital role clean water plays in the economic prosperity of the state and calls upon citizens of the state to work towards a more resilient ecosystem and more efficient management and water use.
Additionally, ORSANCO’s commissioners issued a proclamation celebrating a “Year of Clean Water”. The proclamation recognizes the collaborative efforts among ORSANCO’s Member States and the Federal Government to control and abate pollution in the Ohio River Basin. NEIWPCC’s commissioners issued a proclamation declaring the year beginning on October 18, 2022, as the “Year of Clean Water” to celebrate the CWA anniversary. The proclamation recognizes the critical role healthy waters play in the economy and quality of life in the Northeast and recognizes the partnership among the states of the Northeast in working collaboratively to meet the goals of the CWA.
Meetings and Webinars
EPA Tools & Resources Training Webinar: EPA’s Web-ICE Toxicity Extrapolation Tool
Thursday, October 13, 2022, 3-4 pm ET
Protecting the diversity of species from the adverse effects of chemicals is a significant environmental challenge. Information on the effects of chemicals on species is either very limited or lacking entirely, making management and mitigation of environmental contaminants difficult. EPA developed the Web-based Interspecies Correlation Estimation (Web-ICE) tool to allow toxicity extrapolation from standard test organisms to diverse taxa, including endangered species. This publicly-accessible application allows risk assessors and environmental managers from all sectors to estimate chemical toxicity to a diversity of fresh and saltwater invertebrates and fish, birds and mammals, and aquatic plants (algae) that may have limited toxicity data. This training webinar will provide an overview of Web-ICE, including a brief overview of ICE models, demonstration of its application with example case studies, and a tutorial on using the internet application.
Register for the EPA’s Web-ICE Toxicity Extrapolation Tool training webinar!
Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO)
Tuesday, October 25, 2022, 1:30-2:30 PM EST
This webinar will provide an overview about the data in ECHO and guide users through how to use ECHO to answer environmental enforcement and compliance questions. The focus of this webinar is a collection of short, step-by-step demonstrations geared toward new and infrequent users. We will demonstrate the capabilities of the ECHO Facility Search to answer questions such as:
- How do I search for a specific facility?
- How do I search for facilities in my community?
- How do I search for facilities releasing a pollutant?
- How do I find visual depiction of data that trach both facility and regulatory agency performance?
Register here to save your spot.
If you can’t make it, don’t worry, ECHO tutorials and recorded webinars are available at any time.
Job Opportunities
Senior Hydrogeologist | Washington Department of Ecology
Location: Lacey, WA
Closing Date: October 2, 2022
This position will evaluate and provide technical services related to monitoring and pollution prevention approaches for a wide variety of municipal and industrial water quality permits, facilities and activities to ensure that agency actions are informed by scientific findings and professional judgement.
For more information, click here.
Environmental Protection Specialist (Water – Creating Resilient Water Utilities) | US EPA
Location: Washington, DC
Closing Date: September 26, 2022
EPA’s CRWU initiative provides drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater (water sector) utilities with practical tools, training, and technical assistance needed to increase resilience to climate change. CRWU assists water sector utilities and stakeholders 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.
For more information, click here.
Nitrogen Fertilizer Management Plan Coordinator | Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Location: St. Paul, Rochester, or Mankato, MN
Closing Date: October 19, 2022
This position provides an opportunity to shape Minnesota’s approach to address nitrate in groundwater. The work is focused on implementing the Nitrogen Fertilizer Management Plan and Groundwater Protection Rule to support the agricultural community in adopting practices to prevent and reduce elevated nitrate levels in groundwater. Key activities include coordinating teams, drafting strategies, and identifying resources.
For more information, click here.
TMDL Basin Coordinator | Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
Location: Klamath Falls or Bend, OR
Closing Date: October 23, 2022
You will serve as one of Eastern Region’s experts for developing and implementing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) on waterbodies that have complex water quality problems and which require innovative and creative approaches to solving these problems. You will lead a team of scientists as they conduct long-term studies and extensive analyses of water quality and quantity and the effect of pollutants from a variety of sources.
For more information, click here.
