WWEMA Window: A Year Of Water In The News

As the year winds to a close, I am reflecting on the fact that 2016 could be dubbed “The Year of Water”.  January started with the disclosure and national outcry related to lead exposure in Flint, MI, and during the year, the U.S. Congress introduced almost 60 different bills dealing with water.  While many of the bills focused on lead, attention was also paid to increasing funding for the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) programs; funding for dams, ports, and harbors and the U.S. EPA WIFIA program; affordability and environmental justice issues; consumer confidence reports; private activity bonds; innovative technologies; reporting and transparency; specific contaminants such as cyanotoxins, perchlorate, and PFOS/PFOA; water conservation and efficiency; and source water protection to name just a few. Congress certainly was in tune with the public outcry related to Flint and the water industry used it to full advantage to bring broad attention to water issues.

While Congress introduces thousands of bills each year, a precious few actually make it into law. Thanks to the efforts of those in the water community, the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act was signed by President Obama on December 16, 2016. Formerly known as the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), the WIIN Act not only provides funding for improvements to dams, locks, and harbors but it amends the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to address SRF issues, defines underserved communities, addresses lead reduction efforts including lead service line replacement, requires new reporting of lead action level exceedances, creates a voluntary lead testing program in schools and child care centers, creates a technology clearinghouse for small systems, and continues the American Iron and Steel provisions for drinking water for FY-17 among other provisions.  Additional drinking water SRF funding of $100 million is also authorized to address lead and other contaminant issues as well as $20,000,000 in loan guarantees for the EPA WIFIA program, the actual appropriation of which was included in the Continuing Resolution (CR) for FY-17 Appropriations bill that was signed by President Obama on December 10, 2016. The CR expires on April 28, 2017, so additional efforts in the appropriations area are expected over the next few months.

Like Congress, the EPA was also hard at work this year. In spite of being tied up in the court system with several high profile rules, the agency managed to take a number of actions, albeit through guidance, policy, and health advisories with a couple of rules thrown in. EPA managed to get two interim final rules related to implementation of the WIFIA program through the Office of Management and Budget and published in the Federal Register on December 19, 2016. These rules, which are open for public comment until February 17, 2017, set the foundation for EPA to run a large project SRF-type program at the national level. It also published the final fourth Contaminant Candidate List on November 17, 2016 and the fourth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule on December 20, 2016 that requires monitoring for 30 unregulated contaminants, and issued final water quality criteria for selenium and draft criteria for cadmium.  The agency published the final Technologies for Legionella Control in Premise Plumbing Systems: Scientific Literature Review on September 21, 2016; issued three tools to deal with harmful algal blooms on November 3, 2016; and published the Human Health Recreational Ambient Water Quality Criteria or Swimming Advisories for Mycrocycstins and Cylindrospermopsin in the December 19, 2016 Federal Register with a comment period open until February 17, 2017.

With regard to lead, EPA’s National Drinking Water Advisory Council spent the year evaluating and making recommendations on long-term revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule and the agency published a white paper on those recommendations in October 2016 and is working on a rule to redefine “lead-free.” The agency is currently conducting its third six-review of regulations and evaluating a dose-response model for perchlorate. EPA published health advisories for PFOS and PFOA in May and a proposal to ban certain uses of TCE in December and is currently evaluating occurrence information on hexavalent chromium VI. Finally, it released a final report on hydraulic fracturing impacts on drinking water resources in December where it reversed its position in the draft report and indicated that there may indeed be times when fracking impacts water quality. With only a month left before the new administration takes over, staff is in over drive trying to finalize the rest of their work.

As we look to a new administration and new priorities for 2017 there are a number of areas where WWEMA plans to be active. In a letter that we transmitted to the Trump Transition Team on December 5, WWEMA highlighted six key priority areas, including:       

1) Support for the creation of sustainable infrastructure financing mechanisms to build, maintain, and replace our nation's water and wastewater infrastructure.  

Recommendations:

• Support a suite of funding approaches that includes local rate-based, private funding including public-private partnerships, and federal funding options including increased funding for state SRF programs and WIFIA.
• Remove volume caps on private activity bonds, preserve tax-exempt municipal bonds, and encourage creation of enterprise zones and dedicated funds that ensure that fees collected from water ratepayers are dedicated to utility improvements and operations.
• Evaluate options to address localized affordability issues, including the ability to charge variable rates.

2) Promotion of fair trade and the elimination of barriers to fair trade for environmental goods and services to promote the creation of jobs in America.

Recommendations:

• Support the continued authorization of the Export-Import Bank.
• Support and enhance the services provided by the Department of Commerce that help U.S. companies export goods and services.
• Work to lower or eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers on U.S. water and wastewater products and services.

3) Advocate for the use of value-based procurement practices that offer the greatest value in technologies and services to utility customers by considering total lifecycle cost of ownership over a defined period of time.

Recommendations:

• Encourage value-based procurement practices that consider total lifecycle cost of ownership over a defined period of time rather than simply lowest bid.
• Support procurement practices that
• Promote, not restrict, competition to decrease costs and allow for innovation.

4) Support for scientifically-based regulations that are consistently enforced to ensure public health and environmental protection and a stable and viable market for technologies.

Recommendations:

• Support scientifically-based regulations that are consistently enforced to drive technology adoption and implementation.
• Support creation of databases or other sharing mechanisms that educate states, utilities, and EPA about proven technologies that are in use at water and wastewater systems.

5) Support of funding for technology innovation.

Recommendation:

• Support a well-structured, coordinated approach to technology innovation and adoption that reduces the time and costs for commercialization and ensures that technologies, once proven, gain wide acceptance with minimal redundant costs.

6) Support for efforts to invest in and build the next generation water workforce of the future.

Recommendation:

• Support STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education and opportunities to direct students to the water and wastewater industry through community colleges, four-year institutions, and specialized training programs.

We believe that there is opportunity to further the water dialogue under a Trump presidency and we look forward to working with our colleagues in the water industry to keep the momentum of this year going into 2017 and beyond.

Vanessa M. Leiby is the Executive Director of the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association (WWEMA), a non-profit trade association formed in 1908 to be the voice of water and wastewater manufacturers in the industry. For more information about WWEMA, go to http://www.wwema.org.