REGULATIONS AND LEGISLATION RESOURCES

• 50+ Links To Assist Small, Stressed Water Utilities

  While any drinking water or wastewater treatment operation can be challenged by demands from changing seasonal conditions or regulatory requirements, those pressures can quickly compound for personnel forced to wear multiple hats at small- to medium-sized utilities. Here are scores of links to helpful resources for such operators for the municipalities and consulting engineers who work with them.

• Preparing To Tackle The Hydra Of LCR Revisions

  As a journalist serving the water industry — but not yet a seasoned technical veteran — I attended a recent Lead In Drinking Water Forum sponsored by AWWA NJ to learn about the challenges of complying with the proposed Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR). What I heard impressed upon me the technical, administrative, and logistical challenges of delivering safe, lead-free drinking water all the way to user taps. Here are my takeaways.

• Congress Ends The Year With A Splash

  Congress ended 2019 with a splash, culminating in a budget for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY-20), House passage of the U.S-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on trade, and impeachment of the President of the United States.

• What To Watch As The Texas Legislature Takes Up Climate, Energy, Water, And More

  We’re past the midpoint of the Texas legislative session and the bill filing deadline is behind us. Because the legislature only meets for five months every other year, there’s a lot to accomplish in a short span.

• EPA's Looming Risk Resilience Assessment (RRA) And Emergency Response Plan (ERP): What You Need To Know

  The U.S. EPA has a new Risk Resilience Assessment (RRA) and Emergency Response Plan (ERP) compliance deadline coming for water systems across America. These key plans are set to come due in 2020 and 2021 with varying deadlines as per the size of the utility’s service areas. This article will give you tips to be ready for the EPA deadlines.

• How The EPA Reacts To A Government Shutdown

  Did you know that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had a published Contingency Plan in anticipation of the current government shutdown? I guess in hindsight, you would have expected it for an agency with 134 facilities dotted across the country. And in fact, it’s required by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Circular A-11, Section 124 that all government agencies have plans for an orderly shutdown “in the event of an absence of appropriations.”

• Getting Serious About Lead Service Line Replacement

  It has been 32 years since the amended Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) banned the installation of lead pipes in water systems nationwide. Unfortunately, that decision has not yet translated into action for every lead service line (LSL) installed before that point. Fortunately, someone has done a lot of legwork toward getting a handle on that process. Here is a preview of the help they have to offer.

• Activated Sludge Treatment In A Municipal Sewage Treatment Plant

  A design/build contractor needed a quiet, efficient aeration system for a 250,000 GPD field erected WWTP that was to be located adjacent to a school. A restriction on ambient noise at the location of the proposed WWTP required a quiet aeration process. Read the full case study to discover how Mazzei solved the problem.

• New Hope For Water Infrastructure Funding

  America has very frightening water problems. The country’s resources are inadequate in many states. Water quality is so poor in some areas that citizens are in danger. Another Flint, MI, could occur at any time.  Water pipelines passed their anticipated life expectancy decades ago in about 80 percent of the country. If ever we should be focusing on water infrastructure, it is now.

• U.S. Water Strategy: Think Locally, Act Globally

  A new plan has been created by the U.S. government to bring safe drinking water, sanitation services, sustainability, and resiliency to the world’s most water-stressed countries, with benefits for the U.S. as well.