REGULATIONS AND LEGISLATION RESOURCES

• How The NEPA Rollback Will Impact Water And Wastewater Industries

  The White House has finalized plans to roll back rules under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), narrowing its focus and limiting what the current administration claims are needless delays for federal approval of water, energy, and other infrastructure plans. For water and wastewater utilities, the changes could speed up permitting for critical projects, although experts warn the tradeoffs could do more harm than good.

• Experiencing Extreme Weather And Disasters Is Not Enough To Change Views On Climate Action, Study Shows

  Climate change has made extreme weather events such as bushfires and floods more frequent and more likely in recent years, and the trend is expected to continue. Will firsthand experience of these events change how people think and act about climate change, making it seem immediate and local rather than a distant or future problem?
• PFAS As Hazardous Waste: Should Water And Wastewater Utilities Be Worried?

  After years of discussion, the EPA recently announced a proposal that would classify nine PFAS as hazardous waste. The decision comes less than a year after the agency's proposed individual maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) of 4 ppt for PFOA and PFOS as well as a hazard index (HI) of 1.0 for a combination of them and four other substances. The announcement has undoubtedly triggered concerns among water industry professionals about the impact it will have on their operations.

• A Closer Look At How Proposed NEPA Updates Will Impact Water Operations

  WSP water experts discuss the proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act and what they would mean for federal agency compliance.
• How CERCLA Complicates The PFAS Problem

  As states and the federal government attempt to crack down on the proliferation of PFAS and their health consequences with a spate of new regulations, there is one significant upcoming ruling that will have tremendous impact for compliance and costs: the final rule on PFAS CERCLA designation.

• EPA Service Line Inventory Guidance Includes Machine Learning Recommendations

  BlueConduit is proud to have their work cited in several sections of the EPA's Service Line Inventory Guidance. 

• 5G – A Game Changer For The Water Industry

  The autonomous operation of plants, the use of data in real time and the remote driving of robots are just a few examples of how 5G will build smarter water utilities.

• Now Is The Time To Rethink America's Infrastructure And Grow The Economy

  Like many parts of the economy, the engineering sector has been negatively affected by the COVID-induced downturn. Based on the federal government’s own numbers, the engineering and design sector’s revenue declined by 7 percent in 2020, and the ACEC Research Institute's newly released 2021-2025 Engineering Industry Forecast projects another 4 percent decline in 2021 before recovery begins to kick in during the second half of the year. The industry will grow modestly (3 percent annually) from 2022-2024, primarily due to pandemic-related stimulus spending, but then will tail off slightly in 2025.

• Let's Work Together To Fix Regulatory Guidance

  Responsible parties all want clean water and to abide by the rules that secure it, but what if the rules do more harm than good? With a recent Supreme Court decision on wastewater discharges and a change of presidential administrations as the backdrop, this op-ed from the National Ground Water Association addresses the conundrum.

• Water Quotes From U.S. Presidents

  I recently wrote an open letter to President Joe Biden requesting a commitment to make the funding of U.S. water infrastructure a priority in his Build Back Better program. I sent a similar open letter to president-elect Donald Trump back in 2016.