Washington Report – April 13, 2026

April 13, 2026

Latest News

It’s Water Week

April 12-18 is Water Week and APWA is one of nearly two dozen participating associations supporting national fly-in activities in Washington, D.C.;
The hallmark activity for the week is the policy fly-in where leaders from across the country connect with federal policymakers and agency partners on Capitol Hill;
APWA Director of Government and Public Affairs Andrea Eales and APWA Government Affairs Manager Leah Harnish will participate in multiple activities throughout the week;
- Leah will speak at the National Stormwater Policy Forum today
- Leah will join APWA members to visit Congressional offices and advocate for water policy priorities Tuesday
- Leah and Andrea will join other water industry professionals at the Water Week plenary session and reception Tuesday
More information and resources are available at the link above.

APWA Speaks at CIFA Conference

Government Affairs Manager Leah Harnish spoke on a panel at the Council of Infrastructure Financing Authorities’ (CIFA) Summit on Water Infrastructure, April 9;
Other panelists included:
- Scott Berry, U.S. Water Alliance
- Matt McKenna, National Association of Clean Water Agencies
- Jarron Brady, Government Finance Officers Association
The panel provided a federal update on the reauthorization of water infrastructure financing programs and insight into the FY27 budget.

WIPPES Act Passed by Senate

APWA joined 24 partner organizations in thanking Senate leaders on unanimous consent passage of the Wastewater Infrastructure Pollution Prevention and Environmental Safety (WIPPES) Act (S. 1092);
If enacted into law, manufacturers would be required to label packaging for certain nonwoven wipes with a Do Not Flush label to help prevent clogging and damage to wastewater systems;
APWA has been a leader on this legislation for several years and is now focused on swift passage in the House as S. 1092 is sent back for its reconsideration.

APWA Submits FY 2027 Appropriations Priorities

APWA sent a letter to Congressional Appropriators and committee staff outlining public works funding priorities for FY27;
The letter, among other things, calls for:
- Continued funding for infrastructure programs at IIJA levels
- Fully fund agencies and programs critical to emergency management, transportation, and water resources operations
House and Senate appropriations committees are expected to begin putting out their budgets over the next month.

APWA Participates in First-ever National TIM Training Day

Federal Highway Administrator Sean McMaster hosted, and participated in, the first-ever National Day of Traffic Incident Management (TIM) training, last week at the U.S. Dept. of Transportation;

Two APWA members from Howard County, MD; APWA Director of Government and Public Affairs Andrea Eales; and more than 100 professionals from law enforcement, fire, towing, emergency communications, emergency medical services, transportation, and more received the 4-hour TIM training with numerous expert trainers and table-top exercises;
Since 2015, APWA has formally been a key partner to FHWA in supporting TIM training and has had an APWA member serve on the TIM Executive Leadership Group, which coordinates best practices and strengthens national-level relationships amongst the TIM safety organizations;
FHWA Administrator McMaster has made reaching the goal of 1 million people TIM-trained by the end of the Trump administration a top priority;
APWA will host a TIM training at the North American Snow Conference, April 29, in Cleveland;
More public works professionals are being sought to be expert TIM trainers, for more information, contact Andrea at aeales@apwa.org.

CISA Issues Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Advisory

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an Iranian-Affiliated Cyber Actors Exploit Programmable Logic Controllers Across US Critical Infrastructure advisory warning;
The advisory addresses Iran-affiliated advanced persistent threat (APT) actors that are being monitored for exploitation activity targeting internet-facing operational technology (OT) devices:
It also emphasizes that the water/wastewater and energy sectors should be on increased alert for potential activity to compromise their operations
U.S. organizations are advised to review the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and indicators of compromise (IOCs) provided in this advisory and implement the recommendations to reduce the risk of compromise.

FEMA BRIC Grant Application Period Now Open

Applications are now being accepted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Grant Program for FY24 & FY25;
$1B in grant funds are available through BRIC;
The application period ends July 23;
Interested applicants and sub applicants may review the Notice of Funding Opportunity on Grants.gov;
Interested applicants should contact their FEMA Regional Office or visit the FEMA BRIC webpage for further information.

APWA Government Affairs Hosts 3DEP Meeting

APWA Government Affairs hosted a meeting last week of the 3DEP Mapping Coalition;
The group focuses on responding to the growing needs for current, high-quality topographic data and three-dimensional representations of the nation’s natural and constructed features, which aligns with the needs of public works professionals as they work to better mitigate, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters with reliable mapping tools;
Among the participants were officials and representatives from the Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Society (USGS), American Society of Civil Engineers, International Association of Emergency Mangers, The Pew Charitable Trust, and U.S. Geospatial Executives Organization (U.S. GEO);
APWA has worked with the 50-plus member 3DEP coalition to emphasize the emergency management/first responder role of public works professionals pertaining to the design, distribution, and implementation of cutting-edge mapping technologies;
Additionally, APWA has partnered with 3DEP in submitting letters to Congress and across multiple Presidential administrations advocating about the importance of funding for 3DEP mapping, including:
- A bi-partisan letter from Members of Congress to the U.S. House Subcommittee for Interior, Environment and Related Agencies for 3DEP funding in the FY27 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

APWA Comments on Department of Education Workforce Pell Grant Changes

As part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Department of Education had requested comments related to that agency’s expected July 1 implementation of changes to the Pell Grant program;
APWA CEO Scott Grayson weighed in on this request;
“… we believe that shortening the eligibility timeframe to as little as eight weeks (150 hours) for programs to qualify for a Workforce Pell grant offers a tangible improvement over the current system. It stands to reason that allowing more individuals to consider programs which are shorter than the traditional 15-week minimum for current Pell eligibility, while still culminating in an industry-recognized, portable certificate, degree, or credential, has the potential to appeal to more people,” Grayson said in the letter;
These changes would allow for shorter, eight-week programs to be eligible for Pell funding, rather than the traditional 15-week threshold, thus allowing for more training programs to qualify for Workforce Pell funding;

Department of Education Finalizes Workforce Readiness Definition

To prioritize workforce readiness in federal grant competitions, the Trump Administration has updated definitional terms to include adult learners and incorporated mentorships as an option for work-based learning;
Read about these changes here.

On the Horizon

(All times ET)

April 15 at 11 a.m., the Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee will hold a hearing, A Review of Preparations for the FIFA World Cup 2026;
April 16 at 2 p.m., the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee will hold a hearing to review the proposed FY27 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget request.