This week, ASDWA submitted comments on EPA’s recently proposed six-month “adjustment period waiver” for the requirements under Build America, Buy America (BABA) for selected water infrastructure and water resources protection programs. ASDWA recommended that EPA extend similar adjustment period waivers across all water infrastructure programs to ensure consistency and clarity for both applicants and States.
Additional recommendations included the following:
For more information on the BABA waivers, click here.
July 28, 2022
The Office of Management and Budget completed its review of EPA’s lead service line inventory guidance on July 25th, according to the RegInfo.gov website. The completion of this review typically indicates that the public release of this guidance should be in the very near future. Many states and water systems are moving forward with lead service line replacements, in parallel with (or ahead of) developing the initial lead service line inventories, in order to take advantage of the $15 billion of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding for lead service line replacements over the next five years – noting that the BIL funding can also be used for developing the inventories.
July 27, 2022
EPA’s Office of Water recently released an updated set of questions and answers on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) implementation to help states and borrowers understand BIL State Revolving Fund (SRF) process. States and systems are in the midst of preparing loan/grant applications, so this information is timely. The questions and answers are organized by topic area and EPA has committed to continuously updating the document through the implementation process.
On Thursday, August 4, 2022, from 12:00-1:30 pm (eastern time), EPA will host a PFAS research webinar with the Water Research Foundation (WRF) as part of its “EPA Meets the World: a Research Webinar Series.” This webinar will feature presentations from:
For more information and to register for the webinar, visit EPA’s website.
Tags: PFAS
July 26, 2022
EPA and the Department of Defense (DOD) have taken three recent actions to address PFAS through: a request for information on EPA PFAS research and development; a final rule to require reporting on five PFAS; and new screening levels for military site cleanup.
Request for Information; Identifying Critical Data Gaps and Needs to Inform Federal Strategic Plan for PFAS Research and Development: EPA’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has issued a Federal Register Notice with a Request for Information (RFI) to identify data gaps in research and development for several aspects of PFAS. This RFI will be used to inform the development of a strategic plan for federal coordination on PFAS research and development, and the PFAS interagency strategy team will also develop an implementation plan for federal agencies. Comments are due by August 29, 2022.
EPA Issues Final Rule to Require Reporting on Five PFAS: EPA has issued a final rule to update the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) chemical list for five additional PFAS subject to reporting requirements. The final rule officially incorporates the requirements for the four compounds provided in the previous January 2022 announcement (that includes PFBS), and now includes one new PFAS (CASRN 203743-03-7) that was added after EPA’s review of the associated Confidential Business Information claim. TRI data are reported annually and include quantities of chemicals released into the environment and can help states and water systems identify facility locations and potential drinking water contamination sources.
Investigating PFAS within the DOD Cleanup Program: The DOD has issued a memorandum from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense that revises its risk screening levels (RSLs) for DoD site cleanup under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP). The memo provides information about the existing RSL for PFBS and the new RSLs for five PFAS (PFOS, PFOA, PFNA, PFHxS, and HFPO-DA) based on updated, peer reviewed information from EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. DoD will use the RSLs for remedial investigations and ongoing and future preliminary assessment/site inspections to determine if further investigation is warranted or if no further action is required. The table in the memo includes the RSLs for tap water using different hazard quotients if one or multiple compounds are found at a site.
Tags: PFAS
July 21, 2022
Please join the Source Water Collaborative for a webinar about the Forest Service Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) Grants Program on Thursday, August 4, 2022, from 1:00 – 2:30 pm (eastern time).
The USDA Forest Service estimates 180 million people in over 68,000 communities in the United States rely on forested lands to capture and filter their drinking water. Municipal water utilities and their associated watershed partners have a terrific opportunity to merge Forest conservation, best management practices, and wildfire mitigation to improve ecosystem health and reduce water quality and quantity impacts, public health risks, and drinking water treatment costs.
The USDA Forest Service LSR Program grants fund collaborative, science-based restoration of priority rural forest landscapes, leverages public and private resources, and supports State Forest Action Plans. These Action Plans define (and strengthen!) the connection between forests and drinking water. In each state there are source water protection programs, water utilities, and other watershed organizations interested in working to do just that.
In this webinar you will learn how the FY 2023 LSR Grants Program funding (expected to be announced later in August) can help water utilities and their watershed partners reach their source water and land protection goals. A case study from an ongoing LSR grant will also help illustrate successes and lessons learned.
Agenda
Please register in advance for the webinar here. After registering, you will receive a Teams meeting link to join at the time of the webinar.
On July 12, ASDWA and GWPC hosted a virtual Northeast Source Water Protection Meeting with State Source Water Protection Coordinators, NRCS Regional and State Conservationists, and EPA Headquarters and Regions in the NRCS Northeast Region. Approximately 78 people attended the meeting that included representatives from all 14 states. The goal of the meeting was to connect NRCS and source water partners to each other and to mutual priorities and projects.
Karen Woodrich, the Acting Northeast NRCS Regional Conservationist, opened the meeting by sharing how partners can continue to work together to advance NRCS conservation priorities, funding, and projects to address natural resource concerns and protect drinking water sources. Moderators from EPA Regions 1 and 3 and speakers from the state source water protection and NRCS programs in Connecticut, Vermont, and Pennsylvania also provided information about their efforts to work together. These efforts included sharing data to create GIS maps to identify priority land parcels and implementation practices in source water areas; developing protection plans and watershed plans to ensure access to NRCS program funding for projects with water utilities, landowners, and other partners; and achieving mutual source water protection and water quality benefits and NRCS funding goals for critical conservation areas such as the Chesapeake Bay and Great Lakes.
During the discussion, participants talked about opportunities to engage in the NRCS 5-year strategic planning process and State Technical Committee meetings and help drive outreach and coordination with conservation districts, water utilities and other partners. Some of these opportunities included using state NRCS website maps and dashboards, as well as fact sheets and reports to share progress on implementation of source water protection funding. For more information about the meeting and opportunities to work with NRCS, view the agenda here, and visit ASDWA’s source water web page.
July 15, 2022
The updated agenda with speakers and discussion questions is now available for the 6th National Capacity Development and Operator Certification Workshop being held on August 10-12, 2022 in Alexandria, VA. EPA and ASDWA are hosting this workshop that is designed for in-person attendance. State and EPA staff, and technical assistance providers are encouraged to attend. To view the updated agenda, register for the workshop, and reserve your hotel room, visit the ASDWA website event page here.
On July 11, ASDWA submitted comments on EPA’s Confidential Business Information (CBI) Claims under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that highlight the overarching need for chemical information as part of a holistic approach to assess and address potential impacts to drinking water sources and public health. ASDWA’s comments generally support the proposed rule to update TSCA CBI requirements and focus on ensuring transparency in EPA actions; access to chemical health and safety information and studies, and chemical inventory data; and limiting CBI exemptions for reporting. Read ASDWA’s letter to EPA here.
ASDWA has opened registration for the 2022 Annual Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Click here to access the block agenda. ASDWA’s 37th Annual Conference will take place over three days from Monday, October 17th through Wednesday, October 19th, with sessions covering a range of drinking water topics including but not limited to:
ASDWA allows for both in-person and virtual registration. However, virtual participation is limited to only one session per day and is listen-only. To register for in-person attendance, click here. To register for virtual attendance, click here. More information, including hotel room reservations can be found on the ASDWA Annual Conference Event Page. Please note to check back at this Event Page in the coming weeks for a more detailed agenda and exhibitor information. ASDWA looks forward to seeing you in Scottsdale!
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